London Travelcard + St Albans

I'm going to St Albans later today, starting from a National Rail station in zone 5. In the past when I've been travelling somewhere near London (but outside the zones) I've bought a day travelcard plus a "Boundary Z6-xx" day return.

I have a Network Railcard, of course this has a £13 minimum fare during the week. If I buy a day travelcard plus boundary extension I expect this will come to about £16. Would I be able to get this discounted to £13, or would my tickets count as separate journeys, with a minimum fare on each?

I thought I'd post this as this issue confuses me slightly. I travelled to Guildford last week and when I tried asking at the ticket office I was offered a travelcard "Guildford - London Z1-6" which I've never been offered before. I didn't think you could buy those travelcards for a journey starting in London. I've never seen them offered by machines and I tried to book one online in the last few days without success.

Bit confused, can anyone clarify which travelcards options are valid, and the minimum fare issue?

daniel78 said:

I thought I'd post this as this issue confuses me slightly. I travelled to Guildford last week and when I tried asking at the ticket office I was offered a travelcard "Guildford - London Z1-6" which I've never been offered before. I didn't think you could buy those travelcards for a journey starting in London. I've never seen them offered by machines and I tried to book one online in the last few days without success.

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You can buy this ticket in London but once you've journeyed to Guildford you wouldn't be able to use the ticket to come back to London.

Guildford - London Z1-6 should not have been offered, as it is the wrong way round for a journey starting in London.

Unfortunately, outboundary travelcards do not exist for journeys starting in London, so you will have to get the seperate tickets as you suggest. The minimum fare is applied seperately for each ticket (Boundary Zone - St Albans and also Travelcard)

The Network Railcard minimum fare is £13 per ticket, you cannot get your proposed combination discounted to £13.

Do you need to use the travelcard to travel around London prior to your journey to St. Albans? If not you might be better off using a single point-to-point ticket for your through journey with the Network Railcard discount.

The cheapest way for a Z1-6 ticket holder to get to St Albans is Boundary Zone 6-Park St. The shortest route is via St Albans. Finishing short is permitted.

I don't provide recommendations of a ticket starting/finishing short, if it's a Routeing Guide anomaly, but this is the shortest route and has been published on here many times before.

I have successfully used that ticket, and so have other forum members. I can give you the name of an RPI who confirms it's OK to use if you are worried, though it's indisputably valid so there's no need to worry.

Thanks for the responses. That pretty much confirmed what I thought about the travelcard I was offered last week. Pity that there's no way of getting a railcard discount but that was the answer I expected really.

I'll follow Hadder's suggestion. A Bush Hill Park - St Albans return will be £13 with Railcard. Tonight in particular it's not ideal, as if I get back late and the strike has kicked in I might prefer to get a bus or two from St Pancras, but if I end up using PAYG Oyster for that it's no great problem.

The strike has been cancelled according to BBC news

maniacmartin said:

The strike has been cancelled according to BBC news

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And that's relevant to this thread how?

Deerfold said:

And that's relevant to this thread how?

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I understand it's because the OP didn't need a Travelcard for the journey, but was considering purchasing one in case it became useful during a strike.

yorkie said:

I understand it's because the OP didn't need a Travelcard for the journey, but was considering purchasing one in case it became useful during a strike.

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I couldn't see that anywhere. Apologies.

daniel78 said:

A Bush Hill Park - St Albans return will be £13 with Railcard.

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In case you ever make this journey again, it's worth bearing in mind that it might be quicker and cheaper to do it by bus, or a combination of train then bus – all you need to do is get yourself to Enfield (by train or bus) then it's a 313 and 84. Quite a pleasant trip actually!

The 84 is not valid on a travelcard, but I believe having a travelcard gets you a discount.

(If Wikipedia is to be trusted)

tractakid said:

The 84 is not valid on a travelcard, but I believe having a travelcard gets you a discount.

(If Wikipedia is to be trusted)

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I'm not sure if that is still applicable - there's no mention of it at http://www.metroline.co.uk/uploads/pages/METROLINE_Fare_Deals_14.pdf

When it was, that fare was only valid South of Potters Bar.

Indeed, alas the 84 hasn't accepted TfL tickets in any capacity for a year or two now – which, as an aside, creates the anomaly where the main bus service through a London area is now one that doesn't accept London fares.

My point, though, was that I'd expect the cost of a £4.40 London bus cap (to get to Potters Bar) plus a return on the 84 to be less than the cost of doing the journey via London, with the added advantage that it's (in my opinion) a more enjoyable journey, and maybe even faster too.