Originally Posted by
Trav+
There is a catch though. The deeply discounted fares - to and from LGW - are for specific trains only, so one must commit to a train at time A on date B. Miss that train and it's buy another ticket at the walk up fare.
It may be more critical when booking a train from Gatwick to central London but it's worth bearing in mind.
A more ridiculous approach to a rail service from an airport into a city that runs every few minutes is hard to imagine.
Especially as the trains are just normal commuter/suburban type trains. The last time I made the journey, at 1030 on a Saturday morning, there were 100+ people on the Gatwick platform waiting for it, and it arrived from Brighton, 4 coaches only (instead of 8 or 12) with almost all seats already taken. By the time we got to East Crodon some passengers there couldn't get in.