Advance Tickets to London & Underground Travel

Digital_Dan
Digital_Dan Posts: 113 Forumite
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in Public transport & cycling
Hi

My wife and I will be travelling from North Essex to London next month. We will travel on a Saturday; stay over night and return on the Sunday. Whilst I know it's best to buy the tickets in advance; what about buying Travelcards which include travel on the London Underground?

There seems no way (that I can see) of getting them on the National Rail Enquiries website.

We will do a fair bit of travel on London Underground. So I'm wondering if it would be cheaper to buy the tickets when we travel which will include the tube fares; or buy tickets in advance just for the train journeys and pay for the London Underground as we go along?

Is there any way of buying tube tickets in advance cheaply?

Thanks for any advice or suggestions.
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Comments

  • david197
    david197 Posts: 4 Newbie
    If you go on London Transport website you can get a vistor oyster card or 1-7 day travel card that will be cheaper than paying on the day.
  • Digital_Dan
    Digital_Dan Posts: 113 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    david197 wrote: »
    If you go on London Transport website you can get a vistor oyster card or 1-7 day travel card that will be cheaper than paying on the day.

    Thank you; I didn't know that.
  • dzug1
    dzug1 Posts: 13,535 Forumite
    First Post Combo Breaker
    edited 20 October 2012 at 3:38PM
    A visitor Oyster is poor value - you pay £3, non refundable, for it. A normal Oyster is free - but with a £5 refundable deposit.

    Just buy day travelcards, one for each day, on arrival at ??Liverpool Street. In theory your local station can issue them but staff may be unfamiliar with the process. Buying them in advance doesn't save anything.

    What is your actual start station? There may be ways of saving on the fare from there.
  • davenport151
    davenport151 Posts: 647 Forumite
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    Get them when you buy your ticket on the day of travel. Staff will be familar with the travelcard. Or you can get you travel ones in advance and get the travelcard seperate. Once again just ask at the station before you travel.
    Back on the trains again!



  • Digital_Dan
    Digital_Dan Posts: 113 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    dzug1 wrote: »
    A visitor Oyster is poor value - you pay £3, non refundable, for it. A normal Oyster is free - but with a £5 refundable deposit.

    Just buy day travelcards, one for each day, on arrival at ??Liverpool Street. In theory your local station can issue them but staff may be unfamiliar with the process. Buying them in advance doesn't save anything.

    What is your actual start station? There may be ways of saving on the fare from there.

    Thanks

    The start station is Colchester in Essex, so yes, we arrive at Liverpool Street.

    When you say buy 'Just buy day travelcards, one for each day' you mean there are travel cards for the Underground? In other words; buy my train tickets in advance and Underground travel cards for the Underground whilst we are in London?
  • Digital_Dan
    Digital_Dan Posts: 113 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    davenport151 wrote: »
    Get them when you buy your ticket on the day of travel. Staff will be familar with the travelcard. Or you can get you travel ones in advance and get the travelcard seperate. Once again just ask at the station before you travel.

    It seems as if you're giving me the same advice as Dzug 1. Get my train tickets in advance (if they are cheaper - which they should be) and buy the Underground travel cards when I need them.
  • Axial
    Axial Posts: 76 Forumite
    Digital_Dan wrote: »
    When you say buy 'Just buy day travelcards, one for each day' you mean there are travel cards for the Underground? In other words; buy my train tickets in advance and Underground travel cards for the Underground whilst we are in London?

    Yes, inboundary paper travelcards which cover Zones R1-6 (£8.50 off peak) or Zones R1-2 (£7 off peak) for example.

    You could purchase these at COL if you wanted ahead of your travel.
  • redux
    redux Posts: 22,976 Forumite
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    edited 21 October 2012 at 4:07AM
    It's going to depend on how many trips you expect to do each day.

    If it's just a couple of singles then a travelcard won't make much difference, like when I went from Waterloo to Kings Cross and back the travelcard added slightly more than the return difference between to Waterloo and to Kings Cross from here

    If you go for Oyster then singles are cheaper, and it has a maximum daily charge which is the same as having a travelcard.

    Compare all the rates at
    http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14416.aspx

    And the map of the zones may help
    http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/london-rail-and-tube-services-map.pdf
  • Digital_Dan
    Digital_Dan Posts: 113 Forumite
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    Axial wrote: »
    Yes, inboundary paper travelcards which cover Zones R1-6 (£8.50 off peak) or Zones R1-2 (£7 off peak) for example.

    You could purchase these at COL if you wanted ahead of your travel.

    Thanks for the information - much appreciated.
  • Own_My_Own
    Own_My_Own Posts: 6,098 Forumite
    Xmas Saver!
    You can buy a tube travel card 24 hrs before departure at Colchester Train Station. You will both need passport photos. I travel up from Clacton and always buy my card the day before.
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