I will be traveling to England in September with a friend. Neither of us have been to England before. I have read Steve’s guidebook and looked at a couple of internet sites, but am still uncertain of the most efficient and economical way to use the British rail system. Am clarification would be greatly appreciated.
In looking at the national train website, it appears we would qualify for two different rail cards: the senior rail card and the two together. Questions:
* is the train station near Heathrow airport staffed, and if so, how late in the day?
*. can the discount rail cards be used for tickets not purchased in advance/online?
* if we buy the two together cards, do we each need to purchase a card or does one card cover both of our tickets?
*. Can an individual use both the senior rail card discount and the two together rail card and get double the discount on a ticket?
*. We are planning on going from Bath spa station to Gatwick airport. The connection time is about 20 minutes for a change at Redding station, if we miss the connecting train, can we catch the next train, or do we have to purchase another ticket for the Redding to Gatwick portion of the trip.? When I looked online and was given the off peak train, it said the ticket was non refundable and that it was necessary to take the exact train day/time.
*. We plan to go from London to Bath round trip and to move around London using the trains, will only be in London 4 days. Does it make more sense to get a rail pass or buy individual tickets?
* a few final questions.., what is an oyster card? Does it make financial sense to get one for sight seeing in London as opposed to walking taking trains? I am assuming Bayswater underground station, Paddington, Redding, etc are train stations, correct?
Posted by
Lake District, England
7218 posts
- The various Railway stations at Heathrow are not staffed;
- You either have one or the other. On Two Together you get one railcard, and must always travel together. 2T is not valid before 9.30am on weekdays, Senior is other than in Greater London (technically in the former Network South East region). Both can be used on all tickets- whether bought 3 months or 3 minutes before travel
- At Reading 20 minutes is a very adequate change. If it was a stand alone Reading to Gatwick journey the ticket is non reundable and exact train only. As a through journey if the Bath train was late then it is automatically valid on the next train to Gatwick.
That is a journey where I would probably do "split ticketing"- Bath to Reading and Reading to Gatwick. The same next train rule applies
If Bath is your only journey out of the Capital then a rail pass makes no sense.
If you are in London for 4 days then the best option if on a senior railcard is to buy an Oyster card and to add the Senior Railcard to your Oyster (staff will do that at any underground station). That way you get 1/3 off all off peak fares and the daily caps, Over 4 days that saving will pay for the non refundable £7 cost of the Oyster.
If on the Two Together Railcard that only gives 1/3 off Travelcards, not single fares. So in that case it won't pay- just travel round London paying by contactless. If you were in London for 5 days then you would buy a 7 Day Off Peak Travelcard with 2T discount.
The Oyster Card is a stored value ticket which you use to pay for each journey.
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Thanks so much for the clarification! When following up on your response, I seemed to see conflicting information on the internet regarding whether or not the Visitor Oyster card must be purchased in advance prior to arriving in London or if it can be purchased after arriving in London. Please advise.
Posted by
Freedonia
15963 posts
You don't need to buy a Visitor Oyster Card. You can buy a regular Oyster Card at any Underground (Tube) Station. It will save you paying for shipping.
For more reference, go to this site for train travel in the UK.
For traveling on the Underground:
This is for information on how to pay and the different tickets:
Posted by
Vancouver, BC
286 posts
Last year, I bought a visitor card at a cell phone kiosk at Gatwick. I arrived on Wednesday and didn't look to see if I could buy one.
I would think that you each need a senior railcard. But you would only need one Two Together. I just bought a digital one and uploaded photos of both of us. The digital card can be uploaded to two different devices. I don't think you can double up railcards but you can try and book a ticket on Trainline website and add both railcards. Keep in mind the railcards cost and are intended to be amortized over the year of validity.
Tube is good if it's pouring rain. Buses get stuck in traffic sometimes. Nice to have oyster cards for ease of use.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33392 posts
you can't stack Railcards. One discount per ticket.