Point-to-point season adding to existing zonal season?

[rebmcr]

Hi all,

I currently live and work in London, and so I have a Zones 1-2 Annual loaded on Oyster (which is fantastic value for my West Ham-North Acton journey, from the eastern Zone 2/3 Boundary all the way through Zone 1 to the Western Zone 2/3 Boundary). It runs until late December.

It looks like I might secure a better job in Cambridge, close to the station, and in the short term I plan to remain living in London, since the counter-peak commute will actually be somewhat comparable in time, and superior in comfort, to my current Central Line route.

My instinct is to obtain a Boundary Zone 2 to Cambridge season, running for ~9 months so it expires around the same time as my Travelcard. To that end I have some questions I would appreciate help with!

• Does a ~9 month season offer the same discounting rate that a 12 month does, or is it just the monthly rate ×9?
• I think any point-to-point Anytime fare can be purchased as a season, with a regular conversion rate, is that correct?
• Is this a viable plan, or am I better off requesting a pro-rata refund of the Travelcard and obtaining a new season covering the whole journey (I would assume Cambridge to Z1-6)? If it matters, I bought the Travelcard at Marylebone's ticket office.
• I don't think that daily off-peak tickets would be a sensible option, but I am not 100% sure I've interpreted the prices and restriction codes correctly, so can anyone confirm this?

Thanks very much!

 

[bb21]

It looks like I might secure a better job in Cambridge, close to the station, and in the short term I plan to remain living in London, since the counter-peak commute will actually be somewhat comparable in time, and superior in comfort, to my current Central Line route.

Congratulations if you get it.

My instinct is to obtain a Boundary Zone 2 to Cambridge season, running for ~9 months so it expires around the same time as my Travelcard. To that end I have some questions I would appreciate help with!

That ticket does not exist as a season. Very few Boundary Zone extensions have season ticket versions available.

• Does a ~9 month season offer the same discounting rate that a 12 month does, or is it just the monthly rate ×9?

It is the same discount level as a monthly, so 9 months approaches the price of an annual.

• I think any point-to-point Anytime fare can be purchased as a season, with a regular conversion rate, is that correct?

That is not correct. You cannot "create" a season if no base rate is already defined.

• Is this a viable plan, or am I better off requesting a pro-rata refund of the Travelcard and obtaining a new season covering the whole journey (I would assume Cambridge to Z1-6)? If it matters, I bought the Travelcard at Marylebone's ticket office.

I can't work out the prices atm but I think you would be better off with a changeover to your new route. A London Overground ticket office may be your best bet if it were originally issued on Oyster and you now need a paper ticket. It may be a tad more time-consuming but if it saves you a wad of cash..

• I don't think that daily off-peak tickets would be a sensible option, but I am not 100% sure I've interpreted the prices and restriction codes correctly, so can anyone confirm this?

Thanks very much!

Anytime Day Return from Finsbury Park is £32.30, so if you have a 16-25/26-30 Railcard, you may be better off using daily Anytimes (£21.30) than an additional season from Finsbury Park, which is £122.90 per week, or £471.90 per month (~£21.45 a day on 22 days use). That is assuming a changeover is not cheaper.

 

[button_boxer]

Is this a viable plan, or am I better off requesting a pro-rata refund of the Travelcard and obtaining a new season covering the whole journey (I would assume Cambridge to Z1-6)? If it matters, I bought the Travelcard at Marylebone's ticket office.

You definitely don't want to get a refund on your existing ticket and then buy a new one, but you may be able to get a "changeover" converting one ticket into the other one. The difference is that a season ticket refund is not pro-rata - it's based on what it would have cost you if you had bought a ticket covering just the time up to the point of refund. A changeover is based on the pro-rata prices of the original ticket and the new one you want to change to, which will almost always be better for you than a refund and new ticket (the only exception I can think of being if you want to change a relatively new annual just before the fare change date, where you could then buy a 12 month new ticket at the old price rather than just getting the ten months or whatever up to your original ticket's expiry date).

 

[kieron]

The ticket rebmcr asked for does exist (in the sense of a ticket which does everything a boundary zone ticket does), but it's usually called something like a travelcard from Cambridge to London zones 3-6.

It costs £119.60/wk, against £162.50 for the "any permitted" ticket which covers zones 1-6, or £123.80 for the "Greater Anglia only" one (which may be as fast as TL/GN if rebmcr is going from West Ham).

Off-peak day returns from boundary zone 2 to Cambridge can be used on trains timed to depart after 9.30 according to the restriction code. I don't know what this means for a boundary zone ticket, though, as you'd start using the ticket somewhere between stations.