Haslemere to London and back a few days later - pricing

[Lockwood]

Hi

I had a look at NRE earlier on my mobile for a trip I am making at the weekend:
17/08, Haslemere to London Waterloo
20/08, London Waterloo to Haslemere
2 adults with Network Railcard

I was given a ticket cost of £38-ish, or with travelcard for £48-ish

I just did the same search and got a price of £47.30 for 2 off peak returns, and no option of travelcard

Ultimately we'll be going to Liverpool Street, and will be travelling around during the time we're up there but will be doing that on contactless/Oyster. I did look at Haslemere to/from London Liverpool Street, and got a £55.20 price. The last day is likely to be a straight back journey, so direct tube between them is fine, but the first day may see more travel.


So... My question was going to be "Would the travelcard be valid on the day of the out ticket or the return ticket?"
As those options have now disappeared, the questions become "Why did I get such different results doing the same query twice?" and more importantly, which is the better option:

1:
Saturday: paper ticket HSL -> WAT, Oyster for traveling around (unsure how much travel), end up at LST
Sunday: Oyster to travel around a reasonable bit (likely to hit daily cap)
Monday: Oyster to travel around a reasonable bit (might hit daily cap)
Tuesday: Oyster from LST -> WAT (possibly with other travel), paper ticket WAT -> HSL

2:
Saturday: paper ticket HSL -> LST, Oyster for extra traveling around (unsure how much travel)
Sunday: Oyster to travel around a reasonable bit (likely to hit daily cap)
Monday: Oyster to travel around a reasonable bit (might hit daily cap)
Tuesday: Paper ticket LST -> HSL

3: Some other option I haven't thought of

There is a bit of an unknown entity for the Saturday and Tuesday in terms of extra travel, this would depend on weather, motivation, time, etc. It probably wouldn't extend past Zone 2.



Thanks

 

[bb21]

The £47.30 period return to London (£23.65 each) plus contactless/Oyster PAYG may be your best option.

Travelcards are day tickets, so you will need another single going back on Tuesday, which seems to negate the savings you make on Travelcards. You could possibly save a bit taking stopping trains to Clapham Junction or a station further out so you pay a cheaper fare than to London, but in turn pay a bit more on contactless/Oyster, and possibly a much longer journey time with the added hassle of having to touch in/out at the interchange station.

For the weekend the discounted Zones 1-6 Travelcard may be better value at £8.60 each depending on how many zones you intend on covering, while Monday and Tuesday you would be better off using contactless/Oyster. It also allows you to be flexible and pay only for the journeys you make on those days.

If you are sure you won't hit the PAYG cap, for Saturday and Tuesday, you may be better off buying the return to Liverpool Street, which would be the destination Zone U1* London as opposed to London Terminals. You get a discount with your Railcard for the add-on amount on the LUL part, which comes to £2 each way, hence cheaper than an undiscounted single in Zone 1 on LUL (£2.40).

 

[Lockwood]

Thank you for the comprehensive reply