London Travel Card with 2 for 1 deals

National Rail travelcards are not sold at Heathrow. You will have to buy them at a mainline station in London.

I suggest that you buy Oyster cards at Heathrow, load some money on them, use them to get from the airport to London on the Tube, and use them as pay-as-you-go cards for any days you will not use National Rail travelcards. Buy one-day travelcards for each day you want to take advantage of a 2for1 offer.

For information on the 2for1 offers and to print your vouchers, go here.

It's been 10yrs since our last visit and we used a photo travel card then and it didn't seem nearly as complicated as this does.

Why buy the Oyster card when it won't work with the 2 for 1 offers and the travel card will? Obviously, if there is not a national rail station at Heathrow buying the travel card there becomes moot. The Oyster card max's out at L7 per day, is that right? But the 7 day travel card is L28.50...seems like the travel card is the cheaper way to go...if you're going to be on and off tubes and buses. Am I just not getting this? Thanks for your patience.

7 day paper travel card via rail station with 2 for 1 offer is 28.50. 7 day travel card loaded on an oyster card is 26.00. Seems that the paper travel card is worth more because of the offers, if youre travelling with a group.

Thanks, Tami. We'll just buy a tube ticket from Heathrow to Knightsbridge station and pick up our travel card on Sunday at a national rail station. The fog is starting to lift.

"Why buy the Oyster card when it won't work with the 2for1 offers and the travel card will?" Because on days that you don't use a 2for1 offer, you can take advantage of the Oyster card price caps. On any given day that you avoid the Tube and ride only buses, your cost that day will be less. But if you take any Tube rides, your Oyster card cap will never be more than 50 pence less than the cost of a one-day travelcard. The Oyster computer will automatically give you the lowest possible fare.

Tim - Well, that makes sense, unless, like you said, we use the 2 for 1 every day, which we're planning on doing for the first 7 days. Between Hampton Court Palace, Kensington Palace, the Tower of London, London Walks, theatre, Royal Albert Hall, St. Paul's Cathedral....these are really great deals and we hope to take advantage of as many of them as we can. (I'm pumped!) I really do appreciate the information though - I want to make the most economical choices possible. I will talk to my traveling companions and see if they think we're being over zealous in our sightseeing itinerary.

Karen - Since you'll be in London for 14 days, you could start off with seven-day, zone 1-2 National Rail travelcards. Toward the end of those seven days you should have a good idea if buying them for the second seven days or using Oyster cards and one-day travelcards as needed will work best for you.

Tim - That sounds like a good idea. We're planning a day trip to Paris in the 2nd week along with some additional day trips so the Oyster card will probably work best for us at that point. Do you happen to know where the nearest National Rail station is to the Knightsbridge tube?

I've been reading your posts throughout the archives, boy, you get around. :-) Thanks for all your help!

Victoria station would be the closest National Rail station. For a zoomable Tube map that also shows National Rail stations, go here.

I like trains and I'm a bit of a detail person so I've become very familiar with the national rail sites for the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, and Italy. However, I've only visited the UK, Ireland, and France--so far!

I"m heading over to London England on May 3, 2010 with my family. I have been reading all your posts and I'm still lost. National Rail Station is this a line that runs all over London or is it one that runs into London and out to the outer area's? We have rented a Flatt in S.Norwood and I'm trying to put together a route to get into London. Any help would be great thank you so much,
Christine

Christine,

National Rail stations are stations served by overland mainline trains. Some of those trains pass through London and stop at various stations as they do so. Because of this, it's sometimes convenient to take an overland train within London rather than a Tube (subway) train.

After checking a map, it looks to me like Norwood Junction is probably the station you would use to take a mainline train into London. If you give me the address of your flat, I can be more precise.

Okay, I guessed right! The closest train station is Norwood Junction. See this map. The location of your flat is highlighted and it is just east of Portland Road. You can see the train tracks just west of Portland Road. The train car icon shows the location of the Norwood Junction station. If you hold your mouse pointer over the icon the name of the station will appear.

Norwood Junction is in zone 4. A one-day, zone 1-4 off-peak (after 09:30 on weekdays and anytime on weekends) travelcard costs 6.30 GBP. A one-day anytime travelcard costs 10.00 GBP. A seven-day anytime travelcard costs 36.80 GBP.

A single ticket from Norwood Junction to London Bridge costs 3.70 GBP. A single ticket from Norwood Junction to Victoria costs 4.10 GBP. A single ticket on the Tube in zones 1-6 costs 4.50 GBP whether you go to the next station or across all zones and make one or more transfers. So you can see that travelcards are a very good deal.

To qualify for the 2for1 offers from National Rail, buy your travelcards from any National Rail station. That includes Norwood Junction. Print your 2for1 vouchers at www.daysoutguide.co.uk.

Tim - I am in London now staying right by the Wimbledon Park Tube stop. So I've been taking the tube into London, but have been shocked by the prices I am paying as I am in zone 3. Every other time I have come to London, I've stayed in zone 1. I just didn't realize there would be such a big difference in tube cost staying further out. I am thinking I would do better going by rail, especially since I could get the 2for1 deals to see sites. But here are my questions if you have time to answer and would be so kind.

Is there another way to get 2for1 vouchers besides printing online? I don't have a printer where I am staying! Augh!

Are the 2for1 vouchers good for single tickets or do you have to buy a travel card?

Are the 2for1 vouchers good for children's admissions? I have 2 children (ages 5 and 11). I will often be visiting sites with them alone as DH is working(i.e., the only adult will be me).

Can you get 2for1 at any rail station such as West Brompton or Wimbledon? These are near me - or will I have to go to Victoria or somewhere like that? Or is it only online??

If I buy a family rail card to get discounts, will I still be able to get 2for1 vouchers?

I understand if you can't answer all of this, but isn't the web amazing?? When I was coming here, a great Amazon reviewer, "M-Lee Engineer", answered all my rechargeable battery and power questions. Look for his reviews on Amazon if you have electrical/battery questions. He is amazing!!

Live free or die!!

Betsy,

A quote from the Days Out site FAQs: "Yes, the offer can be used in conjunction with ALL Railcards including 16-25, Senior, Family & Friends, HM Forces, Disabled, Network, New Deal Photocard and Annual Gold Card. But please remember you also have to be in possession of your valid rail travel tickets to present with your voucher at the attractions box office."

Yes, the vouchers are good with single tickets. Another quote: "2FOR1 and special offers/admission vouchers are available with almost ANY type of train tickets issued to London (or to the Attraction Destination) on normal 'paper' ticket stock (i.e. not electronic or 'smartcard' but for exceptions see below) and valid on the day you wish to the visit the attraction, theatre, or restaurant, e.g. National Rail issued tickets include Off-Peak, Super Off-Peak, Travelcard, Advance, Anytime, Season Tickets and various promotional travel tickets that may be issued from time to time, etc. By way of recognition most 'paper' rail travel tickets show the Double-Arrow (or 'crows-foot') National Rail logo, then you're safe to assume it is valid. If you are unsure in any way please ask at your local staffed National Rail station."

Yet another quote: "One voucher is required per two people. The voucher entitles one person to get in for free whilst the other pays the full adult rate, regardless of whether they qualify for concessions, e.g. Under 16, Senior, or Student."

Travelcards are good on all forms of transportation--National Rail trains, Tube, Docklands Light Railway, bus, tram--within the zones covered. See this page on the Transport for London site for details on special deals for children.

Vouchers are available in the back of the London Attractions leaflets which are available at principal staffed National Rail stations like Victoria. I don't know about Brompton or Wimbledon.

I'm traveling to London next week and I was wondering what would be the best way to get the Travel Card. I will landing in Heathrow and know that I can't get the Travel cards that are valid for the 2for1 deals there. I will be staying at a hotel on Holland park avenue. They recommend taking the tube to Holland Park station.
My question is can I take the overland train to a station that sells the paper Travel card, then make a connection to Holland Park. What would be the best station to get the tickets at betweenn Heathrow and Holland Park station?
thanks