Couple of travel notes, worth a read

therecklessone

Stansted Express tickets

Got a rude shock last Sunday when I flew into Stansted for the game at Stamford Bridge. Because the tube was not running on the Victoria Line I had to get the train all the way to Liverpool Street, so I tried getting a cheap day return from STN-LIV but was told that since May of this year they are no longer available! That means that the only ticket available to Liverpool Street is an open return, which will cost you £26 from the ticket office at Stansted.

I could have got a cheap day return to Tottenham Hale for £15.40, then paid £3.80 for a cheap day return from Tottenham Hale to Liverpool Street, and used the same bloody train!

For anyone who needs to travel to Liverpool Street (but travel back the same day) for any reason, your options are:

1. Cheap day return to Tott Hale then transfer on to the Victoria line on the tube (IIRC you can get a travelcard added on to your train ticket, check at the machines or ask at booking office)
2. Open return ticket to Liv Street but purchase through Ryanair website for £21.50 link
3. Open return purchased from cabin crew on board your flight, not sure what they charge now but you can pay in € or £.


Ryanair credit card charges

The only way to avoid Ryanair's credit card charge is to use a Visa Electron card when booking. AFAIK, Halifax are the only bank that issue Visa Electron cards in Ireland, however MBNA offer a (Visa Electron) gift card which is preloaded with credit of up to €350. Details are here

I don't know if they are limited to existing MBNA customers, but I've just used mine to book flights in November and it works. It's also worth checking with them to make sure that the name and address the card is issued to is your own, the card itself comes without a name on it but I used my usual name/address when filling in the booking form and it went through.



Hope that's of some use.

mopi

£26 for a 40 minute cheap day return journey is almost criminal. Checking with www.nationalrail.co.uk I see you can immediately reduce the fare to £17.15 is you hold a Network Rail Card. The NRC cost about £20 and is valid for one year from date of purchase.

Last tuesday afternoon I flew to Gatwick and bought a 'Day Travelcard' which covered a return journey from Gatwick to any London train station [excl Gatwick Express] and use of the Tube in Zones 1,2,5,6 the cost of ticket was £10 [with NRC].

RichMc70

When flying in for a Sunday game I'd always recommend checking online a day or two in advance to see if theres any engineering works on the rail lines going on. They generally always carry out these works on a Sunday in order to reduce as much dispruptment to the working day commuters.

I reckon London's gotta be the most expensive for public transport in europe.

irelandspurs

Was at the wigan game and stansted to tottenham hale which usally costs £16 return now costs £24,its a joke

therecklessone

irelandspurs wrote: »

Was at the wigan game and stansted to tottenham hale which usally costs £16 return now costs £24,its a joke

Jeez, that's the first I've heard of that but National Rail's website is quoting that price alright...:(

Two workarounds:

Stansted to Bishops Stortford day return is £5.40, and Bishop's Stortford to Tottenham hale is £9.90. The thing is, if you go to Bishop's Strotford one of the options you have for your connection is the Stansted Express to Tottenham Hale! This is a big IF but if it's possible to buy tickets from the ticket office at Stansted for the Bishop's Stortford leg of the journey, then you could get on the express at Stansted, and stay on all the way to Hale, if asked for a ticket before BS you show your 1st ticket, if after BS you show your 2nd.

Indeed, if you wanted to you could wait until the ticket inspector approached you on the journey and asked for your BS - Hale ticket then.


The other option is to get a cheap day return to Northumberland Park for £15.40, one of the options you can use to transfer is via Tottenham Hale with the Stansted Express!!!!

therecklessone

I should also point out that MBNA are no longer offering the gift card, so there is now no bank offering a Visa Electron card in Ireland...:(

irelandspurs

therecklessone wrote: »

I should also point out that MBNA are no longer offering the gift card, so there is now no bank offering a Visa Electron card in Ireland...:(

no but halifax give you a visa debit card not visa electron its just as good

irelandspurs

therecklessone wrote: »

Jeez, that's the first I've heard of that but National Rail's website is quoting that price alright...:(

Two workarounds:

Stansted to Bishops Stortford day return is £5.40, and Bishop's Stortford to Tottenham hale is £9.90. The thing is, if you go to Bishop's Strotford one of the options you have for your connection is the Stansted Express to Tottenham Hale! This is a big IF but if it's possible to buy tickets from the ticket office at Stansted for the Bishop's Stortford leg of the journey, then you could get on the express at Stansted, and stay on all the way to Hale, if asked for a ticket before BS you show your 1st ticket, if after BS you show your 2nd.

Indeed, if you wanted to you could wait until the ticket inspector approached you on the journey and asked for your BS - Hale ticket then.


The other option is to get a cheap day return to Northumberland Park for £15.40, one of the options you can use to transfer is via Tottenham Hale with the Stansted Express!!!!

I know we couldn't believe it when we bought the ticket.

irelandspurs

also you could risk buying a one way as the train is that packed on the way back they never look for tickets.

therecklessone

irelandspurs wrote: »

no but halifax give you a visa debit card not visa electron its just as good

Not with Ryanair it's not, Visa Electron is the only card that attracts no fee.

John W

it is a complicated system. I would say, always ask at the ticket office what is your cheapest option (TODAY!) as they change depending on the day, the time and how many are travelling, and to where - They are usually pretty helpful and will workout the best route and price for you - they just love using that computer!:D.

Simple Pieman

This is the very reason when going to/from Gatwick that I do not use the Gatwick Express services. Other services are much cheaper. For Udinese next week. I will try to use Thameslink services.

In future, just get the ticket to Tottenhan Hale and plead ignorance at Liverpool Street. You will not be alone Another suggestion: Do any of your London mates commute by train? If so their season ticket doubles as a Network Gold Card. Apart from offering a 34% discount to them, another perk is that they can (for £1) nominate you to hold a parners card offering the same discount. The card is valid for a year from the date of purchase and covers the whole of the south of England. This card also covers 3 additional adults at the same discounted rates.
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Got a rude shock last Sunday when I flew into Stansted for the game at Stamford Bridge. Because the tube was not running on the Victoria Line I had to get the train all the way to Liverpool Street, so I tried getting a cheap day return from STN-LIV but was told that since May of this year they are no longer available! That means that the only ticket available to Liverpool Street is an open return, which will cost you £26 from the ticket office at Stansted.

I could have got a cheap day return to Tottenham Hale for £15.40, then paid £3.80 for a cheap day return from Tottenham Hale to Liverpool Street, and used the same bloody train!

For anyone who needs to travel to Liverpool Street (but travel back the same day) for any reason, your options are:

1. Cheap day return to Tott Hale then transfer on to the Victoria line on the tube (IIRC you can get a travelcard added on to your train ticket, check at the machines or ask at booking office)
2. Open return ticket to Liv Street but purchase through Ryanair website for £21.50 link
3. Open return purchased from cabin crew on board your flight, not sure what they charge now but you can pay in € or £.