Luton Airport Express - How Much Does it Really Cost?

Luton Airport advertises their trains from London costs as little as "a tenner" - but what are you realistically going to pay?

Warning

Unlike the Stansted Express or the Heathrow Express - cheap Luton Airport Express tickets are only valid for a specific train.  So if your flight is late, you will be charged for a new ticket or an upgrade fee.  I have personally been charged for missing a train from Luton Airport Parkway station by 30 seconds - so this definitely does happen!

Alternatives

Whilst Luton Airport Express does all the advertising - don't forget that Thameslink also serves Luton Airport Parkway station.  And whilst Thameslink trains usually stop more often, a through train from south London may be more convenient, especially with luggage.  And if you're travelling from west or east London, the connection at West Hampstead (most Luton Airport Express trains don't stop there) is incredibly quick and may also be more convenient.

Today

If you want to travel today instead of "a tenner" you will be paying a whopping £24.10 or if you've got a suitable railcard you could get that down to £16.05

Tomorrow and Beyond ...

Booking a ticket for travel tomorrow is a mixed bag - some trains cost the full £24.10 whilst there are also trains for £10.70 and the odd one that's even under a tenner!  Just remember that these tickets are only valid on the specific train - if you miss the train, you're in trouble.

Saturdays Good - Sundays Bad

There seems to be a pattern for the next few weeks of at least one cheap train every half hour, but plenty of trains are still expensive even when booking weeks in advance.  Saturdays generally have more cheap trains, but weirdly Sundays seem to have fewer cheap trains.

Don't book 85 days in Advance

Whilst most journeys are cheaper if you book well in advance - Luton Airport Express has an 85 day penalty system!  If you're too eager you'll only be able to book full fare tickets.  Leave it until 84 days in advance, and some trains are indeed "under a tenner".

Flexiblity

If you're travelling to the airport, you will probably be happy booking a specific train.  Or if you're prepared to spend plenty of time hanging out in the airport drinking expensive coffee, you may decide to book a cheap train from the airport giving plenty of time for your flight landing late, or your bags taking a long time to show up on the carousel.

However what about a ticket that gives you some flexibility?

Anytime Day Single

On most UK rail routes you can buy an Off Peak Day Single, or a Super Off Peak Day Single but Luton Airport Parkway and Luton Airport will only sell you an Anytime Day Single.  Even if you book months in advance, you cannot purchase an off peak flexible ticket.

Super Off Peak weekend fares - Not Available

If you go one stop beyond Luton Airport Parkway, suddenly Super Off Peak fares are available - and especially at weekends they are very attractive.  And of course these prices are further reduced if you have an appropriate railcard.

Conclusions

Travelling to the airport it's worth booking a cheap specific train in advance - but you only need to do this about a week in advance to get a decent fare.  And by then you will know about any engineering works or planned strikes.

Travelling from the airport booking a cheap specific train probably isn't worth it.  So you might as well just book an Anytime fare on your phone after you've actually landed whilst your plane is taxiing around Bedfordshire!

After being charged for missing my pre booked train, I no longer buy train tickets in advance when flying into Luton Airport.

West Hampstead connections (for Luton Airport)

I recently decided that an alternative route to Luton Airport Parkway station - instead of my usual tube journey to St Pancras station - was to take the London Overground to West Hampstead, and then a Thameslink train to LAP.

If you use the standard journey planning websites or applications - they won't give you connections which assume normal walking pace between the West Hampstead Overgound and Thameslink stations!  The sites/apps don't make it clear how long they estimate it will take you to walk the 200m - but whatever the number, it's way too long !

I timed the journey from the doors opening at the Overground station (I was at the front of the train - so I had to walk back down the platform a couple of carriage lengths to the exit) ... up the stairs ... exit through the ticket barrier ... turn left ... across a side road (I did get lucky with the traffic - although it's not a big junction, so it should never be too bad) ... across the mainline rails (which gives you a nice view of the Thameslink station below street level) ... left at the Mainline sign ... left through the ticket barriers ... across one platform ... and down the stairs to the platform I wanted.

Admittedly I had looked at the map beforehand, so I knew the route ... but the walk from the Overground platform to the Thameslink platform took me all of THREE minutes, and I was carrying a medium sized backpack.  I reckon the travel planning sites/apps are using a minimum connection time of something like 15 minutes - even if you're unlucky with the traffic, you really don't need that long !

Update: I travelled the route again recently, this time during rush hour, and despite being slowed down by the volume of people, it still only took 3 minutes 10 seconds!  This was helped by the extra exit that's open during peak hours at West Hampstead Overground station.  My transfer would have been even faster if I had been at the optimum door on the Overground train - which I reckon is the rear door on the fourth carriage if you're travelling eastbound.



The upshot of this is that to plan your journey, you really need to first figure out which train you want to get from West Hampstead Thameslink - and then work back to decide which Overground train is best for you.  In my example the Overground train I took wasn't even showing as a connecting option !

I suspect the same issue arises if you are connecting from the West Hampstead underground station - which is about a further minute away from the Thameslink station.

The reason why I chose this alternative routing was because I realised that with the 13 gbp minimum fare on weekday train tickets using Network Railcard discount (a full one third discount only applies to higher priced tickets) - it cost the same price to travel from my nearest London Overground station as it did from St Pancras.  That meant I saved the tube fare from home to St Pancras.  Obviously not a massive saving - but better in my pocket than TfL's !


Update: Arriving at Luton Airport Parkway from London, the optimum exit for the stairs (as opposed to the lift) if you're on a 12 car train is the back of carriage 10.  Not all Thameslink trains are 12 car trains - ymmv!