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Luton airport train - cheapest options from south of the river

Posted by (Vancouver, BC) on

I will be travelling from Wimbledon to Luton Airport to stay at an airport hotel before an early morning departure in July. I was looking at the cost of tickets to get to the airport. Because the cheapest journey on Trainline involves a SplitSave with an underground from Vauxhall to St. Pancras, it occurred to me that maybe I shouldn't buy this whole trip in advance. What if we spend the day jaunting around London using transit?

I don’t know what I will be doing that day and I wonder if I there is the potential of reaching my daily cap on my Oyster card without this journey, should I just buy the St. Pancras to Luton Airport portion in advance? The downside is that the cheapest tickets (<£15 each way) commit me to specific trains - at times I can foresee choosing. The SplitSave savings is less than the fee so if I go with non-refundable tickets, I may just use the Transport for Wales app I already have.

What do the train experts think?

This is from another post re: hotels but is related and got me thinking:

I see routes with same platform changes at Farringdon. Trainline was also helpful in suggesting that although the train station is Luton Airport Parkway, entering Luton Airport as the destination includes the DART ticket. Also, the Trainline prices with SplitSave are £13 cheaper but require taking the underground from Vauxhall to KingsX. Same journey length. Since we are travelling only with personal items under the seat, I don't really mind. Same journeys were suggested by Thameslink but without the savings. The tickets are Anytime Day Singles.

Posted by
8134 posts

Largely answered on your other post, especially regarding the East Midlands Trains Advance Fares.

I just don't see the point of using Split Save- it is bringing nothing to the party. Nor is Trainline with their fees. Use Transport for Wales or any other company website.

Oyster is not valid as far as Luton Airport.

Also use contactless from Wimbledon to Luton Airport Parkway via either Tube to St Pancras or via Vauxhall and it is only £11.70 even on Thameslink without advance booking or splitting fares- https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/find-fares/tube-and-rail-fares/single-fare-finder?intcmp=54716 then just pay the DART fare as an extra.

Posted by
299 posts

I forgot to add that the child will have an Oyster Zip 11-15 (late birthday) that we are picking up at the Visitor Centre at Heathrow when we arrive. So she saves on Oyster fares. I will use my Oyster in my original IKEA yellow case.

I think that I will buy our St.Pancras to Luton Airport advance singles tickets together using the railcard and bank on hitting our daily cap on the Tuesday. I expect we will be tooling around London before heading up to Luton.

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