Originally Posted by
Arctic Troll
If you're travelling from Gatwick to central London on Contactless you can also save a lot by doing the same trick at East Croydon. This one really is worth it- you can easily save £20 by doing it, if you're travelling to/from Gatwick in the peak and would otherwise hit the cap in London.
Translation:
Train tickets to Gatwick can be paid contactless, but Gatwick is outside the Transport for London (TfL) ticket area - so the daily cap doesn't apply. You pay from London Bridge or Victoria (£17.50 peak, £9.50 off peak) or where ever you get on the train, in addition to the daily cap on other TfL services, such as Tube or Bus. East Croydon, however, is
within the TfL ticket area, all Southern and Thameslink trains to Gatwick stop there, and trains from there to Gatwick are very frequent. So by tapping out at East Croydon, your trip from London to East Croydon is free if you've already hit the daily cap, or you pay the difference between your daily usage so far on that day and the daily cap. Then you tap back in for the non-TfL ticket to Gatwick, which is £6.00 peak or £3.70 off peak. This applies for travel both to and from Gatwick Airport.
(The Gatwick Express is even dearer at £21.80 single.)