Hi,

I am looking for some suggestions on cost effective transport. I have
some friends flying into Standsted on the 7th of February. They would
like to see London on the Saturday and then stay with me in Didcot
returning on the 10th.

What is the cheapest way of doing this, I do have a network card in my name.

Thanks

James

On Jan 31, 12:20 am, James Salisbury nntp.dsl.pipex.com wrote:
Hi,

I am looking for some suggestions on cost effective transport. I have
some friends flying into Standsted on the 7th of February. They would
like to see London on the Saturday and then stay with me in Didcot
returning on the 10th.

What is the cheapest way of doing this, I do have a network card in my name.

Thanks

James

Stansted?

"James Salisbury" nntp.dsl.pipex.com wrote in message
...
Hi,

I am looking for some suggestions on cost effective transport. I have
some friends flying into Standsted on the 7th of February. They would
like to see London on the Saturday and then stay with me in Didcot
returning on the 10th.

What is the cheapest way of doing this, I do have a network card in my
name.

You don't give us enough information. How many friends? Will you be meeting
them at Stansted, and seeing them off there on their departure, or will they
be travelling independently of you (with a Network Card you can get
discounted tickets for accompanying passengers, but they must accompany the
Network Card holder, the Network Card itself being non-transferable)? What
is meant by seeing London - is a ODTC (what zones) or Oyster PAYG
worthwhile? Will any travel be at times when peak restrictions apply?

My starting point would be Off-peak (Saver) Returns Stansted - Didcot (now
valid for outward break of journey, IIRC, and anyway, there have never been
any practical restrictions on break of journey when crossing London, except
that the break can't take place at a tube station) and Oyster PAYG for
'seeing London'. Are any Advance tickets available?

Peter

On Jan 31, 9:06*am, "Peter Masson" wrote:
You don't give us enough information.
Agreed.

My starting point would be Off-peak (Saver) Returns Stansted - Didcot (now
valid for outward break of journey,
Off-peak Return (SVR) Stansted Moutfitchet - Didcot is a little
cheaper than Stansted Airport - Didcot (£39.80 instead of £43.90
without a Railcard). This is valid via Stansted Airport and valid for
break of journey on both outward and return legs. If I were taking
this journey, I would book online and pick up the tickets from a
convenient FastTicket machine. NXEA seem to believe that they have a
captive market at the airport, and have increased fares to/from there
to the point that they have created anomalies with those from adjacent
stations.

From both Stansteds, the Monday - Friday restrictions on this SVR
ticket a
OUTWARD AND RETURN TRAVEL
Morning Peak.
By any train scheduled to arrive at London Terminals at or after
1000.
Evening Peak.
Not valid on any train departing London Terminals between 1629 and
1834 inclusive (1900 for departures from London Kings Cross).
There are some exceptions which don't seem to apply to this journey.

Are any Advance tickets available?
No.

In addition, GroupSave is available for this journey (http://
www.daysoutguide.co.uk/group-save.aspx) allowing 3-4 adults to travel
for the price of 2 and children for £1 each. The party must travel
together for all legs of the journey.

John

On 31 Jan, 09:06, "Peter Masson" wrote:

"James Salisbury" nntp.dsl.pipex.com wrote:

I am looking for some suggestions on cost effective transport. I have
some friends flying into Standsted on the 7th of February. They would
like to see London on the Saturday and then stay with me in Didcot
returning on the 10th.

What is the cheapest way of doing this, I do have a network card in
my name.

You don't give us enough information. How many friends? Will you be meeting
them at Stansted, and seeing them off there on their departure, or will they
be travelling independently of you (with a Network Card you can get
discounted tickets for accompanying passengers, but they must accompany the
Network Card holder, the Network Card itself being non-transferable)? What
is meant by seeing London - is a ODTC (what zones) or Oyster PAYG
worthwhile? Will any travel be at times when peak restrictions apply?

My starting point would be Off-peak (Saver) Returns Stansted - Didcot (now
valid for outward break of journey, IIRC, and anyway, there have never been
any practical restrictions on break of journey when crossing London, except
that the break can't take place at a tube station) and Oyster PAYG for
'seeing London'. Are any Advance tickets available?


If getting hold of Oyster cards is deemed a hassle (what with the £3
deposit required on each card etc), then they could just get Day
Travelcards. The zones 1&2 off-peak Day Travelcard (valid after 0930
weekdays) costs £5.60 - but if you are accompanying them, with your
Network Railcard you can get Day Travelcards for the discounted price
of £5 each for yourself plus three other adults (this discounted
Travelcard also covers zones 1-6). Children (under 16) pay £1 for a
Day Travelcard when accompanying an adult with a Travelcard.

(Note that the above all applies to 'in-boundary' Travelcards, i.e.
those bought within the London zones.)

That said, it might be worth getting Oyster cards for them if they're
likely to visit London again, or indeed keeping hold of them yourself
so as to give/lend to other visitors in the future.

On Sat, 31 Jan 2009, James Salisbury wrote:

I am looking for some suggestions on cost effective transport. I have
some friends flying into Standsted on the 7th of February. They would
like to see London on the Saturday and then stay with me in Didcot
returning on the 10th.

What is the cheapest way of doing this, I do have a network card in my
name.

Probably coaches all the way. There are a couple of lines that run from
Stansted to London, and there are a couple that go from London to Oxford,
stopping at Lewknor Turn. Not sure how you get from Lewknor to Didcot, but
i'm sure you can work something out.

tom

--
Technology is anything that wasn't around when you were born. -- Alan Kay

In message , at
14:13:51 on Sat, 31 Jan 2009, Tom Anderson
remarked:
Not sure how you get from Lewknor to Didcot, but i'm sure you can work
something out.

Lewknor's in the middle of nowhere - I used to live in the next village!

A train from Oxford (yes, really) would be the best bet - if you insist
on using the M40 coaches.
--
Roland Perry

On 31 Jan, 15:06, Roland Perry wrote:

In message , at
14:13:51 on Sat, 31 Jan 2009, Tom Anderson
remarked:

Not sure how you get from Lewknor to Didcot, but i'm sure you can work
something out.

Lewknor's in the middle of nowhere - I used to live in the next village!

You've lived everywhere Roland!


A train from Oxford (yes, really) would be the best bet - if you insist
on using the M40 coaches.

In message
, at
11:23:29 on Sat, 31 Jan 2009, Mizter T remarked:
Lewknor's in the middle of nowhere - I used to live in the next village!

You've lived everywhere Roland!

It does feel like that sometimes. However my stay in east Oxon was one
of the longest - six years with a one year break in Somerset in the
middle (when I seemed to use the trains, mainly from Westbury, quite a
lot).
--
Roland Perry