Train travel to Heathrow

It depends. What exactly does the ticket say?

As Mardee says… what does the ticket say?

Also… which London stations? Isn’t the ticket just from York to LHR? :-)

When we bought tickets from Liverpool to Gatwick using one of the National Rail participants (I think we bought them from Northern), the tickets included the tube fare from Euston. I think they're most often included. You'll no doubt need to use a manned gate to enter the tube station after departing the rail station, which will probably be Euston.

Any ticket for such a journey includes the cross London tube journey except as below. However it depends what journey you selected and thus how much you paid.
If you selected Heathrow T5 you haven't paid for the straight through tube journey.
But you might have paid either to use the Heathrow Express or the Elizabeth Line.
Different fares.
If you chose the latter it won't include a tube fare as the system takes you on Thameslink from St Pancras to Faringdon, although If you had just paid a TfL fare on arrival KC to Heathrow you could have taken a tube route to the Elizabeth Line.
If the former then yes it includes the tube.
The ticket will tell you which route you selected.

whilst we try to establish the means of arriving at Heathrow, tickets which include Underground connections between mainline stations in London are marked with a Maltese cross. Obviously if your ticket is yet to be collected or you just have a QR code on your phone that might not be helpful...

Right, I've checked the Fares database. From York there are only two options. First is Heathrow Rail (for which the journey planner will offer the three rail stations to choose from so that a schedule enquiry can be done but all three will go to the same ticket/price) and the paper tickets will have the ✠ mark to show Underground transfer included between Kings Cross and Paddington. National Rail shows "Heathrow Rail" to be valid on Heathrow Express , which is the best option now that you've bought it.

The other option is Heathrow Underground , and as already pointed out, since you are arriving at Kings Cross it would have been easier, probably as fast and definately cheaper to have gone for this because it's a direct line from Kings Cross to Heathrow - on a standard class Anytime ticket the price difference is over £20 !!!

I have checked again-
The 1233 today from York, arriving Terminal 5 at 1546 by tube and then Heathrow Express -£103 Super Off Peak Single , £200.50 Anytime Single, The 1233 then tube direct arriving 1547- Super Off Peak Single £80.80, Anytime Single £178.50, Advance Single (15 minutes before travel) £80
York to Kings Cross £75/£172.50/£74.20

On Grand Central from York to Heathrow the fares are £76.50 Off Peak Single,£124.20 Anytime Single .

So tube is in theory just 1 minute slower

It works a bit different on the LNER vs Northern websites. On LNER if you mean Heathrow Underground you have to input that. On northern T5 will do.

When I looked this morning there were different fares again via the Elizabeth line.

Terminal 5 main line is Station Code HWV, and Heathrow Rail is HRA. Terminal 5 tube is HRV.

There are also fares for York to Heathrow via Oxford avoiding London, bus from Reading which are different again, not on all websites.

As noted, via Underground would have been over £20 cheaper (which you have proved) and probably as fast (which you have proved to 1 minute). So what isn't true? And which booking system allows choice of terminal with the Underground option given that the fares database only had one Underground option?

The OP queried transfer between the 2 London stations, which implied there is already an intinery that does that and therefore the Rail option has been bought. And the Rail option is marked ✠ so the Underground transfer is included. Question answered.

It's all very well spending time providing detailed proof that the Undergound option would have been a better idea. but the Rail option is already bought

Craywalker, if you come back, and we hope you do, if you could give us some more information on your ticket, as asked for by Mardee and Volva, we might be able to give you a simple answer such as "yes" or "no."

I know, it's hard to believe.

The Webmaster and I have edited this thread. Please keep tone respectful and constructive, even when you disagree. It helps keep the forum welcoming for everyone.

Hi Craywalker, welcome to the forum. I'm popping in as staff to say thank you for your question, and I'm sorry if this thread started to feel a bit overwhelming! This can be surprisingly complicated depending on the route and type of ticket purchased. In general if your ticket includes the Maltese cross symbol (✠), that means an Underground transfer between London stations is included. However it's possible that your ticket includes a different form of transport to Heathrow, and also possible that you may need to pay a separate fare.

Your ticket should indicate which transport modes are covered. To confirm, we would need more info on what is written on your ticket.
If you’re not sure, feel free to share what’s written on the ticket (minus any personal details), and folks here can help you figure it out!