London Terminals / London Thameslink season ticket confusion

[MDB]

Hi,

This forum has been amazingly helpful to me in the past - thank you in advance for any advice you can offer now.

I have been commuting from Clock House to Charing Cross on an annual season ticket from Clock House to London Terminals, also available at Beckenham Junction. This has worked really well for me, as I also live within walking distance of Kent House and when necessary have been able to go from Kent House to e.g. Victoria or Blackfriars on the same ticket.

I now need to change my regular commute and go to St Pancras, for which the best route (avoiding the underground) is Kent House -> Blackfriars -> St Pancras.

To my horror, it appears that:

• I can't use a season ticket to London Terminals, as St Pancras is not one - I either need a ticket to St Pancras or possibly London Thameslink? (Although London Thameslink does not appear as an option on the National Rail instant season ticket calculator, only the named station.)
• This ticket will not allow me to use London Terminals stations.
• A ticket from Clock House to London St Pancras / London Thameslink is not also available at Beckenham Junction, so I must get a ticket from Kent House (or, for the same price, Beckenham Junction) and lose the ability to use Clock House. (Unless the fact that Clock House <--> Kent House is a "fixed link" means that a Clock House ticket will still allow use of Kent House?)

Is this right? It seems ridiculous that although the season tickets to London Terminals and St Pancras are exactly the same price, they are valid at completely different stations and only one of them allows the use of both Clock House and Beckenham Junction.

Is there a clever workaround? I think I might vaguely remember some kind of rule that on a London Terminals ticket you can make one further journey after you arrive at a London Terminal to another London station, or something similar to that?

All advice gratefully received! Many thanks.

 

[JB_B]

If you've not seen it already, the diagrams on this page show the different validity for London Terminals and London Thameslink from the South ( confusingly labelled "London Thameslink Terminals")

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/ticket_types/46587.aspx

Re the lack of "also available at", you may find that your route from Kent House (or other nearby stations) to St Pancras lies on a route that's within three miles of the shortest route to St Pancras from Clock House so a London Thameslink ticket could be valid even if there's no specific AAA provision.

 

[Belperpete]

You will in future be travelling across to the other side of London, so surely you should expect to pay more than you do now. You are lucky that you can actually pay the same for the longer journey, but this is by sacrificing a lot of the routing flexibility. If you want full flexibility of route, you will need a season to London Zone 1. Or keep your existing London Terminals season, and buy an additional London Bridge-St Pancras season, if you don't ever intend using the underground.

 

[Hadders]

You can’t get a season ticket to from Clock House to Zone 1.

Clock House is in Zone 4 so you’d need a Zones 1-4 Travelcard.

 

[Surreytraveller]

You will in future be travelling across to the other side of London, so surely you should expect to pay more than you do now. You are lucky that you can actually pay the same for the longer journey, but this is by sacrificing a lot of the routing flexibility. If you want full flexibility of route, you will need a season to London Zone 1. Or keep your existing London Terminals season, and buy an additional London Bridge-St Pancras season, if you don't ever intend using the underground.

As Hadders says, Zones 1 to 4. A London Terminals ticket is valid as far as City Thameslink when coming from the south, so it would be a ticket from City Thameslink (not London Bridge) to St Pancras

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

No need at all for a Travelcard (though at an extra ~£15 a week it's not exactly usurious given the additional validity).

Clock House is associated with the Routeing Points Beckenham Junction, New Cross and Lewisham and passes the fares check for all. A season ticket of route "Not Underground" is defined to St Pancras International for the same price as the "Any Permitted"/"AAA Beckenham J" season to London Terminals. There's quite the plethora of permitted routes you can use thanks to the above Routeing Points (and shortest routes).

As long as you are ok with the loss of any interavailable Underground routes (not that there are any I can think of for such a season ticket) then that seems like a perfectly good option avoiding the additional expense of a Travelcard or second season ticket.

 

[30907]

No need at all for a Travelcard (though at an extra ~£15 a week it's not exactly usurious given the additional validity).

Clock House is associated with the Routeing Points Beckenham Junction, New Cross and Lewisham and passes the fares check for all. A season ticket of route "Not Underground" is defined to St Pancras International for the same price as the "Any Permitted"/"AAA Beckenham J" season to London Terminals. There's quite the plethora of permitted routes you can use thanks to the above Routeing Points (and shortest routes).

As long as you are ok with the loss of any interavailable Underground routes (not that there are any I can think of for such a season ticket) then that seems like a perfectly good option avoiding the additional expense of a Travelcard or second season ticket.

The routeing point Beckenham Jn is intriguing geographically, but obviously covers the interavailability at Kent House and presumably Birkbeck.
The AAA BECKENHAM JN season, though strictly unnecessary these days, is the mirror of an AAA CLOCK HO one, which is definitely needed.

On Travelcards - Kent House - St Pancras via Victoria and tube is a sensible route and possibly a tad faster.