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Season tickets into London from Cambridge

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Hi all,


I'm looking to calculate the cost of a season ticket from Cambridge to London Kings Cross with the workplace being in Victoria (also Zone 1). Whats the best way to save money on this route?

Thanks in advance for the help..

Zee
«1

Comments

  • http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/seasonticket/search

    I spent about 4 weeks trying to figure out a cheaper way to buy a season ticket with no luck. What I can recommend is, use a quidco account and buy your ticket through ticketline and you will get cashback (although you may need to apply manually). This was £135 in my case!!
    Save £12k in 2017 / Dec 2017 Travel Cash = £12,400 / £14,000 88.5%[/COLOR]

    House Deposit = £20,500 / £18,000:money:
  • yorkie2
    yorkie2 Posts: 1,595 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    The base rate is £149.30 per week, for a London Zones 1-6 Travelcard from Cambridge. There's a Season ticket calculator here:

    http://www.brfares.com/#faredetail?orig=CBG&dest=0035&tkt=7TS

    The best value would be an annual, priced at £5,972.

    This is effectively a ticket for unlimited travel between Cambridge and the boundary of Zone 6 (on any of the permitted routes towards King's Cross/Moorgate/Liverpool St) plus a Travelcard for unlimited travel within Zones 1-6.

    If you can't afford the up-front cost, and your employer doesn't allow you to spread the cost, then I'd buy them in typically 5 week blocks, generally commencing on a Monday and finishing on a Friday (assuming Monday-Friday commuting) but taking into account annual leave and Bank Holidays.
  • Is there no way to avoid the Zone 1-6 travelcard which I don't need..?
  • dzug1
    dzug1 Posts: 13,535 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    You can buy the ticket to London Terminals and then use Oyster/contactless for the Kings Cross to Victoria leg - or doing that bit by bus if time permits would save a bit more.


    Depends on how much other travel in zone 1 that you do
  • cookie365
    cookie365 Posts: 1,809 Forumite
    Marginally cheaper to get the same season ticket to Kings X (London Terminals) for £117.30 and then £15 a week on bus fares.
    http://www.brfares.com/#faredetail?orig=CBG&dest=KGX&grpd=1072&tkt=7DS

    But only if your time has no value.
  • Is there no way to avoid the Zone 1-6 travelcard which I don't need..?

    Get a fold up bike and cycle was the only other option I came up with.
    Save £12k in 2017 / Dec 2017 Travel Cash = £12,400 / £14,000 88.5%[/COLOR]

    House Deposit = £20,500 / £18,000:money:
  • surreysaver
    surreysaver Posts: 4,805 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Is there no way to avoid the Zone 1-6 travelcard which I don't need..?

    If you are going to travel to Victoria from Kings Cross via the Underground, then you need a Travelcard.
    I consider myself to be a male feminist. Is that allowed?
  • wealdroam
    wealdroam Posts: 19,180 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    If you are going to travel to Victoria from Kings Cross via the Underground, then you need a Travelcard.
    Why is that then?
    Can singles not be used on the underground any more?

    A single fare, using Oyster or contactless, between Kings Cross and Victoria is £2.40.
    Assuming five days a week, that's £24.00 a week .

    That will show a weekly saving of £8.00 when combined with a Cambridge to London Terminals weekly season.
  • Altarf
    Altarf Posts: 2,916 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    yorkie2 wrote: »
    The best value would be an annual, priced at £5,972.

    Season ticket travelcards for most commuters travelling in from outside London are a rip off, as they just want to get in and get out and don't use the ticket in the evening or weekends.

    The train ticket price from Cambridge to Kings Cross is £4,692, so you are paying an extra £1,280 per year for the tube/bus.

    Most commuters will only use the tube twice a day, so £1,080 per year. Are you really going to use the tube an extra 125 times a year?

    Also if you start late and work late, then the cost comes down to £720 per year, so you would have to do an extra 350 journeys a year.
  • Cornucopia
    Cornucopia Posts: 16,471 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Season ticket calculator is offering Cambridge-Elephant & Castle via Thameslink at £125pw. There might be some value in checking what the valid routes were for that?
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