Cheapest ticket to satisfy the 2for1 offer in London?

[trevmonk]

Slight problem. I've already booked four advance tickets for today at London Zoo and used the 2for1 rail promo code. We were going to travel in via Thameslink from St Albans but the whole line is down at he moment and the replacement bus etc looks a bit of a nightmare so we're going to drive. That means I still need 2 rail tickets to show at the Zoo, if they do check. I was going to buy a couple of Kentish Town to St Pancras singles online for 2.55 each with railcards but they've suspended online sales for todays service due to the line closure. Is there another cheap alternative. It has to be a ticket into a London Terminal or the nearest station to the attraction visited. Reading the conditions I interpreted it as needing only one rail ticket per pair of entrance tickets to the attraction?

 

[Haywain]

Slight problem. I've already booked four advance tickets for today at London Zoo and used the 2for1 rail promo code. We were going to travel in via Thameslink from St Albans but the whole line is down at he moment and the replacement bus etc looks a bit of a nightmare so we're going to drive. That means I still need 2 rail tickets to show at the Zoo, if they do check. I was going to buy a couple of Kentish Town to St Pancras singles online for 2.55 each with railcards but they've suspended online sales for todays service due to the line closure. Is there another cheap alternative. It has to be a ticket into a London Terminal or the nearest station to the attraction visited. Reading the conditions I interpreted it as needing only one rail ticket per pair of entrance tickets to the attraction?

The tickets should be from outside of the London zones.

 

[transportphoto]

The tickets should be from outside of the London zones.

I’ve just done a flick through the T&Cs and the FAQs, I can’t see this anywhere. The ticket needs to be on orange stock and issued to London Terminals (or the station nearest the attraction). The ticket needs to demonstrate that you’ve travelled to the venue by train otherwise the venue has the right to refuse to accept the offer.

Many years ago, I’ve used 2 for 1 with inboundary Travelcards issued on orange stock.

 

[trevmonk]

Is that rule written anywhere? On the ticket validity page it just refers to National Rail tickets without mentioning the location of the origin station. I can see Tube and DLR tickets are excluded but wondered whether London Overground tickets count, presumably not if an orange ticket is required.

 

[transportphoto]

London Overground is part of ‘National Rail’ so you should be fine with those tickets (issued on orange stock)… but of course we can’t encourage fraudulent use of the offer.

 

[paul1609]

Do you have a key card? That is accepted.

 

[trevmonk]

Do you have a key card? That is accepted.

Yes, I do have a Key card but without any valid tickets on. I'm guessing London Zoo don't have any card readers! As Oyster isn't accepted I assumed all similar cards would be the same.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Why not give the Abbey Line a go or drive to Watford, and still go by train? Driving to London is pretty rubbish.

 

[Wallsendmag]

Is my ticket valid for 2FOR1?​

YES! The following ticket types are valid for 2FOR1 and other offers on daysoutguide.co.uk:

• National Rail orange paper tickets including:
  • Advance
  • Anytime
  • Off-Peak
  • Super Off-Peak
  • Travelcards - purchased from a National Rail station only
• Print @ Home or Mobile tickets (m-Tickets) for travel on National Rail services (showing the National Rail symbol)
• Carnet Tickets
• Season tickets
• Annual Gold Cards
• Gold Record Cards (when an Annual Season ticket is held on smartcard)
• Train company issued smartcards (e.g. The Key, c2c Smart)

NO! The following ticket types are cannot be used for 2FOR1 and other offers on daysoutguide.co.uk:

• Oyster Cards
• Transport for London (TfL) issued Travelcards, including Travelcards bought on visitorshop.tfl.gov.uk
• Freedom Passes
• Contactless payment cards or mobile payments
• Heathrow Express and Heathrow Connect tickets
• Stansted Express and Gatwick Express in-flight or mobile tickets where the National Rail logo is not shown
• BritRail Passes
• Eurostar tickets
• MegaTrain tickets

If you are making a one way journey or your ticket is valid for one day, you can use your National Rail tickets and offer vouchers only on the day of travel.
If you are making a return journey, you can use your National Rail tickets and offer vouchers any day on or between your outward and return journeys. For example, if you arrived on Thursday and will return on Sunday, your tickets will be considered valid for the offers on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
All tickets should show that you have travelled to the attraction by train, whether that be ‘London Terminals’ for 2FOR1 London attractions, or the train station nearest to the attraction itself. Tickets that have a destination too far from the attractions location may be denied by attraction staff. Details of the attractions nearest station can be found on the attraction’s listing page.
If you are worried that the ticket barrier will keep your ticket when you exit the station, please ask a member of staff to let you through manually. This will ensure you have retained your tickets in order to redeem 2FOR1 offers at attractions.

Can I use London Underground tickets to obtain the offers?​

No, London Underground issued tickets (including Travelcards) are NOT valid for the offers on this website and will not be accepted at any attraction/venue.
See our Valid Train Tickets page for further details.

Are my GroupSave discounted tickets valid in conjunction with 2FOR1?​

Yes, GroupSave discounted National Rail tickets are valid for the offers on this website and will be accepted as evidence of travelling by train at the attraction/venue.

. The ticket needs to be on orange stock and issued to London Terminals (or the station nearest the attraction).

No it really doesn't

 

[SirAlf]

I'm sure I've read on Trip Advisor that Queenstown Road Battersea to Vauxhall works for 2 for 1

 

[alistairlees]

Is my ticket valid for 2FOR1?​

YES! The following ticket types are valid for 2FOR1 and other offers on daysoutguide.co.uk:

• National Rail orange paper tickets including:
  • Advance
  • Anytime
  • Off-Peak
  • Super Off-Peak
  • Travelcards - purchased from a National Rail station only
• Print @ Home or Mobile tickets (m-Tickets) for travel on National Rail services (showing the National Rail symbol)
• Carnet Tickets
• Season tickets
• Annual Gold Cards
• Gold Record Cards (when an Annual Season ticket is held on smartcard)
• Train company issued smartcards (e.g. The Key, c2c Smart)

NO! The following ticket types are cannot be used for 2FOR1 and other offers on daysoutguide.co.uk:

• Oyster Cards
• Transport for London (TfL) issued Travelcards, including Travelcards bought on visitorshop.tfl.gov.uk
• Freedom Passes
• Contactless payment cards or mobile payments
• Heathrow Express and Heathrow Connect tickets
• Stansted Express and Gatwick Express in-flight or mobile tickets where the National Rail logo is not shown
• BritRail Passes
• Eurostar tickets
• MegaTrain tickets

If you are making a one way journey or your ticket is valid for one day, you can use your National Rail tickets and offer vouchers only on the day of travel.
If you are making a return journey, you can use your National Rail tickets and offer vouchers any day on or between your outward and return journeys. For example, if you arrived on Thursday and will return on Sunday, your tickets will be considered valid for the offers on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
All tickets should show that you have travelled to the attraction by train, whether that be ‘London Terminals’ for 2FOR1 London attractions, or the train station nearest to the attraction itself. Tickets that have a destination too far from the attractions location may be denied by attraction staff. Details of the attractions nearest station can be found on the attraction’s listing page.
If you are worried that the ticket barrier will keep your ticket when you exit the station, please ask a member of staff to let you through manually. This will ensure you have retained your tickets in order to redeem 2FOR1 offers at attractions.

Can I use London Underground tickets to obtain the offers?​

No, London Underground issued tickets (including Travelcards) are NOT valid for the offers on this website and will not be accepted at any attraction/venue.
See our Valid Train Tickets page for further details.

Are my GroupSave discounted tickets valid in conjunction with 2FOR1?​

Yes, GroupSave discounted National Rail tickets are valid for the offers on this website and will be accepted as evidence of travelling by train at the attraction/venue.


No it really doesn't

This is very out of date. No mention of eTickets? Print @ home is discontinued. Heathrow Connect is no more; perhaps the exclusions now includde TfL Rail, but who knows?

Travelcards bought online would be fine too...

 

[Silver Cobra]

There is a chance that the venue won’t actually check that you have the rail tickets needed for this offer. I recently visited Madame Tussaud’s with my mum, using the 2For1 offer via National Rail. We travelled in to London using Stevenage to London Zones 1-6 Off-Peak Day Travelcards, which satisfy the requirement for the rail tickets for the offer no problem, but when we got to Madame Tussaud’s, after scanning our venue tickets, surprisingly they never asked to see the rail tickets.

Granted I wouldn’t take the risk of turning up without valid rail tickets in case they do ask to see them to validate the offer, but based on my experience I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t ask you for them.

 

[Wallsendmag]

This is very out of date. No mention of eTickets? Print @ home is discontinued. Heathrow Connect is no more; perhaps the exclusions now includde TfL Rail, but who knows?

Travelcards bought online would be fine too...

Isn’t Print at Home valid until September?

 

[Blinkbonny]

There is a chance that the venue won’t actually check that you have the rail tickets needed for this offer. I recently visited Madame Tussaud’s with my mum, using the 2For1 offer via National Rail. We travelled in to London using Stevenage to London Zones 1-6 Off-Peak Day Travelcards, which satisfy the requirement for the rail tickets for the offer no problem, but when we got to Madame Tussaud’s, after scanning our venue tickets, surprisingly they never asked to see the rail tickets.

Granted I wouldn’t take the risk of turning up without valid rail tickets in case they do ask to see them to validate the offer, but based on my experience I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t ask you for them.

I was going to point this out. In my limited experience of using these tickets the seller is not particularly interested in your travel details and just nods them through. (Though of course Sod's Law means you can't totally depend on it!) For any major-ish attraction there are usually so many offers around that the gate-line tend not to keep track of them all and err on the side of leniency.

I live quite close to Warwick Castle for instance, and anybody (or at least pair of people) paying full price there is very much a Tourist! I've seen Two-for-One on Leaflets at station, supermarket receipts, cereal and crisp packets, and on the back of bus tickets.

Even the Tourist Information Office two minutes walk away can sell you a discounted ticket.

 

[Springs Branch]

I was going to point this out. In my limited experience of using these tickets the seller is not particularly interested in your travel details and just nods them through.

Last time I visited London pre-pandemic, Mrs S.B. & I made use of three different 2-for-1 offers over the course of a week. We did this (depending on other plans for the day) with either Hampton Wick to London Terminals Day Returns with 2 Together R/card, or Z1-6 Day Travelcards.

At each of the venues, staff paid minimal or zero attention to our rail tickets. I'm sure having something vaguely credit card sized and orange was enough. Not to say you won't encounter a jobsworth somewhere, sometime though.

I'm sure I've read on Trip Advisor that Queenstown Road Battersea to Vauxhall works for 2 for 1

The question of the cheapest rail tickets to get the 2-for-1 discount has come up a couple of times in the past on this forum. I think Vauxhall to Waterloo, or Waterloo East to Charing Cross have been suggested previously, but looks like Queenstown Rd to Vauxhall beats those.