"I have not found any list of stations where I can obtain a travel card with the mentioned 2x1 discount available"

Any of the train stations - several of which also have attached tube station. The paper ticket must be purchased in the TRAIN station. Euston, Victoria, Waterloo, Charing Cross, Kings Cross etc etc. On the tube map they are the stations w/ the ones w/ the National Rail symbol (sort of a red diagonal Z w/ two lines across it)

jeeze -sorry about the underline -this is better:

Any of the train stations - several of which also have attached tube station. The paper ticket must be purchased in the TRAIN station. Euston, Victoria, Waterloo, Charing Cross, Kings Cross etc etc. On the tube map they are the stations w/ the ones w/ the National Rail symbol (sort of a red diagonal Z w/ two lines across it)

Thank you!

and you'll each need a passport photo for the paper travel cards (technically season tickets)

Indy_dad, is the photo a new requirement? Last time I was there it wasn't required or part of the procedure at all.

Cynthia_b: Yes, for the paper travelcards a photo is now required.

Can I buy a 1-day travelcard the day before I want to use it at a train station? Or are they only good for travel and the discount the day you buy it?

Also, do all members of my party have to be present with their passport or can I bring their passports and buy it for everyone. Thanks!

its a passport picture not just a passport if I understand correctly.

Is a passport picture necessary even for a 1-day travelcard?

Thanks

From the National Rail site: From Sunday 20 May 2012, customers must have a photocard in support of any 7-Day Travelcard when purchased from railway ticket offices.

I dont believe you need one for a 1 day travel card.

>>Can I buy a 1-day travelcard the day before I want to use it at a train station?<<

Yes, but make sure you make it clear that you want it "for tomorrow" or whenever.

also, if I purchase a 7 day travel card from the British rail station do I also need to purchase an oyster card?

If you want to make the occasional tube trip outside the zone(s) your travelcard covers, yes. And you might: most people won't need to go outside zones 1 and 2, so it's not worth the expense of having a travelcard to cover additional zones - but they (and you) might be planning to use the tube to get to and from Heathrow or maybe Kew Gardens. You can check which zones you might want at http://www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/15101.aspx

(The map of tube and rail services there shows not only the zones but also the national rail suburban lines that don't count as tube/TfL services - they're the dotted lines, and all stations on those count as national rail stations that sell the paper travelcards).

Patrick -- thanks! I had no idea I could buy 1-day travelcards "for tomorrow."

Though I'd pick it up when near a train station instead of trekking there prior to when we needed to use one. That saves us alot of time. Thanks again!

Here's what I don't get about this whole thing. Frankly it doesn't affect me as I travel solo generally and have no need for the 2 4 1's but in giving advice to others, and I think I understand the system from reading the brochures, let me lay out a scenario.

You arrive at LHR as a couple of two for six days of fun and romping around London. You will use several 2 4 1's so it seems the answer is a 7 day travelcard purchased at a national rail office. I get that.

1. But how do you get in from LHR to central London? Do you have to buy for cvash a one way zone 6-1 single fare which is very expensive? And of course with all your luggage, do you go to a national rail office first before your hotel to procure the zone 1 & 2 paper travelcard needed for 2 4 1"s. I suppose so but if you want to drop your luggage off at your hotel then you have another outlay of a cash fare intra zone 1 probably to get to a national rail station (unless you're close enough to walk).

2. Now let's say that mid week you wish to do a London Walk of the Olympic village which I believe starts at West Ham station which I think is in zone 3 but no matter. Your paper travelcard is valid for zones 1 & 2 so when you try to touch out in zone 3, yo will get the seek assistance on the turnstile. Okay, you have to pay a cash fare for your intra zone 3 trip (that is from the leaving point of zon2 for which your paper trravelcard is valid. And technically, if they do a ticket check, aren't you liable for a penalty fare if you're in zone 3 with a zone 1 & 2 travelcard? With an oyster 7 day travelcard, when you touch out in zone 3, it will deduct the intra zone 3 oyster charge, much cheaper than cash, from your PAYG account and even if it's 0, will let you touch out but won't let you touch in until you correct the deficiency next time.....

I don't know the solution to all these things and a lot of people who give advice, I don't think, take these things into consideration. Personally, if I were in that situation and intended to do 2 4 1's, it seems to me at LHR, you get a PAYG oyster card for the trip in (and eventually back to Heathrow, to get to the national rail office even if you're buying a 7 day zone 1 & 2 paper travelcard and the PAYG fare to zone 3 on oyster may be cheaper (*'m too lazy to check) than the cash fare you're liable for if using a paper zone 1 & 2 travelcard.

I know, it makes it even more convoluted and burdensome so I don't offer any of this as a suggestion. I just throw out the thought that this whole business of extyension fares is really geared to oyster cards.

PatrickLondon, janisj and others...you're good at this. I hope I'm making sense in this but wouldn't the most prudent thing, especially for somebody tubing in from Heathrow and tubing back, be to get a PAYG oyster card anyway for those odd occasions sincde the deposit (£5) is fully refundable as is any time left on the card.

Or perhaps I am thinking outside the box so to speak but isn't this a consideration (and also being outside a zone where you have a valid travelcard subjecting you to a penalty fare if the transport police really care to make a stink).

Just food for thought. I don't have the answers.

"wouldn't the most prudent thing, especially for somebody tubing in from Heathrow and tubing back, be to get a PAYG oyster card anyway for those odd occasions"

the short answer is -- yes IMO.

Especially when arriving at LHR. A PAYG Oyster bought at LHR supplemented by a paper travelcard bought in central London is the way to get everything. Travel in from LHR, travel to outlying areas like your example or say Hampton Court, travelin zones 1-2, AND the 2for1's

xyz -- doesn't the best solution depend on how long you're in London for?

The last time I was there (which was a long time ago), they still had the 3-day card, so the answer was easy. I bought a 1-day card for all zones on my LHR to London day. Then on my 2nd day bought the 3-day card for central London (this is when they had the 3-day card).

I think if you're there longer than a week, then you'd buy a 1-day card for all zones and then a limited 7-day if you want to get the discounts.

I'm not expert, but it seems like you'd have to just sit down and do the math and see what works out.

Maddie...no more 3 day travelcard. As extinct as the dinosaurs. Of course, all these things depend on the lenth of your visit. Clearly if it's 4 or even 5 days, my suggestion has always been to buy a PAYG on oyster and the day before an excursion using the 2 4 1's to stop at a national rail office to pick up the 1 day paper travelcard for the next day. Still think that works the best (and again the consideration is not just transport. For transport alone, oyster would almost certainly be the best, the only question being whether to go PAYG or 7 day travelcard and just where the cut off is).

But here with a lot of the suggestions, and they're good ones so please I'm not questioning anybody's suggestions the average couple arriving for a one week visit who want to take advantage of the 2 41's. What is the best direction to go?

(Actually, the best suggestion is to arrange your flights to come into Gatwick, buy a return (round trip) ticket on the Gatwick Express or the local train and voila you're covered for the entire week for 2 4 1's and then use oyster. Now how's that for simplicity? Or somebody else made a suggestion to nip off to a national rail office and buy the cheapest return ticket to most anyplace for a couple of quid and use that for the 2 4 1's....now that's thinking outside the box!

Maybe even for a 7 day stay, assuming one is coming from Heathrow as the Gatwick suggestion above works real well, is even for a 7 day stay to get a PAYG oyster and for each day you're using the 2 4 1's, you can pick up a one day travelcard the day before at a national rail office.

Always trying to save people as much as possible but I'm stumped on this one!

I agree flying into Gatwick and buying the return ticket IS the way to go - glad I went this route this trip but last time we flew into Heathrow I bought one ticket from national rail while visiting Platform 9 3/4 so we were covered fro 2 4 1's and pay as you go for travel.

For 1 to 4-ish days = PAYG

But for 4.5 or more days, a 7-day travelcard is usually the best option. Of course there are exceptions - for instance if one doesn't use the tube much and walks everywhere.

My typical break even point on a 7-day travelcard is the morning of my 5th day in town.