London to Gatwick with Freedom card

[TheManOnThe172]

I am wanting to advise someone who holds an Adult Disabled Freedom Pass that covers Zones 1-6, who is travelling London-Gatwick at a weekend, and returning on a weekday but after the morning peak.

The London Councils page about the pass says:

The Freedom Pass is not valid for travel on train services operated by:
[snip]

• Gatwick Express (Only available with the purchase of an extension ticket at the start of your journey)

So can I check, please:

Does that "extension ticket" have to be a "Boundary Zone 6" ticket to be allowed to travel on Gatwick Express? Given the difficulty of buying Boundary tickets, a single Purley<->Gatwick (same price) would be much easier to buy, but would it fall foul of some rule?

And am I right to read the rather clumsy wording as simply meaning that the "extension" ticket needs to be bought before commencing the journey, rather than to require that the extension ticket must cover the station where the service is boarded?

 

[Haywain]

Given the number of services available between Gatwick and London, is it worth the hassle of using a Gatwick Express service?

 

[Alex365Dash]

Does that "extension ticket" have to be a "Boundary Zone 6" ticket to be allowed to travel on Gatwick Express? Given the difficulty of buying Boundary tickets, a single Purley<->Gatwick (same price) would be much easier to buy, but would it fall foul of some rule?

As the Freedom Pass is an area-based ticket, the National Rail Conditions of Travel‘s Condition 14.3 applies here (my emphasis):

Unless Condition 14.1 applies, if you are using a Season Ticket, daily Zonal Ticket, or another area based Ticket such as a concessionary pass, ranger, or rover, in conjunction with another Ticket and the last station at which one Ticket is valid and the first station that the other Ticket is valid are the same, then the train does not need to Call at that station for your combination to be valid.

Two Purley to Gatwick Airport Anytime Day Singles (one outbound, one reversed for the return journey) would work fine.

However, considering that tickets from Boundary Zones are also available from Southern ticket machines (select to start from a different station, boundary zones show up to the right), they could also purchase an Anytime Return from Boundary Zone 6 (or East Croydon if Boundary Zone tickets are too much hassle) to Gatwick Airport. It costs the same as the previous option of two singles from/to Purley, but maybe buying one ticket is easier than two?

And am I right to read the rather clumsy wording as simply meaning that the "extension" ticket needs to be bought before commencing the journey, rather than to require that the extension ticket must cover the station where the service is boarded?

Combined with the wording on the Freedom Pass map (shown below), which is used to denote areas beyond the Freedom Pass validity (including Coulsdon South/Purley to Gatwick), I’d take it to mean that it has to be purchased before boarding.

An extension or other travel ticket must be purchased before travel to stations on these routes.