Victoria - Gatwick Airport is £13.50, routed Southern Only.
London Bridge - Gatwick Airport is £8.50, routed Southern Only.
There is a Southern train service from London Bridge to Victoria, from where one could catch the Victoria - Gatwick train.
Obviously that would be slow and unpleasant, but a much better idea is to simply buy the £8.50 London Bridge - Gatwick ticket for a journey starting from Victoria. Is this valid?
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St Pancras, Farringdon and Blackfriars - Gatwick Airport have fares of £9.90 routed 'Not Underground'.
The intention is obviously that one catch the Thameslink service running directly to Gatwick from these stations.
However checking nationalrail.co.uk for a late time, when the Thameslink + underground are not running, it suggests transferring by bus or taxi to Victoria, and then connecting onto the Gatwick Express, and with a fare of £9.90. This suggests that via Victoria, on any train, is a valid route for these tickets.
If you check a normal time of day then routing via Victoria routes on the underground, and fares go up to £17.30 (Southern only), £17.50 (not via Gatwick Express), and £22.50 (Any Permitted).
However obviously with no underground this is not an option.
So in general is it possible to make ones own arrangements between stations on a ticket routed 'Not Underground' (which might, incidentally, be using a separate Oyster Card ticket on the underground) in order to exploit a cheaper ticket?
I suspect the ticket should be endorsed Not Underground, First Capital Connect Only, because it seems to me that say Blackfriars - walk to - Victoria - Gatwick Express to - Gatwick is a valid routing on this ticket.
And that there is not much Southern can do to stop the cheaper London Bridge - Gatwick Airport (Southern Only) ticket being used on the faster Victoria - Gatwick Airport service?
London Bridge - Gatwick Airport is £8.50, routed Southern Only.
There is a Southern train service from London Bridge to Victoria, from where one could catch the Victoria - Gatwick train.
Obviously that would be slow and unpleasant, but a much better idea is to simply buy the £8.50 London Bridge - Gatwick ticket for a journey starting from Victoria. Is this valid?
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St Pancras, Farringdon and Blackfriars - Gatwick Airport have fares of £9.90 routed 'Not Underground'.
The intention is obviously that one catch the Thameslink service running directly to Gatwick from these stations.
However checking nationalrail.co.uk for a late time, when the Thameslink + underground are not running, it suggests transferring by bus or taxi to Victoria, and then connecting onto the Gatwick Express, and with a fare of £9.90. This suggests that via Victoria, on any train, is a valid route for these tickets.
If you check a normal time of day then routing via Victoria routes on the underground, and fares go up to £17.30 (Southern only), £17.50 (not via Gatwick Express), and £22.50 (Any Permitted).
However obviously with no underground this is not an option.
So in general is it possible to make ones own arrangements between stations on a ticket routed 'Not Underground' (which might, incidentally, be using a separate Oyster Card ticket on the underground) in order to exploit a cheaper ticket?
I suspect the ticket should be endorsed Not Underground, First Capital Connect Only, because it seems to me that say Blackfriars - walk to - Victoria - Gatwick Express to - Gatwick is a valid routing on this ticket.
And that there is not much Southern can do to stop the cheaper London Bridge - Gatwick Airport (Southern Only) ticket being used on the faster Victoria - Gatwick Airport service?