magical

I think we need to get an oyster card loaded with a 7 day travel card for zone 1&2, but not sure.

We will be in London (wife & I) for 6 days. Arriving at Heathrow, and staying in Kensington area. So from Heathrow to London zone 1, we are thinking to add this journey to the 7 day card. Then one day we want to travel to Wimbledon, which is in zone 3 , as best I can tell. How do we do that....add this as an extra to the 7 day card?...perhaps on the day we will be going to Wimbledon.

Still undecided whether we want to use the 2 4 1 coupons.....if we do that, we will need to buy the paper travelcard at a rail station somewhere in London. If we do that, trip from Heathrow will have to be a stand alone ticket. Is that right?

Does anyone know if there is a senior rate for tourist 7 day travelcard?

Looking for help from all knowledgeable fodorites. Thank you.

xyz123

There is a senior rate but I believe it is restricted to localsd and in any event it's not a walk up rate so I don't think yu're eligible. You basically have the idea...the drawback of the paper 7 day travelcard is in dealing with extensions such as your discussions. Essentially they don't exist on paper travelcards...you have to pay the cash fare which is always very high so for the trip in from Heathrow, if you don't go the oyster 7 day card, you would pay a full cash fare which you can look upon the tfl web site (it is the cash fare for a zone 1 to 6 cash ticket) and pay it again on the way out...the day you go to Wimbledon (are you sure it's zone 3, haven't been there but not all that far so it could still be zone 2 but not questioning you if you've done the research) you would have to buy a cash ticket for a zone 3 trip. With an oyster 7 day card, the extensions are placed right on the PAYG section of the card and it is the oyster price not the cash price for a ticket outside the zones of validity of the oyster card. Thus on the Heathrow trip days, you would need to pay the oyster price of a zone 3 to 6 ticket (your travelcard is valid for zones 1 &2); as I remember, you can check on the tfl web site, that fare off peak (defined as any times outside 0630 to 0930 and 1600 to 1900 week days) that fare is £1.30...the zone 3 extension off peak might be £1 as I remember but dn't hold me to it...peak fares are somewhat higher so the Heathrow extension rns something like £3.50 (a Heathrow cash fare is £4.50 I believe no distinction between off peak and peak). On the other hand, do remember that now even if your first purchase on an oyster c ard is a 7 day trvelcard, they still nail you for the 5 quid deposit (when they first came out, if you bought a 7 day travelcard, there was no depopsit and I have about 5 or 6 oyster cards which I loan to my friends where I paid no deposit). Paper travelcards do not carry the deposit. I'll let others discuss the idiocy of this whole system (although I understand the original purpose of the 2 4 1's was to encourage domestic tourism using the national rail system) but you seem to have done most of your homework and have mastered it.

One other helpful hint. Most attractions in London that charge usually have concession pricing for seniors or pensioners defined as anybody 60 years of age or older and they rarely check (although I do qualify..maybe they're just telling me I look like an old man). Many of the top shows in London as well as the lesser ones have senior discounts available the day of the performance but not always on Friday or Saturday nights and sometimes the Saturday matinees for the really popular shows are sell outs too. It never hurts to stop at a theatre the day of a performance and ask (you can always then head over to TKTS to check on discount tickets available to the general public) or you can call the theatres direcxtly and ask if they have concession tickets.

TimS

If you decide not to go for the 2-for-1 offers from National Rail, then buy Oyster cards at Heathrow and load them with seven-day, zone 1-2 travelcards plus some pay-as-you-go pounds for your trip in from Heathrow and your trip to Wimbledon. Yes, Wimbledon is in zone 3. The Oyster computer will automatically give you the best fare for your rides beyond zone 2.

Alternatively, you could buy Oyster cards at Heathrow and load some PAYG pounds on them to get you into London. Then buy paper travelcards at the National Rail station closest to your hotel.

When you leave London you can get a refund on any unspent PAYG pounds on your Oyster cards.

magical

Thanks xyz123 & TimS.
Yeah, I'll get a 7 day travelcard loaded on oyster at Heathrow with added PAYG Heathrow to London trip Plus an extension for Wimbledon. I believe I can use the Wimbledon portion on a later day.

Just looking at the tfl site, I think I can take the tube from heathrow directly to the earl's court tube stop where my hotel is located...Marriott Kensington. The other tube stop near the hotel is gloucester, and that requires couple of transfers... paddington and then circle line etc.

PatrickLondon

>>The other tube stop near the hotel is gloucester, and that requires couple of transfers... paddington and then circle line etc.<<

Not so. Gloucester Road is also on the Piccadilly Line. Paddington needn't come into it.