JulieAgain

For these topics, I searched these posts, found lots, copied onto a Word doc, & studied the info. I went to the suggested websites. Felt I could figure it all out for myself. Sorry, I still have some questions!

We are 3 adults, Nov 2 arrvg Gatwick, hotel S.Kensington, transferring to a Gatwick hotel on Nov 5, fly out Gatwick early Nov 6. We plan to visit some of the 2 for 1 tourist sites. We plan to take the GEX RT. Plan to buy a 3 day peak-use Travelcard.

1. 2for1 vouchers - it asks for our travel "date", not dates. So, does that mean I must select one day, & we can only use the voucher on that one date - which doesn't allow for weather, changing plans, how we feel, etc.? If so, can I print out a voucher for the same sites on 2 different days in order to have flexibility or will the site only allow 1 voucher per tourist site?

2. Says the Travelcard can apply to tube & trains & can be purchased on the GEX. Does that mean we will get a better price on the RT GEX if we purchase the GEX ticket at the same time we purchase the TravelCard? So, could we buy the GEX/TravelCard at the GEX ticket window in LGW, so we can probably have more time for questions/answers.

3. 2for1 site says the TravelCard must have a specific insignia on it to qualify - a train emblem, I think. Will our GEX travel qualify so we can use the 2for1 vouchers when we show our GEX ticket? Does the voucher have to be used on the same day as the GEX ticket (Nov 2 & 5), or we can show the used & not-used GEX ticket?

4. We wanted to take the train RT to Bath, but found the train tickets too expensive for the hours of the day we wanted to travel. Will any of this (Travelcard with paying extra for train usage or GEX use) give us a better price.

Thanks, Julie

yk

1) It doesn't matter. They don't check for the dates.

2) don't know

3) Based on other posters' reports, your roundtrip GEX tickets will qualify you for the 2for1 vouchers during your entire stay in London (Nov 2-5)

4) No. (BTW, which day and what times are you hoping to visit Bath?)

JulieAgain

Thanks yk. Glad to know we are not locked into a specific day for seeing the 2for1 sites.

Too bad on the NO GEX discount! But glad the GEX tickets qualify us.

Re: the Bath trip, you already helped me a bunch on another thread (& again on another London thread!). Glad you are on this board! Anyway, we wanted to leave London at 7am & return about 5pm = about $250pp x 3 = $750 - wow! Now that's some day trip! Realize we could come back later for much cheaper, but that would be too tiring for us. So, we have decided to take a RT guided bus tour from London for about $50 each.

Thanks again for your help.

Julie

JulieAgain

Ooops, #2 was a "don't know". It was the Bath train that wouldn't get a discount. Got it.

Julie

dmlove

JulieAgain, I have no idea how this factors into your questions, but I assume you know that the GEX is about twice the cost of other trains (Southern and First Capital Connect) from Gatwick to central London? (The others don't go to Victoria Station, though, so maybe that's why you've decided on GEX).

yk

I'm not sure where you got the $250pp fare. When I looked up the fares for both Nov 3 and Nov 4, I find tickets for £49.50 roundtrip per person. This is for the advance tickets; departing London Padding at 7am and departing Bath at 17:13.

If you take the 7:30am train instead, and keep the same return train at 17:13, the price comes down to about £30 per person round trip.

Again, these are advance purchase tickets and you buy each leg separately. Alternatively, I see "anytime" roundtrip tickets for £133, which perhaps is the $150 ticket you found.

Either way, even with the cheapest advance tickets, it seems like they are still more expensive than your $50 guided tour from London.

JulieAgain

dmlove, I thought I had the GEX issue all resolved!!! I hope so!

From my other thread, I was advised that the GEX is a commuter train & the prices don't change for buying early or later????? Is that not true?

The site I went to listed the price of 92.40 pounds total for all 3 of us adults on the Express class RETURN, standard class.

Am I off base here???? Or, I hope not! I'm getting tired of this pre-trip prep!

Thanks, Julie

yk

No, GEX is not a commuter train. It is there mainly to serve passengers going between London Victoria station and GAtwick Airport. It is therefore fast and more room for luggage.

Southern train IS a commuter train, and hence takes a little (~5 minutes) longer and more crowded. However, it is a lot cheaper than GEX. Here's their website:
http://www.southernrailway.com/main.php?page_id=93

BTW, Southern trains DO go to Victoria Station.

JulieAgain

HELP on this - But does the ticket price on the GEX change depending on how far in advance or on the spot ticket purchase, like the train to Bath? That's what I meant by "commuter" train - price doesn't change, or so I was advised. Does it? Our plans were to buy onsite - was told can even just buy on the train.

yk, I don't know why, but I checked the nationalrail.co.uk site several times to see if the prices would get better for the Bath day trip & I always found that high price. However, I was booking a RT.

Went on now, based on your post, & did each leg separately & got 17 pounds pp London to Bath, & 9.50 pounds pp Bath to London - which is different from what you got! Go figure!

ugggggggghhhhhhhh!!!!

I need a drink! Julie

dmlove

If the Southern trains go to Victoria, that would be your best bet (they all arrive and depart on the same tracks at Gatwick). 92.40 pounds for 3 people is 15.40 pounds each way per person. On our recent trip, we took First Capital Connect from Gatwick to St. Pancras and paid 8.90 per person, which would be a total of 53.40 pounds for 3 people return. I think the price on the Southern line is more akin to the FCC cost than to the GEX cost. $93 vs. $161 at an exchange rate of 1.75 pounds to the dollar, for a 5-minute time savings. Also, we went on a Friday afternoon around 2 p.m. and the train was half empty. Admittedly, harder to store your luggage on the train, but since it was half empty, we stowed it near the door, and sat nearby.

yk

1) the GEX is the same price, no matter when and where you buy it. It'll be the same price if you buy it today, buy it at the airport, buy it on the train.

2) The southern train is the commuter train, but the prices don't change either. It is just <i>cheaper</i> than GEX. Period.

3) I also saw a &pound;9.50 to/from Bath but I thought that wasn't the train time that you wanted.

Robespierre

Southern Trains offers a &pound;20 pass called DaySave that allows up to four people to travel anywhere in their network (including Gatwick to Victoria or London Bridge). Some peak restrictions apply. We have used them for twofers - and not even on the same day as the train ride.

The day you move out to LGW, you could check in to your hotel, then check out the south coast (Brighton is a half-hour away) without any outlay for getting there.

http://southernrailway.com/main.php?page_id=189

JulieAgain

Thanks so much for sticking with me on this thread &amp; this subject! Now I realize that I have 2 train options from LGW (one cheaper but without luggage space at the seat), how the GEX pricing works (does not go up as trip nears), &amp; even cheaper fares for Bath (book one leg at a time).

You have all calmed my frustrations - well those that apply to this topic anyway - not wishing for miracles - there is still the USA Presidential campaign - big ugghhh!

Thanks again to you all, Julie

Robespierre

The DaySave pass is good for four. You can pile your luggage on the 4th seat, because you paid its fare.

JulieAgain

Robespierre, that is an excellent website. Thank you. Once we transfer from our London hotel to our Gatwick hotel, we can use Southern for an inexpensive ride from Gatwick to London &amp; back if we want to run back into town for more siteseeing or dinner. Have to buy that cheap price in advance, so I'll have to discuss this with my family.

However, decided not to take when arriving at Gatwick from our international flight. On Sundays, the Southern trains from Gatwick to Kensington Olympia (close to our hotel on Cromwell Rd in Kensington) all have changes. Don't think we will feel like messing with that.

Don't feel comfortable using it with luggage either &amp; taking up that extra 4th seat. The rules state UP TO 4 people, &amp; all 4 people must be traveling together. Don't want to be challenged about the issue &amp; look like an ugly American! And, especially don't want to have no place to put our luggage.

Thanks for your help. I've put this site in my files for future trips to UK.

Julie

JulieAgain

Excuse me, double negative. Don't want to be without a place.....

Julie

Robespierre

<i>On Sundays, the Southern trains from Gatwick to Kensington Olympia (close to our hotel on Cromwell Rd in Kensington) all have changes.</i>

So you're going in to Victoria? Then you have to get to Cromwell Road anyway. The connection at Clapham Junction would probably be easier (last August, ours was a walk across the platform). On a Sunday, the luggage will be a non-issue.