Fangfangzhang

I plan to buy a London pass and a family and friends railcard. Can I get them at Heathrow airport? If not. where can I get them? As for taking public transport in London (metro, bus, etc), a 7-day travel card by the national rail or the oyster card is of better value? And it seems that there is "two for one" activity in August in London. If you can offer the train ticket arriving in London, then one adult paying full price for some scenic spots or the musicals, you can take one child for free. Some people say if you show a 7-day travel card and the voucher, then you can enjoy this "two for one" offer. I'm wondering whether it's true and the 7-day travel card can be taken as the train ticket to London?

sofarsogood

<<I plan to buy a London pass>> - not usually good value

You can buy a family and friends railcard at rail stations e.g. Victoria, Paddington, Kings Cross etc., but NOT at Heathrow

If you want the 2 for 1 offers http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/faq#1

get a paper travelcard at rail stations - they are NOT available at Heathrow therefore you will need to pay for separate ticket from Heathrow into central London.

janisj

>>I plan to buy a London pass<<

VERY bad idea. Save your money and as sofarsogood says, get paper travel cards for the 2for1 discounts

>>7-day travel card by the national rail or the oyster card is of better value?<<

Neither is a 'better value' since they cost the same -- but you get the 2for1 discounts w/ the paper national rail travelcard. (To use a 2for1 you need a train ticket that is for the same date so a 7 day paper travel card covers a whole week in London, but a single, one-way train ticket would only be valid on that one day)

Re the Friends and Family travel card -- download the form, go ahead and buy your long distance train tickets and then when you are in country -- go to a train station (not LHR), hand in the form, pay for the Friends and Family travel card and then collect your pre-purchased train tickets.

flanneruk

If you're talking about the commercial product branded the London Pass, the overwhelming majority of posters find this represents poor value for money in a city where most major attractions are free and where the 2 for 1 deal with currently valid travel tickets bought from National Rail stations gives you a more or less 50% discount on most other attractions.

You need to evaluate the benefits of the London Pass very carefully indeed, bearing in mind that the Pass also has a daily cap on how much you can use it.

I have absolutely no idea what "I'm wondering whether it's true and the 7-day travel card can be taken as the train ticket to London?" is supposed to mean.

Actually, I THINK you were trying to say "can a ticket to London count as your train ticket for 2 for 1 purposes?" If that's what you mean, it isn't what you've asked. But if it is what you meant to ask, the answer is that a rail ticket has to be still valid when you try to use it for the 2 for 1.

So if you've bought a one-way ticket from Birmingham to London, it's not valid for the 2 for 1 once you're in London. If you've bought a return ticket (Birmingham to London and back to Birmingham) then it CAN be used for the 2 for 1 for as long as the return half is valid.

PalenQ

If landing in Gatwick buy a return train ticket and then use it for half-off the whole time in London - Heathrow trains do not qualify.

janisj

>>If landing in Gatwick . . . <<

They aren't

Fangfangzhang

Thank you all for the replies! Yes, I'm not landing in Gatwick, in Heathrow.
Now the question is whether a single, one way train ticket (janisj suggested it) or a return ticket (flanneruk suggested it) is valid for the 2 for 1 deal?

janisj

A single will only be valid for 2for1's the exact same date as the ticket. A round trip ticket will cover all the dates in between the two dates.

So say you have a RT ticket in on Oct 1 and return on Oct 5, it would be valid for 2for1's Oct 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. But a one way ticket will only be valid the one day.