GroupSave on Stansted Express: just online?

[flyGRX]

Hi there,

I am planning to travel to London in December, and since we are a party of 8 people, I thought we could benefit from the GroupSave offer on the Stansted Express. However, it says in their website that the GroupSave offer "is an exclusive online offer only". How true is this? Not that it would be a big problem, really, but we would need to know in advance! I've been using GroupSave with a number of TOCs and never had a problem when buying my tickets from the ticket window, but seeing how Stansted Express is a special service... can anyone confirm this? Thanks in advance for your time!

 

[island]

Welcome to the forum. That's an interesting question. I think you should be able to get it at the station, but at worst you could order online on the same day.

 

[lemonic]

Depending what type of ticket you require, it may be cheaper to get a ticket from Elsenham to London. (You simply start your journey short at Stansted Airport) You can definitely get GroupSave online for that journey and I can't see why it wouldn't be valid on the Stansted Express.

 

[barrykas]

At a guess, it's because the GroupSave discount can't be applied to Anytime Singles and Returns, so they're offering an online only discount instead, and I'd suspect that tickets issued with said discount will have "DISC" printed on them instead of the usual GS3 or GS4 that normally appears on tickets issued with a GroupSave discount.

Though as others have pointed out, it'd be cheaper to buy from Elsenham if you're travelling Off-Peak. Having said that, I'd personally suggest using Audley End instead, given the CrossCountry Stansted - Brum (via Cambridge) services stop there, so it's less likely to result in potential queries as to your choice of route.

 

[island]

There's an SVR from London Terminals to Stansted Airport these days, Barry.

 

[barrykas]

There's an SVR from London Terminals to Stansted Airport these days, Barry.

Hadn't noticed that, though it's the same price as the Anytime Return anyway! As such, I'd still suggest buying to/from Audley End if travelling off-peak.

 

[flyGRX]

First of all, thanks for your quick replies! (and for the warm welcome, island!). As many times as I had traveled back and forth from Stansted, I didn't know anything about the Audley End "loophole".

However, I might have a problem with that... considering that we wouldn't be getting the train before 23.30 (late Ryanair flight, go figure), would I still be able to travel with the Audley End-Liverpool St. ticket? Also, I'm assuming that I'd need to buy these online, is that correct? They're not gonna sell me that kind of ticket on the NR counter at the airport, at 11 o'clock at night, right?

In any case... would then be OK to get 8 tickets (2 GroupSave deals, then) from Audley End to Liverpool St? Would I have to select specific times if I buy online, and so would this be a problem?

Sorry for all the mess, but I need to be sure of what I'm doing, especially as I'm leading the trip and I don't want to be embarrassed in front of all my friends

Thanks again!

 

[island]

You are entitled to be sold the ticket at the Stansted booking office (lower floor; there is a half-baked office in the arrivals area that does not sell the full range). You are entitled to buy it on the train if that booking office is shut. If you buy online, you do not have to commit to specific trains, and are not bound to those trains if you do. I would suggest buying from Southern in that case in order that you can get a refund if you are unable to use the tickets for whatever reason, such as the flight being delayed until after trains finish.

 

[flyGRX]

Thanks for all the useful information, island. Things appear much clearer to me now 8 tickets from Audley End to Liverpool St. then!

Last time I took a train from the airport into London that late at night, no one checked my ticket on the train, and both sets of barriers (at SSD and LST) were wide open, so hopefully it won't be much of a problem this time either. Just to be extra sure, should I have some sort of speech prepared in case we're challenged on the train?