Use of Gold Card Travelcard clarification needed

[miklcct]

I have decided to buy myself a London Zones 1-2 annual Travelcard as I anticipate to travel for at least 11 months in a year by tube extensively, 7 days a week. It will come with a Gold Record Card.

1. Is the Gold Record Card sent to the address in my TfL Oyster and Contactless account?

2. The Terms & Conditions says:

If the journey You are making is covered by Your Annual Season Ticket You do not need to buy yourself a ticket. However, if You are purchasing discounted Off-Peak Day Travelcards for accompanying adults or children and You intend to travel in a London Fare Zone not covered by Your Annual Season Ticket, You must also purchase a discounted Off-Peak Day Travelcard Zones 1-6 for yourself

My annual season ticket is valid for Zones 1-2. Does it mean that, if I want to bring a few people with me, buying them discounted Day Travelcards to travel extensively in zones 1-2, and also one journey out to zone 6 and back, I will need to buy myself a 1-6 Day Travelcard even if my Oyster 1-2 annual Travelcard is valid with presence of PAYG credit? What if my extra zonal journey is to zone 9 instead, or within the Oyster area but outside fare zones?

 

[Hadders]

1. Is the Gold Record Card sent to the address in my TfL Oyster and Contactless account?

Yes, that is where it will be sent.

Does it mean that, if I want to bring a few people with me, buying them discounted Day Travelcards to travel extensively in zones 1-2, and also one journey out to zone 6 and back, I will need to buy myself a 1-6 Day Travelcard even if my Oyster 1-2 annual Travelcard is valid with presence of PAYG credit?

Yes, you'll need to purchase a discounted Zones 1-6 Travelcard for yourself.

What if my extra zonal journey is to zone 9 instead, or within the Oyster area but outside fare zones?

This is a good question, my assumption is you'd need to buy a discounted Zones 1-9 Travelcard for yourself as well as your travelling companions.

Don't forget to get your Gold Card discount loaded onto your Oyster Card for discounted off peak travel (although I see to recall you might already have a 26-30 Railcard discount loaded which offers identical benefits).

 

[miklcct]

Yes, you'll need to purchase a discounted Zones 1-6 Travelcard for yourself.

Does it mean that, if I start at Radlett with my companions, with them using discounted Radlett to Zones 1-6 Travelcard, I will also need to buy myself a Radlett to Zones 1-6 Travelcard instead of a Radlett to Boundary Zone 2 return, as the train will travel through zones 6 to 3 on the way?

 

[freddie1729]

I have decided to buy myself a London Zones 1-2 annual Travelcard as I anticipate to travel for at least 11 months in a year by tube extensively, 7 days a week.

In the morning peak on weekdays?

 

[Hadders]

Does it mean that, if I start at Radlett with my companions, with them using discounted Radlett to Zones 1-6 Travelcard, I will also need to buy myself a Radlett to Zones 1-6 Travelcard instead of a Radlett to Boundary Zone 2 return, as the train will travel through zones 6 to 3 on the way?

You'll also need to buy a discounted Radlett to London Zones 1-6 Travelcard.

 

[miklcct]

In the morning peak on weekdays?

Yes as work starts at 09:30, and I have no plan to change job or home soon.

 

[island]

My annual season ticket is valid for Zones 1-2. Does it mean that, if I want to bring a few people with me, buying them discounted Day Travelcards to travel extensively in zones 1-2, and also one journey out to zone 6 and back, I will need to buy myself a 1-6 Day Travelcard even if my Oyster 1-2 annual Travelcard is valid with presence of PAYG credit? What if my extra zonal journey is to zone 9 instead, or within the Oyster area but outside fare zones?

In practice, you can use PAYG credit for yourself and discounted tickets for your travel companions in both of these cases. Though this isn't strictly what is written in the T&Cs, what they are trying to say is that you must have a valid ticket for the zones passed through.

1. Is the Gold Record Card sent to the address in my TfL Oyster and Contactless account?

Consider purchasing your Travelcard in person at a TfL Visitor Centre who will be able to print the Gold Record Card and set the discount on your Oyster card right away.

 

[miklcct]

Consider purchasing your Travelcard in person at a TfL Visitor Centre who will be able to print the Gold Record Card and set the discount on your Oyster card right away.

I have bought it online as I would like to earn credit card online spending rewards.

I have another question:

If I have a paper extension ticket, for example, one from St Pancras to Brighton (which is valid via London Bridge, Waterloo and Clapham Junction), how should I use it in combination of my Oyster Travelcard on the Gatwick Express at Victoria in order to perform a non-stop split at Clapham Junction? Due to system limitation an Oyster Travelcard is not recognised at the Gatwick Express gateline, and the paper ticket I use isn't valid at Victoria.

 

[MikeWh]

If I have a paper extension ticket, for example, one from St Pancras to Brighton (which is valid via London Bridge, Waterloo and Clapham Junction), how should I use it in combination of my Oyster Travelcard on the Gatwick Express at Victoria in order to perform a non-stop split at Clapham Junction? Due to system limitation an Oyster Travelcard is not recognised at the Gatwick Express gateline, and the paper ticket I use isn't valid at Victoria.

This question needs to be asked of GTR customer services. The combination is valid but the computer will say no.

 

[Hadders]

Have you got PAYG credit to at least the value of the fare to Gatwick loaded on your Oyster card? If you have, I'm surprised the Oyster Travelcard doesn't let you through the P13/14 barriers at Victoria as Oyster is valid to the airport, although I'm not sure what it woiuld try to charge in these circumstances. There shouldn't be any charge - maybe @MikeWh will know more.

 

[miklcct]

Have you got PAYG credit to at least the value of the fare to Gatwick loaded on your Oyster card? If you have, I'm surprised the Oyster Travelcard doesn't let you through the P13/14 barriers at Victoria as Oyster is valid to the airport, although I'm not sure what it woiuld try to charge in these circumstances. There shouldn't be any charge - maybe @MikeWh will know more.

@MikeWh has told that, in this case, a Gatwick Express fare will be deducted, so I don't plan to load this much of credit into my Oyster card, but only leave a small amount to cover my extrazonal travel on the non-premium routes.

To my knowledge, the cheapest ticket valid for Victoria - Brighton is one from West Hampstead (with a +) which work the Gatwick Express barriers, and the cheapest ticket valid for Clapham Junction - Brighton is one from London Thameslink / St Pancras (via London Bridge, Waterloo). The former is £4.00 more expensive for an Off-Peak Day Return with railcard, and this is a large amount just to avoid a combination of tickets which are theoretically valid but can't be programmed properly into the Oyster system.

This question needs to be asked of GTR customer services. The combination is valid but the computer will say no.

I have done that but unfortunately this has raised the Price Manager attention - the ticket I plan to use isn't expected to be used this way (via Clapham Junction and Waterloo). The initial response by the customer service is that I need zone 3 on my Travelcard for my combination to be valid (i.e. splitting at Streatham Common), so I asked again about the route I intend to use.

I didn't realise this can even be thought as a loophole ticket as travelling via Waterloo to London Bridge to continue to other London Terminals is a long standing permitted route.