Planning rail travel to/within london

dllive

Hi all,
Im going to london for a few days and trying to get an idea of rail costs.
My plan is: 18th March go from Amersham to Marylebone; from 18th to 22nd Zones 1 and 2; on the 20th ONLY I need to get out to zone 3.

Is there an online tool to do this and where I can book my tickets up front? Ive tried the https://tfl.gov.uk/ website but that only goes up to February.

Any suggestions muchly appreciated.
Thanks

silvercar

Don't think there is anything to gain by paying in advance.

If you have a contactless debit card, you can use that to tap in and out at all stations and the system works out the fares and applies daily caps to your journeys.

TBagpuss

As silvercar says, the simplest way wil be to use a contactless card. If you don't have one (and can't get one before you travel) then you can either buy tickets for each trip when you travel, get an oyster card (deposit s payabl) or buy daily/weekly travel cards.
You anb look up prioces to see whether the trip out to Zone 3 is d-able as a sngle oveground rail journey rather than using the tube or buses, and if so, whether tat is any cheaper than using oyster / contactless, but there usually are no reductions or advantages in booking ahead for ordinary tube / bus travel

dllive

OK - thanks for confirming that.

dllive

As an extension to my question: Is it worth getting an Oyster card, or is it best to just get one day travelcards? I suspect the former will work out cheaper over the 4 days.

Robin9

I have to travel in London this summer (not been into London for 25 years) and will use my Contactless card on the bus (for a Paddington/St Pancreas route)

The TLF has a lovely cartoon which l shows how the cards work on the Tube ! But what happens on the buses ? I think there is a Contactless point at the stop but what happens when I get off.

susancs

Robin9 wrote: »

I have to travel in London this summer (not been into London for 25 years) and will use my Contactless card on the bus (for a Paddington/St Pancreas route)

The TLF has a lovely cartoon which l shows how the cards work on the Tube ! But what happens on the buses ? I think there is a Contactless point at the stop but what happens when I get off.

On buses you only tap in, it is only on tubes and trains that you tap in and out as there are different rates dependng on the zones you travel in. There are no zones on bus journeys as single bus journey is the same rate whether it is half a mile or 5 miles for example.

susancs

dllive wrote: »

As an extension to my question: Is it worth getting an Oyster card, or is it best to just get one day travelcards? I suspect the former will work out cheaper over the 4 days.

Daily travelcards are more expensive than the oyster daily cap and obviously with oyster if you travel less you will also not reach the daily cap. It would be easier for you to use a contactless bank card for travel rather than paying a refundable deposit and topping up an oyster (both charge the same). Amersham is in zone 9 at the end of the metropolitan tube line or chiltern trainline and a daily off peak travel card is £12.90 but £11.90 with oyster/contactless. Anytime daily travelcard is £21.90 and £16.90 with oyster. Peak single fare £7 and off peak £4.10.

The train goes direct from Amersham to Marylebone and takes about 40 minutes. The train times on the journey planner are usually the same so if you check the trains for this week or next on the www,tfl.gov.uk journey planner it will usually be the same in March.

http://content.tfl.gov.uk/2016-adult-fares.pdf

Smidster

Just one thing to be aware of on the contactless debit cards

The Debit card cap is the same as the Travelcard price but operates on a Monday to Sunday basis.

As your dates straddle this (Fri - Tue) you may be better off getting a 7 day travelcard.

e.g. for Zones 1-2

7 Day Travelcard = £32.40
Contactless = 5 * £6.50 = £32.50 (Does not cap because you cross weeks)

However as you need zone 3 for only 1 day it is going to be cheaper to use the contactless (4*£6.50 + 1*£7.60 = £34.60 v £38.00 7 Day Travelcard Zone 1-3)

Edit to say - In general I would always advise getting an Oyster as it will never be more expensive than the TC option and always handy to have in your wallet just in case you end up in London.

dzug1

Robin9 wrote: »

IBut what happens on the buses ? I think there is a Contactless point at the stop but what happens when I get off.

No contactless point at the stop - it's on the bus by the driver.

dllive

Thanks guys - very helpful!