Crewe to Gatwick Advice

[Jay247uk]

Hi

I have a question about some advance tickets from Crewe to Gatwick Airport

Is there a way to tell if the tickets are valid on Gatwick Express? The routing on the ticket shows VTWC & Connections - With the validity as Bookdtrainonly

It's an advance ticket with seat reservations on the VT leg of the journey to Euston only

Is there a way to work out exactly which routes are valid from London down to Gatwick?

Thanks in advance!

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Any restrictions on the Train Company you can use will be shown on the ticket. For your peace of mind (and to avoid going into an argument about about Gatwick Express being or not being a TOC and whether that even matters), your ticket will be valid on Gatwick Express as a connection to your Virgin Trains service to London.

 

[AndrewE]

I find it easier (and about the same time) to walk from Euston to St Pancras and get a Thameslink train to Gatwick. Easier than negotiating the Undergound with luggage anyway.
A

 

[talldave]

I find it easier (and about the same time) to walk from Euston to St Pancras and get a Thameslink train to Gatwick. Easier than negotiating the Undergound with luggage anyway.
A

and the Thameslink driver might open the doors to let you on

 

[Jay247uk]

Thanks all for this!

The option of St Pancras on Thameslink looks the best!

Another question - We're heading into London for the day, after dumping bags at the airport hotel, I was looking at a Thameslink ticket return into London and saw no merit of buying these in advance

We'll be heading back up to St Pancras in the day, but then returning back to Gatwick in the evening from Farringdon - Are tickets marked London Stations for the return? Or will I need to get a return from Gatwick to St Pancras, and travel up to St Pancras to come back to Gatwick

Thanks again!

 

[hairyhandedfool]

A ticket from Gatwick Airport to "London Terminals" is not valid to St Pancras or Farringdon.

A ticket from Gatwick Airport to St Pancras is valid to Farringdon as well as St Pancras, but it is debatable if they are valid to Victoria.

 

[talldave]

Would a Travelcard be a better option? Using Gatwick-BZ6 tickets for nipping from/to Gatwick. Valid on all routes including Gatwick Express.

 

[button_boxer]

A ticket from Gatwick Airport to "London Terminals" is not valid to St Pancras or Farringdon.

But it is valid to City Thameslink, which is only a few minutes walk from Farringdon if that would be an option.

 

[yorkie]

Is there a way to tell if the tickets are valid on Gatwick Express? The routing on the ticket shows VTWC & Connections - With the validity as Bookdtrainonly

You are restricted to the booked Virgin Trains service to Euston, but from London you can use any train, by any train company. In this case there's only one train company operating trains anyway but yes you can use any of them, that includes the company's Thameslink route, or their Southern route or their Gatwick Express route.

What time are you getting into Euston?

If you're travelling at an off-peak time, the Gatwick Express route carries mostly fresh air, if it's a Gatwick terminator, so you can literally get the front coach to yourself.

However a combination of frequent short forms (especially the 1630 & 1730 to Brighton) and commuters in the evening peak can make the Gatwick Express route a most unpleasant experience at certain times

So it depends on the time of travel really.

 

[Jay247uk]

Thanks all

We get into London just after 8AM on a Saturday morning so I'm guessing things will be relatively quiet still.

We're heading back into Gatwick late on a Saturday evening so I think City Thameslink will already be closed

I have a PAYG Oyster that I'll be using for the tube while in London any benefit of using this for travel to Gatwick?

 

[yorkie]

Thanks all

We get into London just after 8AM on a Saturday morning so I'm guessing things will be relatively quiet still.

Check for engineering work, but you're probbaly looking at the 0830 from Victoria. This is a through train to Brighton, but is contra-"peak" so should be relatively quiet, especially in the front coach

We're heading back into Gatwick late on a Saturday evening so I think City Thameslink will already be closed

I have a PAYG Oyster that I'll be using for the tube while in London any benefit of using this for travel to Gatwick?

If you have a through fare to Gatwick you are covered for a cross-London transfer, but not for any additional journeys you make in London of course.

http://www.fastjp.com can be used to check your times. A check for Sunday 8 May shows direct trains from Gatwick to St Pancras taking just over an hour (not calling at City Thameslink, as you say, but calling at nearby Blackfriars) on a half-hourly basis, and more frequent (but still plenty of gapes) service to Victoria, with journey times starting at 37mins.

 

[AndrewE]

A ticket from Gatwick Airport to "London Terminals" is not valid to St Pancras or Farringdon.

But we can assume that a through Crewe-to-Gatwick ticket is valid via St Pancras, yes?
(& Even if the ticket did include a LUL journey I would still go for the Euston/Thameslink option, allowing for the rush hour advice, thanks.) Is this one of the cases where a split ticket would have saved quite a bit of money?

 

[hairyhandedfool]

But we can assume that a through Crewe-to-Gatwick ticket is valid via St Pancras, yes?...

A Crewe to Gatwick ticket definitely is valid that way.

.... Is this one of the cases where a split ticket would have saved quite a bit of money?

With Advance tickets? Difficult to say for definite, but I'd suspect not.

 

[Jay247uk]

Is this one of the cases where a split ticket would have saved quite a bit of money?

This is the part that confused me as to if the GatEx would actually be valid - The cost of the advance single from Crewe To Gatwick is only £18.50 - Which when looking at the GatEx price of £17.80 one way, makes the Virgin part only 80p

Bargin!