Buying ticket cross london vs Oyster + Terminal and Destination

[renegademaster]

Which one of these methods is better value. Oyster fares are cheaper than paper fares for something like East Croydon to London Bridge but does this still remain true for longer journeys?

 

[hkstudent]

Which one of these methods is better value. Oyster fares are cheaper than paper fares for something like East Croydon to London Bridge but does this still remain true for longer journeys?

If it is wholly within London zone 1-6, 99% of the case, oyster / contactless PAYG would be cheaper. But beyond that, would need to be case by case basis, especially on routes that have super off peak fares.

 

[JonathanH]

Which one of these methods is better value. Oyster fares are cheaper than paper fares for something like East Croydon to London Bridge but does this still remain true for longer journeys?

It will depend on the journey and the type of ticket you are travelling on from the London Terminal.

Within London, Oyster fares are designed to be cheaper than paper tickets, other than in edge cases, like railcard discounts in the evening peak on certain flows.

When buying advance fares from London Terminals, the through fares may be more expensive than Oyster plus buying the fare from the London Terminal. For walk up tickets, it is generally likely to be cheaper not to rebook, but each journey needs to be planned on its own circumstances.

 

[redreni]

There's no rule of thumb.

In my particular circumstances, for example, it is often better for me to use contactless on weekdays but paper tickets at weekends (or on the rare occasion when I do a longer journey after 10am on a weekday) because I have a Network Railcard.

There are a few factors to consider. For long distance journeys I often consider it worth paying a bit more to have paper tickets covering my whole journey, for reasons relating to ease of exercising certain rights in the event of disruption.

 

[Belperpete]

In my case, an off peak return to Euston is £71.40, but a through return to Croydon is £74.40. So for an extra £2.60, I get two trips on the tube, plus a return to Croydon. And even though an off peak ticket, these journeys can be made at peak times. There are other South London destinations where the difference is practically negligible, effectively making the peak tube journeys and onward travel a free add-on. If you are making a long distance journey involving cross -London travel, it is definitely worth checking what a through ticket would cost.