Paper Travelcards - Amex discount - Have I understood correctly?

[DeeGee]

Good morning,

I haven't posted here for a while, because I haven't travelled for a while, but I'm hopefully going to be in London to meet up with family when the next stage of restrictions are lifted next month.

I'll be staying in a hotel near Prince Regent DLR, and will be visiting family in Walthamstow. I'll possibly want to travel via Central London and spend some time round there, and also possibly Stratford. My plans are not fixed. I'll be travelling round for two days.

As I understand it, the contactless cap for Zones 1-3 is £8.70.

The paper off-peak travelcard from Walthamstow Central is £9.00.

Now, my understanding is that the Travelcard (OPG Group 10) is valid for Zones 1-6, or have I misunderstood that?

Additionally, I can get 5% cashback currently if I spend Amex on the LNER website. This would make the £9.00 1-6 Travelcard cost £8.45, which would beat the 1-3 contactless cap.

Is £9.00 the correct fare for a day's unlimited travel between Walthamstow Central and London Zones 1-6? Or, will the Travelcard's validity end the first time I pass it through the barriers to leave Walthamstow Central, in which case, it isn't suitable for my needs?

 

[LA50041]

Good morning,

I haven't posted here for a while, because I haven't travelled for a while, but I'm hopefully going to be in London to meet up with family when the next stage of restrictions are lifted next month.

I'll be staying in a hotel near Prince Regent DLR, and will be visiting family in Walthamstow. I'll possibly want to travel via Central London and spend some time round there, and also possibly Stratford. My plans are not fixed. I'll be travelling round for two days.

As I understand it, the contactless cap for Zones 1-3 is £8.70.

The paper off-peak travelcard from Walthamstow Central is £9.00.

Now, my understanding is that the Travelcard (OPG Group 10) is valid for Zones 1-6, or have I misunderstood that?

Additionally, I can get 5% cashback currently if I spend Amex on the LNER website. This would make the £9.00 1-6 Travelcard cost £8.45, which would beat the 1-3 contactless cap.

Is £9.00 the correct fare for a day's unlimited travel between Walthamstow Central and London Zones 1-6? Or, will the Travelcard's validity end the first time I pass it through the barriers to leave Walthamstow Central, in which case, it isn't suitable for my needs?

Not sure where you got £9.00 from? The paper Z1-6 is £13.90

 

[RJ]

Good morning,

I haven't posted here for a while, because I haven't travelled for a while, but I'm hopefully going to be in London to meet up with family when the next stage of restrictions are lifted next month.

I'll be staying in a hotel near Prince Regent DLR, and will be visiting family in Walthamstow. I'll possibly want to travel via Central London and spend some time round there, and also possibly Stratford. My plans are not fixed. I'll be travelling round for two days.

As I understand it, the contactless cap for Zones 1-3 is £8.70.

The paper off-peak travelcard from Walthamstow Central is £9.00.

Now, my understanding is that the Travelcard (OPG Group 10) is valid for Zones 1-6, or have I misunderstood that?

Additionally, I can get 5% cashback currently if I spend Amex on the LNER website. This would make the £9.00 1-6 Travelcard cost £8.45, which would beat the 1-3 contactless cap.

Is £9.00 the correct fare for a day's unlimited travel between Walthamstow Central and London Zones 1-6? Or, will the Travelcard's validity end the first time I pass it through the barriers to leave Walthamstow Central, in which case, it isn't suitable for my needs?

The OPG Travelcard is only to be sold if 10+ people are travelling together. A One Day Travelcard is £13.90. If there is a bug on LNER’s website allowing it to be sold to one then I would not be posting it on this forum of all places!

Still, you’re better off using Oyster/Contactless if you’re only travelling within Zones 1-3.

 

[DeeGee]

Not sure where you got £9.00 from? The paper Z1-6 is £13.90

Indeed, this is why I'm confused.

This is the fare:

Look up fares for any train journey in Britain

Full details of all British rail Single, Return & Season tickets and Travelcards. Built-in Season Ticket Calculator.

www.brfares.com

It can be purchased at this price on LNER's website.

Is it a group Travelcard?

 

[mattdickinson]

Not sure where you got £9.00 from? The paper Z1-6 is £13.90

Looking at BRfares, that seems to be the price per person for a group Travelcard (of 10 or more presumably)

 

[DeeGee]

The OPG Travelcard is only to be sold if 10 people are travelling together. A One Day Travelcard is £13.90.

Right!

Well, that's absolutely cleared that up for me. It isn't incredibly obvious, but I assume it's available to be bought singly so a group of 10 or more can each pay?

I didn't get round to buying the ticket, but I didn't see anything about groups on the LNER site. Maybe I wasn't looking properly?

Contactless it is!

[EDIT, yes, LNER site does say it's a group travelcard within the T&C if I drill down. I'm glad I asked the question, though. Apologies for my idiocy.]

 

[alistairlees]

I think LNER need to remove the OPG ticket type from sale...

 

[RJ]

Having just looked at buying a Travelcard on their site, it's definitely a mistake. Let's see how long it takes to get removed!

 

[DeeGee]

I think LNER need to remove the OPG ticket type from sale...

It's the first Travelcard that the system displays.

Nearly caught me out! I'm quite used to buying train tickets, but because I've never done anything other than contactless in London for years, I had no idea it was such a thing.

It has a little piggy bank symbol next to it too, which says to me, who doesn't usually use that particular booking site, "Good value ticket/Savings to be had/Discounted" or somesuch. Which made me think it was a special offer and that was why it was therefore cheaper than the standard 1-6 paper travelcard.

 

[RJ]

If you’ve put the number of people travelling as 1 and that ticket is offered for sale then it’s not really the customer’s problem.

TOCs don’t often thank anybody for identifying errors which is partially why people take advantage of these things rather than report them. I’m not a buyer though - got far too much moral conscience

 

[Haywain]

I think LNER need to remove the OPG ticket type from sale...

Having just looked at buying a Travelcard on their site, it's definitely a mistake. Let's see how long it takes to get removed!

We're on the case!

 

[DeeGee]

I’m not a buyer though - got far too much moral conscience

I'd have spent the whole day panicking about the imminent arrival of an inspector.

Or I would have, if I'd known it were a missold group travel product before travelling.

 

[Haywain]

I'd have spent the whole day panicking about the imminent arrival of an inspector.

Or I would have, if I'd known it were a missold group travel product before travelling.

Well, you may find the price of your Travelcard has just increased! Best stick with the contactless cap.

 

[swt_passenger]

I think LNER need to remove the OPG ticket type from sale...

Misread that as OCG for a second. Wear a balaclava when using this ticket...

 

[DeeGee]

Well, you may find the price of your Travelcard has just increased! Best stick with the contactless cap.

To be honest, that would normally be my preferred method.

 

[njr001]

If you have a railcard a zones 1-6 off-peak travelcard is £9.10

 

[DeeGee]

If you have a railcard a zones 1-6 off-peak travelcard is £9.10

Sadly, I'm one of the few travellers that has no option but to pay full fare, 30-55, solo leisure traveller, North of England. So I'm driving down to London because its way cheaper.

(Not driving round London, though, because I'm hoping to go to the pub with my brother.)

 

[ChrisC]

If you have a railcard a zones 1-6 off-peak travelcard is £9.10

I often find Tfl fares often very difficult to understand but I thought I would ask my question here rather than begin a new thread.

I’m in London for a week later this summer and do have my Senior Railcard linked to my Oyster Card. When spending a week in London I tend to travel quite widely every day, mainly within Zones 1-4, but do occasionally stray out as far as Zone 6. I never travel during the morning peak before 9.30am but I do sometimes travel during the evening peak. Any tips on what is my best option.

Before I had a railcard linked to my Oyster Card I always just got a 7 Day Zone 1-6 Travelcard as that covered all options of travel. Would this still be the cheapest option because of the possibility of getting caught by the evening peak fares, by using pay as you go. The £9.10 one day paper travel card could be an option on days when I know I’m going to travel during the evening peak. Another option could be to just get something like a 7 Day Zones 1-3 or 4 travel card and then pay as you go in the few occasions when I travel beyond my travel card Zones.

Any advice from people who understand the fares more than I do?

 

[njr001]

It's my understanding that provided you start your first journey after 0930 with your Oyster Card you will be capped at the off peak rate even if you travel in the afternoon peak i.e with your Railcard Zones 1-4 £7.00 Zones 1 - 6 £8.90 If however you are making a number of journeys, track bashing etc. to avoid being timed out it may be better to purchase a Railcard discounted Zones 1 -6 off peak paper travel card @ £9.10

 

[ChrisC]

It's my understanding that provided you start your first journey after 0930 with your Oyster Card you will be capped at the off peak rate even if you travel in the afternoon peak i.e with your Railcard Zones 1-4 £7.00 Zones 1 - 6 £8.90 If however you are making a number of journeys, track bashing etc. to avoid being timed out it may be better to purchase a Railcard discounted Zones 1 -6 off peak paper travel card @ £9.10

Thanks. If that’s correct about not being charged for afternoon peak journeys if I haven’t travelled before 09.30 I will just use my Oyster Card. That will work out cheaper than a 7 day travel card especially if on any day I don’t travel far from Central London or mainly use buses. I’m not track bashing so won’t be doing any unusually long journeys. I just enjoy travelling and visiting lots of locations over a wide area of London. The £9.10 day travel card is useful if I decide to use the river boats one day as it gives a good discount on the day ticket.

 

[Hadders]

Most (but not all) PAYG fares are charged at the peak rate between 16:00 and 19:00 but they count towards the off peak cap.

These days the anytime and off-peak caps are the same amount but the off-peak cap can be reduced if there is a railcard discount applied to your Oyster card.