The Cheapest Way to Gatwick Airport

I team up with my friend James, who told me about an Oyster Split Fare you can do, which saves you money getting to Gatwick Airport from London Victoria. So I met up with him to try it out and see how much money you can save ...

James has a Railcard giving him 1/3 off of his off-peak fare, so he only paid £4.80 in total when it would have been £5.95 without the split.

Editor : Dave Stevenson

[matteoj]

James is the kind of dude you wish was working in the ticket booking office, sorting you out the best fare with his encyclopedic knowledge.

[priorktj]

Hi Geoff, there's also been a recent change getting the tube through central London to Heathrow. There is now a "Heathrow Surcharge" . You can get around this by tapping out at Hatton Cross.

Anyone travelling to Heathrow whose journey begins in zone 1 or simply passes through zone 1 has a 'special' fare of £5.50 at all times. It used to be £3.50 off-peak. Therefore if you travel to the station before Heathrow which is Hatton Cross this higher fare doesn't apply (it only applies to LHR). The journey from Hatton Cross to Heathrow is free because it is used for people changing terminals (say T5 to T4). Therefore you have only paid £3.50 overall.

[weifengjiang]

James is brilliant. I haven’t been to a bus rally where James wasn’t a controller. He just keeps everything running smoothly.

[PokhrajRoy.]

Geoff is an icon for balancing the coffee, Oyster Card and the Camera.

[peterwaugh]

In Sydney, we had a funny situation when the Govt brought in a weekly cap, after 10 trips in a week it was free to travel. The clever people would walk 300 meters from one stop to the next in the city & tap in & out during their lunch break on Monday for a one-stop fare then their longer trips were free for the rest of the week. The nightly news actually showed people tapping in & walking off to the next station. You could save 50% while it lasted.

[kevinr]

LOVE IT! Landed at Manchester Airport back in 2018; went down the the kiosk near the train platforms and asked for a ticket on the Transpennine Express to Edinburgh Haymarket. The very nice lady helping me said I'll save ya a bit of money with two paper tickets; one was to Manchester, the other to Edinburgh Haymarket. She said just stay on the train and show the appropriate ticket. I think it saved about 12 pounds. Happy day!

[anthonydyer]

I remember a McDonalds advert that suggested the cheapest way to Gatwick was to book your car into a garage near Horley for a minor defect repair (new wiper blade), and then pick it up two weeks later! It must have been in the 90s when that advert ran! I think it was part of a “money saving advice” campaign where they would boast how cheap they themselves were.

[PulseZ]

Geoff - James is a fantastic addition, and your continual happy nature is just great. This was a fantastic video. Informative, but still fun because of your personality.

[sr]

One thing to bear in mind are for journeys over 75 miles. A very long time ago British Rail stopped cheap day returns for journeys over this distance. They were replaced with saver fares which were usually more expensive. It’s always worth checking. Birmingham to Sheffield was always worth splitting at Derby.

[andrewwilson]

Crosscountry is probably the richest source of split tickets! I once did a day return Nottingham to Cardiff central (an endurance test in its own right). This involved splits at Long Eaton, New Street, Cheltenham, and Gloucester. All on the same trains. Saved approximately £60

[SFgaming]

I'm amazed that Geoff and not a single person in the comments has mentioned ticket splitter. Like there are whole websites dedicated to calculating the cheapest fares by splitting tickets. Whenever I travel from Cornwall to Leeds I use split ticketing and have about 8 separate tickets and often save £40-50 in the process

[MidsBuses]

I met James at show bus last Sunday on the e400EV when there were some noisy kids at the back of the bus being annoying, thanks James for sorting them out.

[simondavidson]

James is what trains is all about

Many People don't get it, but his passion is what it means

Thank you Geoff for bringing him to my attention

[nigelmangold]

Hi Geoff, I used to run ticket office courses for a TOC. I can tell you lots of similar journeys with fare anomalies.

[thdayblue]

I love content like

It's so genuine. So

In a world of 'YouTube wannabe famous" This is the antidote to all that is bad in the on-line world.

Thanks lads


The world needs more of you x

[mclenins]

I use the double split for work now from Three Bridges to Gatwick and then the same as in the video. Costs me 1 train, about 5 minutes, at East Croydon but saves over £70 a month (travelling 10 days per month). It's even cheaper then the new flexis.

[mike]

My wife first eye rolls when I tell her I'm watching this, but she will be the first in line to use this technique!! Great work guys!

[robbiemorrison]

Southern trains can leave from Gatwick Express platforms 13&14. They do make you use the barriers on platform 12 to gain access to it. If your travelling GEX you use the barriers on 13&14.

[sara.othman]

I love that high angle in the corner of the train Geoff your creativity never ceases honestly!

[daveharris]

Thanks Geoff for pointing out the ridiculous fare structure. I know this is one of many from my trips from London to Exmouth. Splitting the journey without having to change trains, has saved me a lot of money in the past.