London travel question

thenightman

Flying into Gatwick and staying in hotel beside Blackfriars Station. Thameslink from Gatwick direct seems to be the fastest but is working out at 44 sterling return for two adults online. Would we be better waiting and paying by oyster, or anyone know a better route?

Never really stayed around that area of London before, just got a good deal on hotel.

Thanks

Thelonious Monk

thenightman wrote: »

Flying into Gatwick and staying in hotel beside Blackfriars Station. Thameslink from Gatwick direct seems to be the fastest but is working out at 44 sterling return for two adults online. Would we be better waiting and paying by oyster, or anyone know a better route?

Never really stayed around that area of London before, just got a good deal on hotel.

Thanks

I would have thought that's about a normal fare. Look at thetrainline.com and price it to Victoria, the non Gatwick Express trains are generally much cheaper and it doesn't take much longer, from Vic you can make your way via tube to blackfriars.
I would just use your contactless bank card if I were you, Revolut is good, no need for Oysters these days.

Vic_08

thenightman wrote: »

Flying into Gatwick and staying in hotel beside Blackfriars Station. Thameslink from Gatwick direct seems to be the fastest but is working out at 44 sterling return for two adults online. Would we be better waiting and paying by oyster, or anyone know a better route?

Never really stayed around that area of London before, just got a good deal on hotel.

£21.70 is the Anytime return paper ticket, the only tickets cheaper would be 4x Super Off-peak singles at £10 but that is only available on Saturday, Sunday and bank holidays.

Oyster or contactless card is £8.50 Off-peak or £15.50 peak far a single journey.

off peak is based on the time you touch in for a journey: Mondays-Fridays not valid between 06:30-09:30 and 16:00-19:00. Valid all day Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays.

You can reduce the cost of this by splitting a oyster/contactless journey at East Croydon. off peak it costs £3.30 Gatwick - East Croydon and £3.60 for the onward journey to Zone 1, peak it is £5.40 for each leg. Peak/off-peak is determined by the tap-in time of each leg as above.

To do this you need to tap in at Gatwick, take any train that stops at East Croydon, tap out at the station barriers at East Croydon (ie exit the station) wait a minute and tap in again at the barriers and take any train onwards.

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

I would have thought that's about a normal fare. Look at thetrainline.com and price it to Victoria, the non Gatwick Express trains are generally much cheaper and it doesn't take much longer, from Vic you can make your way via tube to blackfriars.
I would just use your contactless bank card if I were you, Revolut is good, no need for Oysters these days.

Walk-up paper fares to Victoria are higher than Thamelink direct to Blackfriars, a booked train only fare is available for £12.00 but I wouldn't advise that far a number of reasons, being tied to a single train, particularly from an incoming flight and the extra cost and hassle of using the underground from Victoria makes it more expensive anyway.

Dodge

Only use contactless if your card doesn’t charge for non-euro payments (Revolut doesn’t but the majority still do)

The southern and thameslink trains are significantly cheaper than the Gatwick express

Thelonious Monk

Last time I was there I just used my revolut card and then got off at victoria, after boarding a gatwick express. As there was no conductor I'm pretty sure I didn't get charged the GE price!

Vic_08

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

Last time I was there I just used my revolut card and then got off at victoria, after boarding a gatwick express. As there was no conductor I'm pretty sure I didn't get charged the GE price!

The overpriced Gatwick Express fares on contactless/oyster are charged by using the barriers on the GE platforms at Victoria.

On-board ticket checking/selling is long gone on GE as are trains that provide any sort of increased comfort or ambience that would in any way justify charging extra. Southern, Gatwick Express and Thameslink are all the one company, GTR, GE is only still around to overcharge tourists.

Garlinge

I took that route last month. Presented oyster card at barrier ( no need to Q for tickets) and got on a regular train direct to Blackfriars. Lovely train, empty and there in about 30 minutes. Ask Googlemaps for your options.

devnull

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

I would have thought that's about a normal fare. Look at thetrainline.com and price it to Victoria, the non Gatwick Express trains are generally much cheaper and it doesn't take much longer, from Vic you can make your way via tube to blackfriars.

Just as a sidenote, TheTrainine is not the cheapest place to buy tickets, they charge fees that you can avoid by going to the train operators website and booking direct.

Chris_5339762

Also getting out and on again at East Croydon is a nuisance, but does work out a bit cheaper.

Losty Dublin

There is a TfL kiosk on the way out of Gatwick. You could ask them for their advice for what you need, and sell you the appropriate ticket, assuming it's staffed when you get into London.

Sligo eye

Losty Dublin wrote: »

There is a TfL kiosk on the way out of Gatwick. You could ask them for their advice for what you need, and sell you the appropriate ticket, assuming it's staffed when you get into London.

If you are going by train from Gatwick to Blackfriars do not take the overpriced Gatwick Express, take any Thameslink train from Gatwick directly to Blackfriars. All Thameslink trains stop at Blackfriars. Also to get the cheapest fare touch in at the barriers with your contactless bank card at Gatwick and touch out at the barriers at Blackfriars.

No need to book in advance and avoid the Trainline website at all costs.

Chris_5339762

That said, I find the Trainline app very good for train times (simple and quick), but yeah don't use it for tickets.

Padraig Mor

Just watch out re Thameslink: I've seen some of their services operated by Southern using trains with full Southern livery - confusing!

Sligo eye

Padraig Mor wrote: »

Just watch out re Thameslink: I've seen some of their services operated by Southern using trains with full Southern livery - confusing!

Not the case anymore. All Thameslink trains are branded Thameslink since the introduction of their dedicated fleet.

thenightman

Cheers for all the info. Went with just using my Revolut contactless for all my public transport uses. Got the Thameslink from Gatwick to Blackfriars, took about 40 mins on a bright, modern train with great passenger info display (how full each carriage was etc) and hotel was pretty much opposite Blackfriars station, which was really modern too.

Used the bus (the Boris bus variety, very comfy!) the underground and even the tfl clipper boat (never knew such a service existed!) from embankment pier to Blackfriars pier on Saturday evening. Using all this great public transport sure does hammer home how bad ours is in comparison though!

One thing to note was my contactless tag in/tag outs didn't register with Revolut in real time, they were all debited from my account overnight.