Heathrow Connect and 2-for-1 Vouchers
Oct 10th, 2014, 12:03 PM
#1
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Heathrow Connect and 2-for-1 Vouchers
Hi all...
I've used Gatwick-to-Victoria Southern Railway train tickets for 2-for-1 vouchers and 7-day travel cards bought at a train station as well. However, I have never used Heathrow Connect tickets for that purpose. (I know Heathrow Express tickets won't qualify.)
A search here show that folks have used them successfully...but not on any recent posts...within the past three years or so.
Has anyone actually used the 2-for-1 vouchers with Heathrow Connect tickets recently?
Thanks.
SS
I've used Gatwick-to-Victoria Southern Railway train tickets for 2-for-1 vouchers and 7-day travel cards bought at a train station as well. However, I have never used Heathrow Connect tickets for that purpose. (I know Heathrow Express tickets won't qualify.)
A search here show that folks have used them successfully...but not on any recent posts...within the past three years or so.
Has anyone actually used the 2-for-1 vouchers with Heathrow Connect tickets recently?
Thanks.
SS
Oct 10th, 2014, 12:16 PM
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I did just use a discount on the Heathrow Express last week. There was an option on their website for a round trip discount for two people. I think the return trip has to be within a certain amount of time -- perhaps a month? I was able to order this online and just printed out the ticket a few weeks prior to our travels. The ticket checker on the train scanned the code and returned my receipt to us so we could use it on our return. The return trip worked the same way.
Oct 10th, 2014, 12:23 PM
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The question is not if you can get a discount on Heathrow Connect but can you then if you buy a return ticket at 2 for 1 or any price really will you qualify for 2 for 1 entry at many London sites - admission that is - do Heathrow Connect tickets qualify - Heathrow Express tickets do not.
Oct 10th, 2014, 02:24 PM
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Well you could take the Heathrow Connect to a station on the main line to Paddington such as Slough and then buy a return ticket from there to Paddington for a small fee and since that is a national rail line should qualify you for 2 for 1 entry and also get you into London cheaply and won't have to hassle getting a paper Travel Card or anything.
Oct 10th, 2014, 02:34 PM
#8
So it would be: walk to train station w/ luggage, take train, get off train (w/ luggage), queue for a ticket, back on another train (w/ luggage) to Paddington, schlepp to some other mode of transport to get to your final destination. A heck of a LOT of schlepping IMO.
It would be faster, cheaper and easier to just take the tube or a car service in to London and then after you are settled in, just pop by the nearest train station to get paper travel cards.
It would be faster, cheaper and easier to just take the tube or a car service in to London and then after you are settled in, just pop by the nearest train station to get paper travel cards.
Oct 10th, 2014, 11:51 PM
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"Heathrow Connect does not stop at Slough."
Of course not: Slough's in the opposite direction (as PalQ would have remembered back in the days before his sad addiction to Home Depot extra-gloss started hitting)
But if you want, you CAN get the Connect just to Hayes & Harlington - at a gob-smacking price for the 5 miles or so involved.
There it arrives flush with the ticket office (English trains don't have the huge ladders to deal with that train-hating countries impose on their citizens), there's no ticket barrier and it's 10 yards max from train to ticket office. Buy your travelcard, retreat 10 yards and get one of the every 5 mins or so standard commuter trains into town. For some hotels, it's easier to connect with the tube system at Ealing Broadway than at Paddington.
Note that the Travelcard you buy at H&H is valid for the return TUBE journey to LHR from central London, but not for the Connect or HEX, which are both premium-priced routes.
There are a number of circumstances in which I regularly do more or less this. London's transport facilities are far too complex for one tourist's assertion she wouldn't use a particular strategy to have any particular significance for someone in different circumstances.
The killer, though, for the poster is that the only travelcard the OP can buy at H&H that's valid to Paddington is a Z1-6 one. For most visitors, this makes no financial sense - especially after forking out for the LHR-H&H premium.
The usual suggestion is to get an Oystercard at LHR, use it for the tube into town (and back again at the end), then buy a National Rail Z1-2 travelcard from a station convenient to your hotel.
Note, of course, that this applies in late 2014. Crossrail services from Heathrow to Paddington are due to start in May 2018: the practicalities of connections from Heathrow will be changing frequently as Crossrail extends, though they've yet to be determined.
Of course not: Slough's in the opposite direction (as PalQ would have remembered back in the days before his sad addiction to Home Depot extra-gloss started hitting)
But if you want, you CAN get the Connect just to Hayes & Harlington - at a gob-smacking price for the 5 miles or so involved.
There it arrives flush with the ticket office (English trains don't have the huge ladders to deal with that train-hating countries impose on their citizens), there's no ticket barrier and it's 10 yards max from train to ticket office. Buy your travelcard, retreat 10 yards and get one of the every 5 mins or so standard commuter trains into town. For some hotels, it's easier to connect with the tube system at Ealing Broadway than at Paddington.
Note that the Travelcard you buy at H&H is valid for the return TUBE journey to LHR from central London, but not for the Connect or HEX, which are both premium-priced routes.
There are a number of circumstances in which I regularly do more or less this. London's transport facilities are far too complex for one tourist's assertion she wouldn't use a particular strategy to have any particular significance for someone in different circumstances.
The killer, though, for the poster is that the only travelcard the OP can buy at H&H that's valid to Paddington is a Z1-6 one. For most visitors, this makes no financial sense - especially after forking out for the LHR-H&H premium.
The usual suggestion is to get an Oystercard at LHR, use it for the tube into town (and back again at the end), then buy a National Rail Z1-2 travelcard from a station convenient to your hotel.
Note, of course, that this applies in late 2014. Crossrail services from Heathrow to Paddington are due to start in May 2018: the practicalities of connections from Heathrow will be changing frequently as Crossrail extends, though they've yet to be determined.
Oct 11th, 2014, 01:45 PM
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Flanneruk...
I was hoping to use some sort of return ticket -- that I would buy on arrival -- in order to get the 2for1 the entire stay in London.
(This used to be a snap when USAir flew from Philadelphia to Gatwick -- taking the Southern train to/from Victoria, which qualified tor 2for1 -- but those days are gone.)
I know I could get the 2for1 with a 7-day travelcard bought at a train station...but I was hoping to load the 7-day travelcard onto our Oysters, which we already have...just for the convenience.
Oh well...I need to plot this out. If there is no way to do this, I'll just stick with the paper travelcard from a train station and use the tube to get to/from LHR.
BTW...it's an 8-night stay. We figured arrival day we'd just walk or buy single tickets as needed. Then use a 7-day card (that we hoped would go on our Oysters) the rest of the stay. We won't need any TFL transport returning to LHR, because in the past we've taken the bus from Victoria Coach Station...two blocks from our hotel and pretty cheap.
IDEA: I know the hop-off-buy-hop-on is no good...but maybe there's a really cheap return ticket we could buy (after we arrive at our howel) between two stations that we would not use for travel...just for the 2for1. If we can get one for 10 pounds or so, it'd still be a good deal. Maybe not so ethical...
SS
I was hoping to use some sort of return ticket -- that I would buy on arrival -- in order to get the 2for1 the entire stay in London.
(This used to be a snap when USAir flew from Philadelphia to Gatwick -- taking the Southern train to/from Victoria, which qualified tor 2for1 -- but those days are gone.)
I know I could get the 2for1 with a 7-day travelcard bought at a train station...but I was hoping to load the 7-day travelcard onto our Oysters, which we already have...just for the convenience.
Oh well...I need to plot this out. If there is no way to do this, I'll just stick with the paper travelcard from a train station and use the tube to get to/from LHR.
BTW...it's an 8-night stay. We figured arrival day we'd just walk or buy single tickets as needed. Then use a 7-day card (that we hoped would go on our Oysters) the rest of the stay. We won't need any TFL transport returning to LHR, because in the past we've taken the bus from Victoria Coach Station...two blocks from our hotel and pretty cheap.
IDEA: I know the hop-off-buy-hop-on is no good...but maybe there's a really cheap return ticket we could buy (after we arrive at our howel) between two stations that we would not use for travel...just for the 2for1. If we can get one for 10 pounds or so, it'd still be a good deal. Maybe not so ethical...
SS
Oct 11th, 2014, 03:57 PM
#13
Heck w/ the ethics 
. The 2for1's aren't meant for foreign visitors at all. They are meant to attract Brits to take the train into London for excursions. We just get to use the paper travelcards as a 'get around'/loophole. So don't feel bad. 
. The 2for1's aren't meant for foreign visitors at all. They are meant to attract Brits to take the train into London for excursions. We just get to use the paper travelcards as a 'get around'/loophole. So don't feel bad.
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