children on the tube... confused about fares!

mummyoftwoboys

I am very confused! My husband and I are planning to take 6 yr old and 3 of his friends to the big smoke for his birthday on sunday 3 weeks time for a trip to the science museum. we have a family railcard and will be travelling from cambridge with our family railcard..... straight forward so far!
however I havent been to london since about 2004 and it seems to be more complicated to travel on the tube with oyster cards and whatnot. plan is to go to science museum from kings cross.
what is the cheapest way to buy tickets ( preferably in advance) for 2 adults and 4 children ( all aged 6/7) with a family railcard.
many thanks
L

Gene_Hunt_2

Under 11 (I think) are free on the tube.

yorkie2

A Travelcard from Cambridge for 2 adults and 4 children costs a total of £40.40 via NXEA Trains (ie, stopping trains via Bishops Stortford) or £45.80 via Any Permitted route (ie, also valid on the faster route via Stevenage) these prices are Super Off Peak and assume that you are travelling on a weekend. If you are not travelling on a weekend then the price will be higher than this.

I am aware that there is a 'Kids for a quid' offer but it appears this only applies with GroupSave, this would only get you to King's Cross (or Liverpool Street) only, and not apply within London, so additional ticketing arrangements for travel within London would need to be made.

Gene_Hunt wrote: »

Under 11 (I think) are free on the tube.

True.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14554.aspx

Providing they all look under 10 and will at all times be accompanied with an adult they do not need a ticket, ask staff to let them through the barriers.

I'm not sure this saves enough money to be worthwhile though.

Cambridge to London Terminals Super Off Peak Return for 2 adults + 4 children with Family & Friends railcard is £30.60 return on NXEA trains only, or £33.30 on Any Permitted Route if travelling at a weekend. You could then use Oyster PAYG for the adults, while the children travelled free, I am unsure what the cap would be, as I don't think a Family Railcard cap applies on Oyster, so the cap would be the full adult rate, which would depend on the zones used, it may be cheaper to buy 2 adults + 1 child all zones with the family railcard (This is £5.30 for adults and, I believe, £1 for children). However I am not sure it is worth all that faffing about to save very minimal amount over the inclusive Travelcards from Cambridge!!

If you are just going to the Science museum and not requiring the tube for any other journeys, then the price on Oyster PAYG will be £1.90 per single for adults and free for the children, so this would total £7.60.

mummyoftwoboys wrote: »

it seems to be more complicated to travel on the tube with oyster cards and whatnot

I agree, it is a lot easier to get a Travelcard from Cambridge than get a ticket to London and then faff around with Oyster cards if you are doing multiple tube trips in London.

You may want to check my advice on Railforums, there are experts on there who are more familiar with travel in London than I am (e.g. MikeWh).

thelawnet

You can do this as a Groupsave 4, basically you pay for 2 * adult tickets at full price, get 2 adult tickets free (use for two of the children), and then the two other children pay £1 each.

If you have one or two more adults that want to come, they'd pay only £1 each effectively, so that's worth considering.

Groupsave can include a travelcard.

Cost is £31.40 (NXEA) or £34 (any route) without travelcard, and £46 (any route) with travelcard (groupsave works just fine with travelcard, providing you start your journey outside London).

Slightly more expensive than the family railcard, but not by much, so worth bearing it in mind as in some circumstances it would be cheaper.