As we were making a school holiday plane spotting trip to Heathrow yesterday, we decided to split up and compare the cheap route vs the expensive route by train from Crystal Palace to T5. I took the £3.70 avoiding Zone 1 route - four trains - whilst the others took the £13.30 Elizabeth Line - two train - route.
Timing from train moving off at Crystal Palace to reaching Café Nero in T5 departures, the expensive route was 1h 25m and the cheap route was 1h 39m. Cheap route with luggage would be a hassle, and I got rained on too, but in value for money terms, it's great. If you're returning same day, as we were, then daily capping makes the difference less significant. Although we all came back via the cheap route so the others could have the four train, pink reader, getting rained on, 1h 39m experience!
Of course we spent £1.75 on the bus getting to the station. And for the cheapest possible non-train route, we could have got to Heathrow for that £1.75 using two buses. However, the return journey costs £3.50 and you spend most of your day on a bus!
Timing from train moving off at Crystal Palace to reaching Café Nero in T5 departures, the expensive route was 1h 25m and the cheap route was 1h 39m. Cheap route with luggage would be a hassle, and I got rained on too, but in value for money terms, it's great. If you're returning same day, as we were, then daily capping makes the difference less significant. Although we all came back via the cheap route so the others could have the four train, pink reader, getting rained on, 1h 39m experience!
Of course we spent £1.75 on the bus getting to the station. And for the cheapest possible non-train route, we could have got to Heathrow for that £1.75 using two buses. However, the return journey costs £3.50 and you spend most of your day on a bus!