London Trip

J_B

Not been since 2016 (?)

Going to concert at O2 at the end of April. (a couple over 60)

Travel on the train from Crewe/Stoke/Stafford (preferably) on Monday mid morning (?) returning Wednesday afternoon.

Move around London on the tube (probably)

Bit of sightseeing .... and concert on Tuesday night

What are the most economical options?

Cloth_of_Gold

Options for travel do you mean? If so, you are probably best just using a debit or credit card to touch in and out. Makre sure you use the same card each time and you will pay no more than the daily cap, which for zones 1 and 2 is £8.10 until March. If you have a bus pass from your local authority you can use this on buses in London but not on other forms of transport. https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/find-fares/tube-and-rail-fares/pay-as-you-go-caps

Emmia

Thinking of the train trip from Crewe, have you bought the tickets? And have you looked to see if a Railcard (either the 60+ Senior Railcard or the two together Railcard) will save you a good chunk on that fare.

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/railcards/

amanda1024

Buses are great for being able to see the sights whatever the weather - and are generally pretty frequent. Several of the museums and art galleries are free, if that’s your sort of thing. Plus the outdoor sites if the weather’s ok - trafalgar square, the parks, buckingham palace (inc changing of the guard)

Kat78MFW

It might work out cheaper to get the train from your station to Birmingham New Street then walk to Birmingham Moor Street and get the cheaper train service down to London Marylebone. Would take longer so depends if time or price is the biggest factor for you. 

Neil49

Use a train ticket splitting app such as Train Split to get a range of ticket and route options. Don't use Trainline as they charge a commission. 

If you have paper tickets take photographs of them as the outward ones may be swallowed up at the exit barrier. Claim for delays wherever possible. 

SiliconChip

If you have Senior railcards it's possible (but not straightforward) to add them to an Oyster card so that you get 1/3 off fares within London, I had to go to a Travel Centre at Victoria to get mine added. It's probably only worth it if you already have an active Oyster card as I think you have to pay to get one now. Remember that two people travelling together have to have two Oyster cards.

martindow

SiliconChip said:

If you have Senior railcards it's possible (but not straightforward) to add them to an Oyster card so that you get 1/3 off fares within London, I had to go to a Travel Centre at Victoria to get mine added. It's probably only worth it if you already have an active Oyster card as I think you have to pay to get one now. Remember that two people travelling together have to have two Oyster cards.

You can get railcards linked to Oyster cards by staff at any tube station who are usually standing by the gateline.  They are able to log in and do this on a ticket machine. 

J_B

Cloth_of_Gold said:

Options for travel do you mean? If so, you are probably best just using a debit or credit card to touch in and out. Makre sure you use the same card each time and you will pay no more than the daily cap, which for zones 1 and 2 is £8.10 until March. If you have a bus pass from your local authority you can use this on buses in London but not on other forms of transport. https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/find-fares/tube-and-rail-fares/pay-as-you-go-caps

No bus passes as e don't really have buses here where we live!

Emmia said:

Thinking of the train trip from Crewe, have you bought the tickets? And have you looked to see if a Railcard (either the 60+ Senior Railcard or the two together Railcard) will save you a good chunk on that fare.

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/railcards/

Not bought tickets yet and won't for another few weeks as waiting for OK from medical folk. 🤞

Would a railcard be worth it for a one-off trip?

amanda1024 said:

Buses are great for being able to see the sights whatever the weather - and are generally pretty frequent. Several of the museums and art galleries are free, if that’s your sort of thing. Plus the outdoor sites if the weather’s ok - trafalgar square, the parks, buckingham palace (inc changing of the guard)

Not really into museums etc, sorry, but ill probably do Buck house etc

Kat78MFW said:

It might work out cheaper to get the train from your station to Birmingham New Street then walk to Birmingham Moor Street and get the cheaper train service down to London Marylebone. Would take longer so depends if time or price is the biggest factor for you. 

Not sure if that would go don too well with senior management!

Neil49 said:

Use a train ticket splitting app such as Train Split to get a range of ticket and route options. Don't use Trainline as they charge a commission. 

If you have paper tickets take photographs of them as the outward ones may be swallowed up at the exit barrier. Claim for delays wherever possible. 

Wasn't aware that ticket splitting as still a thing ... will investigate.

Also, didn't know that we were still allowed paper tickets!

martindow said:

SiliconChip said:

If you have Senior railcards it's possible (but not straightforward) to add them to an Oyster card so that you get 1/3 off fares within London, I had to go to a Travel Centre at Victoria to get mine added. It's probably only worth it if you already have an active Oyster card as I think you have to pay to get one now. Remember that two people travelling together have to have two Oyster cards.

You can get railcards linked to Oyster cards by staff at any tube station who are usually standing by the gateline.  They are able to log in and do this on a ticket machine. 

We do still have Oyster cards from our 2016 trip - the paper receipt says S:04/16 E:04/19 - does that mean they expired in 2019?

Thanks all for all the valuable advice!

Emmia

J_B said:

Cloth_of_Gold said:

Options for travel do you mean? If so, you are probably best just using a debit or credit card to touch in and out. Makre sure you use the same card each time and you will pay no more than the daily cap, which for zones 1 and 2 is £8.10 until March. If you have a bus pass from your local authority you can use this on buses in London but not on other forms of transport. https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/find-fares/tube-and-rail-fares/pay-as-you-go-caps

No bus passes as e don't really have buses here where we live!

Emmia said:

Thinking of the train trip from Crewe, have you bought the tickets? And have you looked to see if a Railcard (either the 60+ Senior Railcard or the two together Railcard) will save you a good chunk on that fare.

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/railcards/

Not bought tickets yet and won't for another few weeks as waiting for OK from medical folk. 🤞

Would a railcard be worth it for a one-off trip?

amanda1024 said:

Buses are great for being able to see the sights whatever the weather - and are generally pretty frequent. Several of the museums and art galleries are free, if that’s your sort of thing. Plus the outdoor sites if the weather’s ok - trafalgar square, the parks, buckingham palace (inc changing of the guard)

Not really into museums etc, sorry, but ill probably do Buck house etc

Kat78MFW said:

It might work out cheaper to get the train from your station to Birmingham New Street then walk to Birmingham Moor Street and get the cheaper train service down to London Marylebone. Would take longer so depends if time or price is the biggest factor for you. 

Not sure if that would go don too well with senior management!

Neil49 said:

Use a train ticket splitting app such as Train Split to get a range of ticket and route options. Don't use Trainline as they charge a commission. 

If you have paper tickets take photographs of them as the outward ones may be swallowed up at the exit barrier. Claim for delays wherever possible. 

Wasn't aware that ticket splitting as still a thing ... will investigate.

Also, didn't know that we were still allowed paper tickets!

martindow said:

SiliconChip said:

If you have Senior railcards it's possible (but not straightforward) to add them to an Oyster card so that you get 1/3 off fares within London, I had to go to a Travel Centre at Victoria to get mine added. It's probably only worth it if you already have an active Oyster card as I think you have to pay to get one now. Remember that two people travelling together have to have two Oyster cards.

You can get railcards linked to Oyster cards by staff at any tube station who are usually standing by the gateline.  They are able to log in and do this on a ticket machine. 

We do still have Oyster cards from our 2016 trip - the paper receipt says S:04/16 E:04/19 - does that mean they expired in 2019?

Thanks all for all the valuable advice!

Oyster cards don't expire, so you can register them and top them up. 

The railcards are £30 each for a year, but you may save more than that on the discount it will give you off the train fare, plus if you get senior railcards you can have the discount added to your oyster card.

I'd also recommend doing the boat down the river, the standard Uber branded boat can be paid for with oyster, and offers great views.

Neil49

If you want a good view, but don't want to pay for going up the Shard, a visit to the Skygarden down near the Tower of London is well worth the time. 

Entry is free but you must book in advance. Don't go up it you don't like lifts. 

https://skygarden.london/