London to Gatwick fare options

[daniel78]

Hi,

I'm going to Germany this weekend, flying from Gatwick, I'm just looking at the best options for train tickets to the airport. My basic itinerary is:

Bush Hill Park - Gatwick Airport, tomorrow afternoon sometime (staying at a hotel near airport ahead of early flight Saturday)

Gatwick Airport - Bush Hill Park, Sunday evening (flight due to land at 22:15)

I'm looking at various fares, one that is interesting is an Anytime return ticket from St Pancras - Gatwick, costing £18. According to the rail planner the only route restriction on this ticket is "Not London Underground". Indeed when I search for Gatwick - St Pancras on Sunday night it suggests getting a Gatwick Express train to Victoria then walk to St Pancras.

Is it the case that I could use this ticket on any train between Victoria and Gatwick?* It appears to be the cheapest fare option, even after adding oyster fares between Bush Hill Park and London. On the way out I could travel from St Pancras on an FCC service, no problem. However coming home I'd ideally like to just jump on the first service to London (I just pick up the Victoria line from Victoria or St Pancras anway). If it turns out my flight is a bit late and/or I get delayed in the immigration line that could be the difference between getting the last train home or a night bus from Central London.

Thanks for any advice

* Just highlighted that bit as it was the important question in what turned into a rather long-winded post

 

[transmanche]

Is it the case that I could use this ticket on any train between Victoria and Gatwick?*

I think that ticket is issued from St Pancras, rather than London Terminals - suggesting that going via Victoria is off-route.[*] But if a ticket website offers you that fare for a route via Victoria, then the usual advice is to print off the itinerary at the time of purchase to use as evidence.


[*]Although I have no idea what effect the 3-mile rule might have here...

 

[JamesRowden]

Is it the case that I could use this ticket on any train between Victoria and Gatwick?

The £18 ticket from St Pancras to Gatwick (not undergorund) does not allow you to go via Victoria (but you can go via London Bridge). There is a 'Southern Only' 'Anyime Return' ticket from London Bridge to Gatwick for £17. Also, an anytime single between St Pancras and Gatwick (not underground) is £9.90 (not much more than half the return price).

There are also Southern advance tickets available from Victoria to Gatwick. It is £10 to travel from Victoria to Gatwick tommorrow afternoon. It is £5 to travel from Gatwick to Victoria on the 23:00 & 23:46.

 

[LexyBoy]

I think the consensus before was that the closest you could get would be Clapham Junction, as that's as far as you can go on a Victoria-bound train which is still on a rail-only Permitted Route for Gatwick-STP.

The fact that Victoria-St Pancras isn't an officially recognised walking route means that it can't be considered part of a through route from origin to destination.

 

[JamesRowden]

After looking at the options it looks like you can save a little money off the standard off-peak return of £28.50 (covers whole journey) (by using the Oyster from Bush Hill Park to St Pancras [£4.10 each way] and the £18 St Pancras to Gatwick return Ticket [not undergound] to get £26.20).

If you are willing to sacrifice some flexibility you can get Adanced tickets between Victoria and Gatwick that comes to a total of [£4.10 X 2 + £5 + £10] £23.20 (including oyster).

Or you can do a mixture of the two and use the anytime single (St Pancras - Gatwick [not undergound]) going and an advance fare back (Gatwick - Victoria) for (£4.10 X 2 + £9.90 + £5) £23.10.

 

[cjohnson]

The fact that Victoria-St Pancras isn't an officially recognised walking route means that it can't be considered part of a through route from origin to destination.

Is there any source that defines an "officially recognised walking route"?

 

[daniel78]

Thanks for the advice. I thought being able to use the £18 ticket on Victoria services seemed dubious. Still it is rather bad that it shows up on the journey planner, I could've easily bought it in good faith. Glad I already know about this forum!

After looking at the options it looks like you can save a little money off the standard off-peak return of £28.50 (covers whole journey) (by using the Oyster from Bush Hill Park to St Pancras [£4.10 each way] and the £18 St Pancras to Gatwick return Ticket [not undergound] to get £26.20).

That was pretty much what I had in mind. Also with the possibility of missing the last train home it would avoid wasting money on the final London to BHP trip if that happened.

I'm thinking now of just getting the £28.50 through return ticket. I don't want to consider advances really. I'm not sure what time I'll get away tomorrow, never mind the uncertainty of my flight back. However it does bring up one more question.

Will the £28.50 return from Bush Hill Park to Gatwick be valid on Gatwick Express services? The journey planner just states "any permitted route".

Thanks for all the help on this. It's really not that I'm desperate to squeeze an extra pound off the fare, most of all I just want to be able to jump on any train to London on Sunday night, provided that doesn't cost a silly amount more.

 

[LexyBoy]

It appears that I didn't read the OP fully. I didn't notice that the journey via Victoria was showing in a journey planner. I'd agree with others that booking this journey with a printed itinerary should see it honoured.

Regarding the question above, a ticket routed Any Permitted is valid on any TOC's services on a permitted route, so GatEx is fine.

Is there any source that defines an "officially recognised walking route"?

I'd like to know too. I'm not aware of an official list, but if shown in a journey planner is should be valid. I've not seen this one but maybe it's programmed in for late journeys when the Thameslink core is closed.