shonamac

When one buys an Off-Peak Return ticket, does one have to specify an exact return date and is the ticket valid only on that date or is it an 'open return' within a certain validity period?

Also, can anyone recommend a website that sells discounted British Rail tickets, with an advance purchase period of a week or less?

stut

An 'off-peak return' ticket is generally valid for 30 days from the outbound journey - obviously, there will be restricted times (morning, and sometimes evening, peaks Mon-Fri). The exact terms will depend on the journey in question. But yes, it is flexible. If the train takes reservations, you can make these for free at the time of booking, but they are non-binding on your part.

British Rail as an organisation is long gone - best bet is generally to buy the ticket from the company that's transporting you. If you go to nationalrail.co.uk the journey planner there will let you plan a route, view the fares and validity, and redirect you to an appropriate ticket booking site.

Avoid TheTrainline and similar sites, as they charge fees on top of the fare.

You can then pick up ticket from most station ticket machines, by using the card you paid with, and entering the code you used to book the ticket.

If you want to give details of the journey, I'd be happy to give a more specific answer!

shonamac

Thanks very much for the detailed response and I am glad to know that Off-Peak tickets do not bind me to a specific date. I am flying in to see a terminally ill friend and my return date would depend on his condition.

Another silly question - do off-peak return tickets allow any stopovers en route? For instance, if I buy a Heathrow to Tunbridge Wells return, am I allowed an overnight stop in Croydon on the onward or return journey, without the fare increasing?

stut

My condolences - I hope your trip goes well.

You can break your journey in both directions. On the way out (if I'm reading it correctly) you have to complete the journey on the same day. On the way back, you can take as long as you like within one calendar month of the outbound, as long as you use a permitted route (and East Croydon is permitted between Tunbridge Wells and Heathrow).

:D!

SVR OFF-PEAK Return from Heathrow to Tunbridge Wells is £66.60

I assume this is because it includes travel by Heathrow Express

Why not use Oyster or Contactless to travel from Heathrow to East Croydon (as low as £2.60 if you know what you are doing, but perhaps advisable to travel the more expensive route if heavy luggage), then buy two SDS ANYTIME DAY Single NOT VIA LONDON from Croydon to Tunbridge Wells, costing £12.80?

(Off peak return from Croydon to Tunbridge Wells is only available via London costing £29.10 which is more than twice the cost of the single; besides being cheaper getting 2 singles also avoids the problem of losing the ticket or deciding to stay more than a month)

There are hourly trains from East Croydon to Tonbridge where you can then change to a train to Tunbridge Wells. Also, a single ECR-TON is £10 and depending on the OP's exact destination, a bus or taxi from Tonbridge station may even be more convenient.

Mizter T

Just to quickly point out that there's no facility to collect pre-purchased National Rail tickets at Heathrow airport whatsoever (you can pick up pre-purchased Heathrow Express tickets, but that's it).

If you have a contactless payment card (i.e. credit/debit card) then you may be able to use that directly to pay for your travel on the Underground - more info from TfL here (note that not all non-UK issued cards will work though - see here).

Also note that the outbound portion of an Off-peak Return rail ticket is only valid on that particular day (i.e. it's only the return that's valid for up to 20 days). It's worth bearing in mind that there are also Off-peak Day Return tickets, so don't get your Off-peak Returns and Off-peak Day Returns muddled up (they should perhaps have called the former an Off-peak Period Return).

Gagravarr

However, if you turn up with the print-out of an email showing the full details of your ticket, including route and ticket type, and ask at the ticket desk, they will normally let you travel through to Paddington to collect your ticket.

(They claim that as they're not a "proper" ToC, they don't need to abide by the normal National Rail Conditions of Carriage, and hence don't have to allow you to travel to the first station with full ticket issuing facilities, and only permit it once asked on a special case basis. I'm not aware of anyone testing this one out legally, but whenever I've turned up at Heathrow with a ticket collection code and a printed booking collection email with all details they've been willing to let me travel to Paddington to get tickets there. Hopefully when Crossrail comes they'll start behaving like a "proper" station...)

shonamac

OP here, thank you so very much everybody for the helpful responses.

I need to go to the Burrswood Hospital, so I think Tunbridge Wells station may be closer.

Also, I am not carrying much luggage, so the Heathrow Express is definitely not needed. However, I am curious how I can accomplish the journey from Heathrow to East Croydon with only £2.60 on a Oyster card, as I was under the impression that the Tube to Zone 1 costs more than that even when travelling well after 9.30 AM.

I have had to fork out an arm and a leg to the %$@# airlines for a last minute ticket, so thrift is definitely the order of the day!

rcspeirs

The cheapest way from LHR to Croydon costs £1.50 (oyster or contactless bank card). That's the X26 bus. Although it's a limited stop service, you are only charged the normal bus tariff. Cash fare NOT available. The road network between the airport and Croydon isn't great (understatement) so the journey can be rather slow. I can't figure out what the £2.60 route would be....
Buying the rail ticket to/ from E Croydon definitely much cheaper than a rail ticket that includes a "cross London" element.

rcspeirs

Hmmm. The fare via tube for a journey covering z2/6 would be £2.80. But I can't think of any way to achieve that as the tube doesn't run to E Croydon. The fare for the same zones using both tube and rail is £4 (and that is achievable, go via West Brompton and Clapham Jct). It's fiddly though, I'd take my chances with X26 bus.

rcspeirs

Crikey. Getting to that hospital by public transport is quite a logistical challenge. It appears to be nearer to Ashurst station, and there are trains from E Croydon to there. However, I can't imagine you'll get a taxi there (tiny station) so you might be better going to Tunbridge Wells, no bother getting a taxi there. Good luck.

stut

There is a bus service to Groombridge:

http://www.metrobus.co.uk/download/2...osition=inline

which does also connect East Grinstead station, which is a half hour direct journey from East Croydon.

There is a direct bus service from Heathrow to East Croydon, the X26:

https://www.tfl.gov.uk/bus/timetable/x26/

Your other options are to take the Tube to Victoria (Piccadilly to Barons Court, District to Victoria) and the train from there to East Croydon. Alternatively, you can take a bus to Feltham, and the train from there to East Croydon, changing at Clapham Junction.

For all of these, an Oyster Card is cheapest, but if you have a contactless-enabled credit card, from most countries, you can use it directly on buses and Tube barriers.

UKtravelbear

That's the route via West Brompton using oyster or contactless

LHR - Earls Court

Earls Court - West Brompton (must touch pink reader at WB)

West Brompton - Clapham Junction - East Croydon (if you time it right there is a train at XX.27 from West Brompton that goes to East Croydon else it's a change at Clapham)

At East Croydon you would have to touch out at the main barriers.

The off peak fare would be £2.60 and the peak £ 4.00


The route using the train from Victoria is £ £7.60 (peak) / £ 5.20 - again using Oyster / Contactless

ceejay_za

These train tickets are confusing I think I've got it all sorted, except for one query - does an advance purchase fair (where you buy a ticket for a particular time/train) allow you to break your journey at a station en route?

stut

Short answer: no.

Long answer: if it's booked as a journey on a fixed time/train, plus a connection on a non-fixed time/train, then there may be some leeway on the non-fixed portion, but this varies.