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Basingstoke to London Waterloo

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jondarsh

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Hi everyone!

I'll soon be moving to Basingstoke. My work pays for an Oyster monthly travel card zones 1-4 (they will not increase it). If I buy a season ticket from Basingstoke into zone 4. Will I be able to tap out at zone 1 with my Oyster if I never tapped in? Do I still have to buy a London travel card 1-6?

Also my wife only has to travel into her work in imperial wharf, 3 days a week. She's going to buy a monthly travel card as she says it still works out cheaper. Or is there a cheaper way?

Many thank
 
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30907

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Hi everyone!

I'll soon be moving to Basingstoke. My work pays for an Oyster monthly travel card zones 1-4 (they will not increase it). If I buy a season ticket from Basingstoke into zone 4. Will I be able to tap out at zone 1 with my Oyster if I never tapped in?
AIUI, as it is a Travelcard, you can tap in/out as you like

Also my wife only has to travel into her work in imperial wharf, 3 days a week. She's going to buy a monthly travel card as she says it still works out cheaper.
Unless someone can suggest a clever split, that's probably best, especially if she wants the option of travelling via Waterloo.
The new Flexi Season "not via London" is actually fractionally more expensive per day than the equivalent normal season, so doesn't work for a consistent 3 days/week pattern.
 

Watershed

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Will I be able to tap out at zone 1 with my Oyster if I never tapped in?
Yes, a Travelcard should always open barriers in the zones it's valid in, regardless of previous touch in/out history - the only proviso being that if you have your Travelcard on an Oyster card, it will stop working if you have a negative balance.

That doesn't necessarily mean it is or isn't valid, but it will open barriers just fine.

Do I still have to buy a London travel card 1-6?
No. You can use multiple tickets for your journey. If, as in your case, at least one of those is a season ticket (the Travelcard), your train doesn't even don't need to stop at the 'boundary' station where the two tickets meet up. You would want to buy a ticket to New Malden, which is the last station in zone 4.

Also my wife only has to travel into her work in imperial wharf, 3 days a week. She's going to buy a monthly travel card as she says it still works out cheaper. Or is there a cheaper way
It's likely to be the cheapest way (assuming she doesn't get any kind of season ticket paid for by work).

Note that you can get a season for any duration between a month and a year, so it is often best value to get a season for a month and a few days (i.e. 5 working weeks), so that you avoid paying for quite as many weekends where you're not travelling.

If you had a Network Railcard you could get the daily cost down close to that (by splitting at Woking and Clapham Junction), but it's unlikely to be worthwhile given the loss of flexibility.
 

MikeWh

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If I buy a season ticket from Basingstoke into zone 4.
A 7-day season for Basingstoke to New Malden via Woking is £102.60.
A 7-day season for Basingstoke to Zones 5-6 via Woking is £102.10. There is no gap between zones 4 and 5. This will also give you unlimited travel within zones 5-6 should that prove useful at all.
 

kieron

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Also my wife only has to travel into her work in imperial wharf, 3 days a week. She's going to buy a monthly travel card as she says it still works out cheaper. Or is there a cheaper way?
Is your wife's commute Basingstoke-Waterloo-Clapham Junction-Imperial Wharf, and her proposal a £549.90/month travelcard?

If so, a Basingstoke-London "via Woking" season ticket would cost £462/month, 6 undiscounted peak Oyster/Contactless journeys between Clapham Junction and Imperial Wharf would add another £10.20/week to that. Assuming 4 weeks' travel each month, that would cost £502.80.

A 7-day season for Basingstoke to New Malden via Woking is £102.60.
A 7-day season for Basingstoke to Zones 5-6 via Woking is £102.10. There is no gap between zones 4 and 5. This will also give you unlimited travel within zones 5-6 should that prove useful at all.
A "not London" 7 day season between Basingstoke and Motspur Park costs £100.90. There is no need to visit Motspur Park when using it.

This is only useful if Jordanarsh rarely visits other parts of zones 5 & 6 by train, of course.
 

jondarsh

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Thanks for the reply everyone!

Just so I've got this right: if I buy a travel card from Basingstoke to New Malden. The train doesn't have to stop there or go through New Malden.

And if I use my Oyster card to tap out at clapham or Waterloo it won't charge extra even though I never tapped in with it.

My wife will unfortunately have to pay for a full months travel card.

Is that correct?
 

MikeWh

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Just so I've got this right: if I buy a travel card from Basingstoke to New Malden. The train doesn't have to stop there or go through New Malden.
If you buy a season ticket from Basingstoke to New Malden then the train must pass through New Malden, but it doesn't have to stop.
If you buy a travelcard from Basingstoke to zones 5-6 then it also doesn't have to go through New Malden. In this particular instance trains via Woking will go through New Malden, but you would also be able to change at Weybridge for Feltham and beyond.
And if I use my Oyster card to tap out at clapham or Waterloo it won't charge extra even though I never tapped in with it.
Correct if it has the zones 1-4 travelcard on it.
 
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