8/1/19 - updated with 2019 prices
15/5/18 - updated to include split ticket pricing at East Croydon - thanks to Gerry's comment on DiamondGeezer.blogspot.com for the reminder. Although not sure I personally would bother - even though the savings are actually more than the Zone1/Zone2 hack!
Before contactless payment was extended to Gatwick, it was a battle to find the cheapest fare using the Southern website or Trainline or even occasionally Gatwick Express !
Contactless makes life a bit easier - as the Contactless off peak fare is usually the best you can get.
The added benefit is that there is no evening peak when travelling from Gatwick Airport into London ... at least that's what I thought ... until I started looking at fares to West Brompton ... where it turns that that evening peak does apply.
So here's how the pricing officially works for LGW - West Brompton (although we know that you get a couple of minutes leeway before peak fares kick in):
00:00 - 06:29 £8.50
06:30 - 09:29 £12.30
09:30 - 15:59 £8.50
16:00 - 18:59 £12.30
15/5/18 - updated to include split ticket pricing at East Croydon - thanks to Gerry's comment on DiamondGeezer.blogspot.com for the reminder. Although not sure I personally would bother - even though the savings are actually more than the Zone1/Zone2 hack!
Before contactless payment was extended to Gatwick, it was a battle to find the cheapest fare using the Southern website or Trainline or even occasionally Gatwick Express !
Contactless makes life a bit easier - as the Contactless off peak fare is usually the best you can get.
The added benefit is that there is no evening peak when travelling from Gatwick Airport into London ... at least that's what I thought ... until I started looking at fares to West Brompton ... where it turns that that evening peak does apply.
So here's how the pricing officially works for LGW - West Brompton (although we know that you get a couple of minutes leeway before peak fares kick in):
00:00 - 06:29 £8.50
06:30 - 09:29 £12.30
09:30 - 15:59 £8.50
16:00 - 18:59 £12.30
19:00 - 23:59 £8.50
The thing is that Earls Court doesn't have an evening peak - so at West Brompton, if you swap onto the District Line and go a single stop to Earls Court you can reduce the price from £12.30 down to £10.90
In fact if you could travel to any Zone 1 tube station, the evening peak magically disappears ... but travel to any other London station (that I tested using TfL's single fare finder website) and the evening peak does exist.
So the moral of the story is that if you're on the border of Zone 1 and Zone 2 and travelling from Gatwick (Monday to Friday) - you should travel from the following:
00:00 - 06:29 £8.50 from Zone 2
06:30 - 09:29 £12.30 from Zone 2
09:30 - 15:59 £8.50 from Zone 2
16:00 - 18:59 £10.90 from Zone 1
06:30 - 09:29 £12.30 from Zone 2
09:30 - 15:59 £8.50 from Zone 2
16:00 - 18:59 £10.90 from Zone 1
19:00 - 23:59 £8.50 from Zone 2
But if you have the time to touch out and back in again at East Croydon station (for a split ticket saving) - whilst the evening peak does apply from Gatwick to East Croydon (£5.30 vs £3.20), it does not apply from East Croydon to Zone 1 (morning peak £7.00 vs £5.00).
This used to mean that it was cheaper to travel to Zone 1 in the evening peak - however it appears that the pricing has changed in order to make Zone 2 cheaper - which also reduces the benefit of splitting your journey at East Croydon.
00:00 - 06:29 £6.00 from Zone 2
06:30 - 09:29 £9.10 from Zone 2
09:30 - 15:59 £6.00 from Zone 2
16:00 - 18:59 £9.10 from Zone 2
Zone 1
off peak £3.20 + £5.00 = £8.20
morning peak £5.30 + £7.00 = £12.30
evening peak £5.30 + £5.00 = £10.30
Zone 2
off peak £3.20 + £2.80 = £6.00
morning and evening peak £5.30 + £3.80 = £9.10
Travelling from London to Gatwick the evening peak does apply regardless where you start - so it's £3.20 cheaper to start from Zone 2 if you get into the station between 16:00 and 18:59 (or £2.20 cheaper from Zone 2 if you can get into the station during off peak hours).
But if you have the time to touch out and back in again at East Croydon station (for a split ticket saving) - whilst the evening peak does apply from Gatwick to East Croydon (£5.30 vs £3.20), it does not apply from East Croydon to Zone 1 (morning peak £7.00 vs £5.00).
This used to mean that it was cheaper to travel to Zone 1 in the evening peak - however it appears that the pricing has changed in order to make Zone 2 cheaper - which also reduces the benefit of splitting your journey at East Croydon.
00:00 - 06:29 £6.00 from Zone 2
06:30 - 09:29 £9.10 from Zone 2
09:30 - 15:59 £6.00 from Zone 2
16:00 - 18:59 £9.10 from Zone 2
19:00 - 23:59 £6.00 from Zone 2
Zone 1
off peak £3.20 + £5.00 = £8.20
morning peak £5.30 + £7.00 = £12.30
evening peak £5.30 + £5.00 = £10.30
Zone 2
off peak £3.20 + £2.80 = £6.00
morning and evening peak £5.30 + £3.80 = £9.10
Travelling from London to Gatwick the evening peak does apply regardless where you start - so it's £3.20 cheaper to start from Zone 2 if you get into the station between 16:00 and 18:59 (or £2.20 cheaper from Zone 2 if you can get into the station during off peak hours).
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