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Reading-London Daily for Four Days for Two Adults & Two Children

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Dorli

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We are a family (2 adults, 2 children (8+11). We will spend 4 days in Reading and want to go to London daily. What would be the best tickets and fares?

I found out that this could be a Boundering Zone 6 ticket in combination with a Travelcard 1-6.

Would this be possible and where could we buy these tickets?

Would be nice to get detailed information because it's a bit complicated to find out the best fares.:
 
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LexyBoy

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Welcome.

We are a family (2 adults, 2 children (8+11).

You will undoubtedly save money with a Family & Friends Railcard, which will give you 1/3 off fares so long as you're travelling after 10:00 (this time restriction is only for the South East).

Could you let us know what times you plan to travel? I will for now assume that you'll be travelling "off peak".

I found out that this could be a Boundering Zone 6 ticket in combination with a Travelcard 1-6.

The combination of fares you've been suggested is (adult/child fares):
Off Peak Day Return Reading-Boundary Zone 6 Route: Via Slough - £10.50/£5.25 (railcard £6.95/£2.00)
Off Peak Day Travelcard Zones 1-6 £8.50/3.20 (railcard: £5.60/£2.00).

Alternatively, you can purchase a Reading-Zones 1-6 Travelcard which is both combined into one ticket. This is slightly more expensive (£14.35/£4.15 with railcard).

There are two routes from Reading to London: one line goes to London Paddington and is served by fast, frequent trains taking ~25 minutes; the other goes to Waterloo and has trains every 30 minutes and takes around 1h30 to Waterloo. The line from Waterloo goes through various places which may be of interest such as Richmond, so it can be useful if you happen to be near one of these stations.

Note that the combined travelcard from Reading is valid on either route; to use the boundary zone ticket on a train from Waterloo to Reading you would need to pay an excess fare to a Route: Via Ascot ticket, which is around £1 each.

Unless you don't plan to use public transport to get around London, I'd not recommend using an Oyster card for this trip - a paper Travelcard will be better value.

Would this be possible and where could we buy these tickets?

The boundary zone tickets + travelcard combination needs to be booked at a ticket office or via telephone - it can't be done online or at a ticket machine. The combined travelcard can be bought from a ticket machine or online as well.

There's no advantage in buying these tickets in advance.
 

LexyBoy

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Don't forget GroupSave.

There is that!

4 travel for the price of 2 - so the savings are not quite as good but there's no upfront cost (the Railcard is £28 whilst GroupSave is available to anyone, no need to obtain a card before booking).

With either GroupSave or the Railcard you'll need to travel together for the tickets to be valid.
 

Dorli

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Thank you for information.

We would try to take OFF-Peak trains after 9.30 in the morning.
Ist it tru that our 8 year old child doesn't need a Travelcard in London?
I think it would be the easiest way to purchase the combined ticket, isn't it?

I didn't understand exactly the GroupSave fare. Could we take this in addition to family card?
 

bb21

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Thank you for information.

We would try to take OFF-Peak trains after 9.30 in the morning.
Ist it tru that our 8 year old child doesn't need a Travelcard in London?
I think it would be the easiest way to purchase the combined ticket, isn't it?

I didn't understand exactly the GroupSave fare. Could we take this in addition to family card?

Your eight-year old does need a travelcard, which costs £2 for the version inside the London zones only with a Family Railcard or £3.20 without. The version including travel to/from Reading costs £4.15 with a railcard or £10.85 without for her.

Groupsave essentially allows up to four adults to travel for the price of two (at adult prices). A child can travel in place of an adult.

Alternatively if you do not wish to invest £28 in a Family & Friends Railcard, you can purchase an Off-Peak Family Travelcard, which is priced at £18.80 for each adult and £1 for each child. Your group must travel together at all times, and are not permitted to arrive London before 1000 on a weekday.
 

island

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The 8 year old travels free on buses, trams, underground and DLR but not National Rail.
 

MikeWh

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The 8 year old travels free on buses, trams, underground and DLR but not National Rail.

unless it's London Overground, or one of the Oyster early adopter TOCs.;)
 

bkhtele

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Flamingo

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Travelling back from Pad to reading between 16.00 and 19.20 weekdays off-peak tickets are not valid on any services that are first stop Reading. Look for the Oxford and Bedwyn trains as a rule of thumb, although some others stop as well.
 
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