Railcard discounts on Oyster Pay as you Go

teflon

Transport for London's new fares came into effect yesterday. They're shouting about the fact that single fares have been frozen, but are keeping a little more coy about the fact that Travelcard and Pay as you Go capping rates have risen with inflation.
(The PAYG cap is usually 50p less than the cost of a 1-day travelcard for the zones you're travelling through; you can keep making journeys, but it won't charge you beyond that point.)

They have brought in a new set of fares for Railcard holders though, which, depending on when you usually travel, could save you a bit of cash.

It's a new, discounted, off-peak capping rate. To take advantage, you need to take your Disabled, HM Forces, Senior or Young Persons Railcard to a tube or London Overground ticket office, along with your registered Oyster card. They'll apply the discount until the expiry date of your Railcard.

Here's how it's saving me money. It's a little complicated, so bear with me..

I work shifts - so sometimes I'm in on weekdays, sometimes I'm in on weekends. I live in zone 3, and I work in zone 2, and my commute takes me through zone 1. Sometimes I'll go into central London on days off.

Going to work on a weekday, I'll be charged £2.50 each way for a z1-4 single, as I'm travelling between between 7am and 7pm. I can't take advantage of capping, because the off-peak cap doesn't begin until 9.30am.

If I'm working on a weekend, then I'll only pay £2 each way. But the off-peak capping rate applies all day at weekends, and for z1-4 with a Railcard it's now £3.50, so that's me saved 50p already. If I go into town to meet some friends for a cheeky half after work, then I'm still only paying £3.50 for the day's travel.

But it's days off during the week where I'll save the most money. Previously, if I wanted to go into town to do some shopping, I'd pay £2.50 each way. But now the new discounted cap applies, which is only £3.50 for the day.

Yesterday afternoon, I took the tube into town to meet some friends (£2.50), got a bus down to Victoria (90p), took another bus back to Green Park (90p), and the tube home again (£2.00 this time, because it was after 7pm). Without the Railcard discount, it would still be capped at £5.40. But with the discount, it was all capped at £3.50. Bargain!

There are even more complicated scenarios where you could save a few pennies, mostly involving one peak-time journey and several off-peak, but they confuse the hell out of me, so I'll not inflict them on you.

If you work 9-5s, and make one or two other journeys during the week, then you're probably still better off with a weekly or monthly Travelcard. But if you only travel occasionally, or work shifts, you may well be better off on Pay as you Go. Sit yourself down with a nice hot cup of tea and the new fares leaflet, and work out what you might spend on an average week, compared to the cost of a Travelcard.

Incidentally, tube and train ticket offices can still sell you an one day off-peak all zones Travelcard with a Railcard discount for £4.80 - which, unlike Pay as you Go, you can use on all trains in Greater London (except Heathrow Express and Heathrow Connect to Heathrow).

ticketcollector

We dont often get asked for the railcard discounted travelcard as people tend to buy them direct from LUL even though a few extra steps back into a railway station would save them money!