Combining tickets - hypothetically

[Harlesden]

The vast majority of people traveling to or through London on NR use the Underground to continue or conclude their journey.
Many of these are unlikely to have Oyster so are required to pay the minimum cash fare of £4.30 (2012 fare) and so cause delay to others and are themselves delayed by having to queue up either at Underground ticket office or machine.
Would it not be a good idea if every NR ticket issued to or through London incorporated a Zones 1 and 2 One-Day TravelCard thereby eliminating the need to purchase separate Underground tickets? This would be an option available to the passenger at the time of booking - a ticket with or without TravelCard. Although the 2012 price of the Zones 1 and 2 One-Day TravelCard is £7.00, passenger choosing the with TravelCard option would only pay 60% (£4.20) as an enticement to choose the option.
The option would be available at all times except on journeys scheduled to arrive in London before 09:20 Monday-Friday (assuming 10 minutes minimum for the passenger to perambulate between NR train and Underground ticket gates).
Posters at participating NR stations would clearly show the limits of the Zones 1 and 2 TravelCard.

 

[yorkie]

There are already Travelcard options for less than £4.20 extra from every origin within the 'Network area' and quite a few beyond that too, and they also include up to Zone 6.

e.g.
Peterborough-London Terminals (Any Permitted) CDR £29.00
Peterborough-London Zones 1-6 (Any Permitted) CDR £33.00

 

[hairyhandedfool]

There is nothing to stop a passenger from booking a travelcard with their ticket to London (or even just a single across town) if you buy them at a railway station or via telesales, I imagine you can easily do it online if you know what you are looking for (I've never used online booking sites).

As a ticket office clerk I always ask if the passenger is just going to the London terminal or further afield, usually it is just to the terminal though.

 

[SS4]

The thought of having to pay extra to subsidise those too foolish to click the addon option knowing it'll save them money is baulks me.

Regular travellers have Oyster, savvy semi-regular/occasional travellers have Oyster, those who don't can pay a supplement lower than they'd pay at the gates. In other words the existing options serve the purpose well and forcing everyone to pay extra despite being able to take a cheaper option smacks of ATOC style "Simplification"
As the old saying goes a fool and his money are soon parted

 

[Bungle73]

I'm not sure what it is you're suggesting?

You can already purchase a London ticket with Tube travel included.
You can already purchase a London ticket with a Travelcard included.
Any ticket that requires cross-London travel already includes Tube travel.

 

[Flamingo]

I'm not sure what it is you're suggesting?

You can already purchase a London ticket with Tube travel included.
You can already purchase a London ticket with a Travelcard included.
Any ticket that requires cross-London travel already includes Tube travel.

Just what I was thinking.

Also, you can ask the guard on your inbound train to sell you a tube ticket,they can be sold from an Avantex (single journeys and travelcards).

 

[dzug2]

As a ticket office clerk I always ask if the passenger is just going to the London terminal or further afield, usually it is just to the terminal though.

Possibly they answer that way because they are ignorant of the possibilities?

 

[Flamingo]

Possibly they answer that way because they are ignorant of the possibilities?

Well, there is only so much one can do for people.

 

[tony_mac]

I imagine that irregular travellers won't realise that the tube has ridiculous cash fares.

Some years ago, I was the person refusing the included travelcard as I only wanted a return journey. When I saw the single ticket prices I regretted it.

It would be fine if the zones 1&2 travelcard was actually free, and Tfl didn't want any money for issuing them, but that isn't going to happen.

 

[Brucey]

Most LU staff (in my experience) always ask if you are making several journeys when buying a cash single. If you say yes, they will normally inform you about a Travelcard or Oyster card (as appropriate).

 

[snail]

There is nothing to stop a passenger from booking a travelcard with their ticket to London (or even just a single across town) if you buy them at a railway station or via telesales, I imagine you can easily do it online if you know what you are looking for (I've never used online booking sites).

I'm pretty sure it comes up as an optional add-on on most sites when booking, similar to PlusBus.

I don't know why LU still bother with single cash fares, they should just give everyone an Oyster card. I know some of the machines are now set up to issue them directly.

Something else that could be better publicised is the availability of railcard discounts on Oyster, I've mentioned it to a few friends & family who didn't know you can save on tube & overground fares directly and pay less for a travelcard.

 

[calc7]

It would perhaps be useful if the existence of Zone U1* LONDN etc. as a destination was more widely known. It tends to only add circa £2 to the cost of a single ticket, but has many uses.

 

[island]

I would have thought many of those people would have, or at least benefit from, Oyster cards.

 

[ng1980]

The vast majority of people traveling to or through London on NR use the Underground to continue or conclude their journey.
Many of these are unlikely to have Oyster so are required to pay the minimum cash fare of £4.30 (2012 fare) and so cause delay to others and are themselves delayed by having to queue up either at Underground ticket office or machine.
Would it not be a good idea if every NR ticket issued to or through London incorporated a Zones 1 and 2 One-Day TravelCard thereby eliminating the need to purchase separate Underground tickets? This would be an option available to the passenger at the time of booking - a ticket with or without TravelCard. Although the 2012 price of the Zones 1 and 2 One-Day TravelCard is £7.00, passenger choosing the with TravelCard option would only pay 60% (£4.20) as an enticement to choose the option.
The option would be available at all times except on journeys scheduled to arrive in London before 09:20 Monday-Friday (assuming 10 minutes minimum for the passenger to perambulate between NR train and Underground ticket gates).
Posters at participating NR stations would clearly show the limits of the Zones 1 and 2 TravelCard.

As many others have said, purchasing Tube travel of various kinds is possible with the price of your ticket. Few, if any, TOCs or other ticketing companies do not provide this.

However, to the irregular traveller to London, this does seem expensive. I know my mother has refused this on the grounds of price and regretted this on arrival to London, realising that the cash fare is more.

My concern is the large (even, unexplicably large) numbers of Underground staff who delay you at the gate, trying to issue you a penalty fare. If you decline a penalty fare and make a fuss, they call their manager, who, when they eventually arrive, confirm that your ticket (as you have insisted all along) is valid and that the monkeys on the gate don't know what they are talking about. This has happened THREE TIMES to me! Maybe if you are rich and don't have time to argue about not paying penalty fares and waiting for manaers, then just pay a cash fare!

Even people who only visit London 2-3 times per year would probably be wise to have an Oyster card!

 

[EM2]

Just about everyone I know from outside London, who maybe comes to London once a year (and many not even that), has an Oyster.

 

[Bungle73]

My concern is the large (even, unexplicably large) numbers of Underground staff who delay you at the gate, trying to issue you a penalty fare. If you decline a penalty fare and make a fuss, they call their manager, who, when they eventually arrive, confirm that your ticket (as you have insisted all along) is valid and that the monkeys on the gate don't know what they are talking about. This has happened THREE TIMES to me! Maybe if you are rich and don't have time to argue about not paying penalty fares and waiting for manaers, then just pay a cash fare!

Which tickets and journeys do you have problems with?

Just about everyone I know from outside London, who maybe comes to London once a year (and many not even that), has an Oyster.

I travel up to London maybe once a week and I don't have an Oyster. I just purchase an out-boundary paper Travelcard. I'm not sure having one would be of any advantage to me.

 

[EM2]

I travel up to London maybe once a week and I don't have an Oyster. I just purchase an out-boundary paper Travelcard. I'm not sure having one would be of any advantage to me.

Depends how long you're in town for. However, seeing as you are in Kent, I would think that the chances of you needing to be in London for more than a day are slim.
If, like many of my friends, you come from Cardiff, or Halifax, or Nottingham, or Liverpool, or Glasgow, or Bristol, or Coldstream, you're up for the weekend, or even an overnight (e.g. after a gig), then I would think an Oyster would be easier.

 

[Bungle73]

Depends how long you're in town for. However, seeing as you are in Kent, I would think that the chances of you needing to be in London for more than a day are slim.
If, like many of my friends, you come from Cardiff, or Halifax, or Nottingham, or Liverpool, or Glasgow, or Bristol, or Coldstream, you're up for the weekend, or even an overnight (e.g. after a gig), then I would think an Oyster would be easier.

You're right, I'm only up there for the day.

 

[yorkie]

My concern is the large (even, unexplicably large) numbers of Underground staff who delay you at the gate, trying to issue you a penalty fare. If you decline a penalty fare and make a fuss, they call their manager, who, when they eventually arrive, confirm that your ticket (as you have insisted all along) is valid and that the monkeys on the gate don't know what they are talking about. This has happened THREE TIMES to me! Maybe if you are rich and don't have time to argue about not paying penalty fares and waiting for manaers, then just pay a cash fare!

This is probably best posted in a new topic but I'd be interested to know more information about this, as it's impossible to comment without knowing the details.