Southeastern Train Ticket question
 

I plan to take the fast train from St Pancras to Ashford International on Monday. My plane gets in at 9 then HEX to Paddington then taxi to St Pancras so I'm guestimating a 1100 train.

The advance purchase appears to be time specific at 13.40 quid. There seems to be a fast train every 30 minutes or so. What happens if I don't make the 1100 train? Is that 1100 ticket only valid for that time? I bolded the break of journey below. Is that their way of telling me if you miss your ticketed time your f'd? :D


Advance Single
£13.40
London Terminals*
Ashford International
In addition to the normal permitted routes, this ticket is also valid for travel on Southeastern high speed services.
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1 Adult
£13.40
Valid dates
OutwardMon 19 Dec 2016
Break of journey
OutwardYou cannot break and resume your journey

Super Off-Peak Day Single
£29.70
Flexible ticket valid on off-peak trains only
London Terminals*
Ashford International
In addition to the normal permitted routes, this ticket is also valid for travel on Southeastern high speed services.
Show ticket details
Std

Off-Peak Day Single
£33.40
Flexible ticket valid on off-peak trains only
London Terminals*
Ashford International
In addition to the normal permitted routes, this ticket is also valid for travel on Southeastern high speed services.
Show ticket details
Std

Anytime Day Single
£35.60
Flexible ticket with no time restrictions on when you can travel
London Terminals*
Ashford International
In addition to the normal permitted routes, this ticket is also valid for travel on Southeastern high speed services.
Show ticket details

Advance tickets are totally inflexible - booked train only. So yes, if you want flexibility, you'll need a superOP ticket.. Or just risk the advance, and if you miss it you can just buy a new superOP on the day - the price of those doesn't go up.

Also I wouldn't bother with taxi from Paddington - just take the H&C/Circle line. Or Piccadilly line straight from LHR.

Don't even bother with the HEX.

also you can get trains to Ashford from Victoria or Charing cross.

Look at the entire length of the trip not just one part of it.

I already bought my hex single. I value the 37 minute fast train from st pancras.

Using HEX / taxi to St Pancras takes longer than the direct Tube from Heathrow.

I'm not sure I follow your logic. You're happy to pay for HEx/taxi (at ten times the cost of the Piccadilly line) for no noticeable time saving, but then you're trying to save a tenner on the SouthEastern ticket?
In any case, I'd never advise an "advance" rail ticket after a flight - as it has zero flexibility yet you can't guarantee the exact time you'll get to the station, so a high chance you're either hanging around or (if late) you're ticket is worthless. I would just walk to the ticket window at St Pancras, and they'll sell you the cheapest available walk up ticket (which will vary by time of day, peak/off peak rules).

What rcspeirs said. If the OP wants flexibility for the St Pancras-Ashford leg of the journey, it's simply a case of stumping up for it.

Have you done this journey before? The tube from LHR to St Pancras is possibly quicker and more reliable than the HEX and a taxi. The tube from Paddington to St Pancras is probably more reliable as well.

If your flight is scheduled to land at 9, you may not actually get off the plane until 9:20, add 20-60mins to get through non-UK/EU immigrations, meaning you may not even get the 10:12 HEX from T1/2/3, if you do you may not get in a taxi until 10:40, from there the journey can take anywhere from 15-30+ minutes depending on traffic, then get to the right platform/train.

All going well it is possible, but I wouldn't rely on it.

I've done it once before and it all worked out but more so likely due to good luck.

That being said looks like taking the tube to kings cross and walking across the street to st pancras is the way to go. You locals obviously know your stuff. I just remember accessing the tube was a pain from T3 and the damn tube train is so hot inside...ugh...

That being said I already bought my 23 quid HEX ticket so I'm locked in. Perhaps next time I'll follow the sound advice given here.

You don't need to walk across the street - the tube station feeds you up directly into St Pancras - just follow the signs.

Only one thing to add: yes that Advance Single is inflexible, but not because of the 'Break of Journey' restriction - that is something else (which is only really relevant to flexible tickets and stopping off en-route).

It's inflexible because it's an Advance.

Your journey may not be the cheapest or quickest option, but it's perhaps the most relaxing. St Pancras is a very pleasant station, so no harm in hanging around there for a coffee and croissant if need be.

Take the HEX but use the tube from Paddington. The tube trains used from Paddington have AC, not that its needed right now. Most reliable combination by far. Would totally use the fast train from St Pancras is it is significantly more comfortable than the Electrostars used on the conventional line.

11am is, depending on your passport, a bit ambitious if LHR is a having a bad day for weather/ATC.

Agree - even though I know the Tube is direct, I find it a painful journey for the full hour to King's Cross St Pancras from Heathrow, so I usually get the HEX+Tube combo (or change at Hammersmith if I'm feeling brassic).

The high-speed service from St Pancras is excellent - very comfortable and very speedy. It's also an impressive station, with quite a lot to keep you going (not to mention good places to grab a take-away meal to eat onboard). Personally, for the sake of less than £20, I'd opt for the peace of mind of a flexible ticket. That way you can turn up, stretch your legs, get some food and a coffee, and hop on whatever train you feel like to Ashford - they run every 15 minutes, after all.

Well in lieu of the winter weather advisory in the NE USA this weekend I was able to change my flight to lhr out of sfo now. I now arrive at 1405. Is that st Pancras station going to be total chaos at say 1600?

chaos yes. total no.

4pm is before the commuter peak hours. St Pancras is always a busy station simply because of the various services that start / run through it.

No... it's just that you may not be there by 1600.

It will be organized chaos. Enjoy. :)

St Pancras in the rush hour isn't so bad. It's not the elaborately choreographed commuter ballet of Shinjuku, but it's certainly not a crush like Waterloo or Victoria.

The thing to remember about the new St Pancras is that it's effectively 4 mainline stations, with two Tube stations attached.

So, from Paddington, if you get the Tube, you need to get it from the Tube station on platform 15/16, not the one in the main building. Head up to the overbridge and follow signs to the "Hammersmith & City Line".

At King's Cross St Pancras, you'll arrive at the subsurface Underground station. Follow the signs for St Pancras, and you'll emerge at a lower level. Head up to the main concourse, and you'll emerge into what is basically an upmarket shopping mall in the undercroft of a stunning building.

You need the SouthEastern platforms, which are at the far end of the station, in the modern building. Keep left, head along to the end of the undercroft, then bear right (this is the only annoying bit, as you'll be crossing over the flow of people heading to/from the Thameslink section). You then have an escalator or elevators heading up to the SouthEastern platforms, past the big Starbucks. (If you want a coffee, try the Sourced Market place opposite. Their deli stuff is horrendously overpriced, but they do serve Monmouth Coffee, which is lovely.)

Trains will be busy, but you'll get a seat and luggage storage. Walk forward - people are lazy and the backs of trains fill up. If it looks particularly busy, it's only 15 minutes to the next train. Note that not all trains go to Ashford. Platforms tend to be announced 10-15 minutes before departure to manage crowds, so there can be a bit of a mad rush when they're posted.

Touched down at 1450 and was 2nd person off plane. Walked onto the HEX at 1530. In a taxi at 1555. It's now 1630 and I'm sitting on the fast train leaving at 1637 for Ashford.

Addl info: taxi was £12. Single to Ashford was £29.70

T2 is a long walk!

LHR is way too hot. Good lord turn on the air con please.

I think I learned my lesson over Christmas. It's too much of a pain and $$ to take HEX-taxi-train to kent from LHR. I'm headed back in a few weeks and will just hop on the underground and take the Piccadilly line all the way to Kings Cross and walk over to the St Pancras train platforms to get my single unrestricted to Ashford Int'l.

What I do find annoying is even though I can buy my train ticket online I still need to go the vending machine (what one of maybe 3??) to get my ticket again. Half-....

Regarding the tube I can't remember the last time I bought a ticket from the vending machine. it's zoned right? Is it pretty painless? I get angst because I know there will be impatient travelers behind me that use it everyday. It's no different when I lived in Chicago and was lined up behind tourists trying to buy el tickets via the machine LOL

There is a zonal system yes.

Regular tube travellers will not be visiting the machines. They will probably use either their contactless payment card (just touch it on the way in and touch it on the way out) or an Oyster card with a season ticket on it. If you have a contactless credit card you can (probably) use it, just touch it on the reader at the gate. There are some restrictions on foreign cards, I expect there is a thread all about it.

Alternatively you could buy a Heathrow to Ashford Intl unrestricted paper ticket which would cover all of the journey. But afaik such tickets cannot be collected at Heathrow.

Shouldn't be any issues with picking up normal UK rail tickets at Heathrow any more, not for about a year or so. IIRC you can only buy HEX / Heathrow Connect like tickets on the spot. However, there are collection only machines. At T5, they're to the left of the main HEX ticket office. At T2/T3, head towards the HEX ticket machines on the -1 level, then turn around when you're there and the normal collection machines are on the wall behind you.

I'm coming in on BA from MAN so I have to check what terminal I'm landing in. That being said I know where the HeX office is and it's no where near the tube...That doesn't sound very efficient to get a tube ticket + train ticket San Pancras to Ashford then trek all the way down to the tube, or am I missing something blatantly obvious.

It's T5. The ticket offices are adjacent, on the main arrivals concourse.

Silly question, but wouldn't it be far quicker to get the train from Manchester to Euston, then walk the 10 minutes to St Pancras?

The man-lhr leg is part of an award redemption.

The tube ride from Heathrow to central London? Yes, the system has zones but you don't need to know or care. Why don't you care?
If you buy a cash (paper) ticket, which is the most expensive option, it's a flat fare.
If you use oyster or contactless (cheapest method) the system logs you in and logs you out then calculates the appropriate fare - you don't need to know or care what zones.
Don't try to buy a through ticket from Heathrow to Kent. It's way cheaper to buy the tube ride and the national rail section separately. (I could try and explain the vagaries of uk rail prices but you'd lose the will to live)

The only reason I care is if I didn't purchase the right zone the turnstyle won't let me exit at Kings Cross.

You mean cash/paper ticket from an attendant at a window?

What's contactless? How much are oyster cards?

Thanks

"The only reason I care is if I didn't purchase the right zone the turnstyle won't let me exit at Kings Cross."
No. There is no zonal coding for a paper ticket. The cash fare is a flat fare to any tube station in London - it doesn't matter if you change your mind while on the train and get off somewhere else - tge ticket is valid. You pay the same cash fare whether you go one stop to Hatton Cross or if you head to central London (oyster / contactless pricing rules are different and it'salways cheaper than a cash fare)

"You mean cash/paper ticket from an attendant at a window?"
In this case you can. For context, note that there are no ticket windows at most tube stations, only machines. The station at T5 is unusual in that it still has a manned window.
Extra context. Buying cash / paper tickets for travel within London is a minority sport. The vast majority of travellers don't do it. The overwhelming majority of passengers use oyster (or a contactless bank card or Apple/Android pay - which can act like an oyster without any need to actually possess an Oyster card).

http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=whats+contactless
http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=how+much+are+oyster+cards
https://tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payments/contactless
https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-informatio...or-oyster-card

I signed up for contactless and registered my US based Citi MC with no problem. I did notice that it's important not to forget to swipe on your way out as well or you'll be charged full fare. I'll be using this on Saturday 5/13 so it looks like only 3.10 GBP from T5 --> St Pancras.

For SE rail I have a question. I know the advance non flexible 13.40 single St Pancras to Ashford that you have to travel on that specific train at that time or face penalty. However what about the off-peak 30.20 single fare? Can I use that ticket on any afternoon train to Ashford on that Saturday? If not what's "semi flexible" about it? If I can't then I have no choice to get the anytime 36.20 single fare. I can't with accuracy say what time I'm getting to the train so that's why the advance purchase ticket won't work for me.

I got the anytime ticket back when I originally posted this thread because unlike this trip I arrived on a weekday so the off-peak wasn't available period.

Off peak fare valid on any train at the weekend.

Thanks

After signing up for contactless for the tube and setting up Apple Pay ....it didn't work. I held the button down like the display said to near the yellow reader at the turnstile but crickets. What a waste of my time. Ended up buying a single to kings cross for 6 quid.

:mad:

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