Buying a London Travelcard in Windsor for use with the 2 For 1 offer
 

Hi everyone,

I just found out about the 2 For 1 offer with rail tickets in London. I read a lot of threads in this and other forums regarding the offer but I still have some questions.

We are arriving at Heathrow airport and because it is close to Windsor I thought it will be a good idea to visit the castle before going to London.

The problem is that if we arrive at Windsor straight from the airport we would have no opportunity to be in London and buy travelcards to use with the 2 For 1 offer.

We could have solved this problem buy traveling to London by train from Windsor, but this solution is inconvenient because we probably will leave our bags at Heathrow storage facility and there are no such facilities in Windsor.

Now come the questions

1. Is it possible to buy a London Travelcard at a station outside London (like Windsor stations or Slough) without buying a ticket to London?

2. Is it mandatory that London will be the start/destination of a ticket that is used with the 2 For 1 even if the attraction is outside London (Like Windsor Castle)? Will a train ticket from Slough to Windsor be eligible for the offer?

Thanks a lot!

As I understand it, the 2 for 1 offer is aimed at travellers on National Rail services as an encouragement to get them to travel to London. If they are offered reduced prices for admission to attractions, then they will also buy a rail ticket to get there. It is intended for people living away from central London.

However, when setting out the terms of which tickets were eligible for the 2 for 1 offer, it was decided that any National Rail ticket would let the purchaser qualify. For the tourist already in London, and wanting to visit a number of attractions in a week, the best valid ticket is a weekly travelcard. London has to be the destination for a ticket to qualify for the 2 for 1 offer.

I cannot see Windsor Castle on the list of attractions which are part of the 2 for 1 offer on either the South West Trains or First Great Western websites. That makes some of your questions irrelevant.

Incidentally, there are also 2 for 1 offers in Bath, Bristol and Oxford, and the same rules apply. You have to buy a train ticket to those places to qualify.

Can I just say that I am constantly amazed at the hoops that American tourists will jump through in order to save a few pounds. The offers are intended for people who live or are staying outside Central London, which is why the rules may seem bizarre.

Thanks for your reply.

You are right, there is no 2 for 1 offer for Windsor so this post is really irrelevant - I was misled by the Days Out Guide website.

You can get a few quid off entry to the castle if you go by train, but not 2-4-1. Take another look at that website.

I used a 2for1 offer for Madame Tussaud's last week. All I needed to show were rail tickets. They can be in any form, not just travel cards. The person did not look at the dates, just the logo.