Travelcard & Heathrow

[wheatley]

I thought we couldn't use a travelcard to get to London from Heathrow, but I found this on the Visit Britain Direct website-

 

You can buy either the "small" Visitor Travelcard for Central London (Zones 1+2) or the "large" Visitor Travelcard which gives you free travel throughout the whole of Greater London, including Heathrow Airport (Zones 1-6).

 

Is this info correct? Can I use this card for the 2 for 1 attractions if I purchase it in advance?

Sorry for another travelcard question. I have read the posts on here about it. Can they make it any more complex ?????:eek:

[stace11]

You can use a Zone 1-6 Travelcard to travel to/from Heathrow, but not a Zone 1-2 card. Keep in mind that a Travelcard purchased at Heathrow would definitely not be eligible for the 2FOR1 deals as it would be issued by a Tube station, not a National Rail station.

 

As for whether the Travelcards you can purchase in advance can be used for the 2FOR1 deals, the short answer is I'm not sure. I have no experience with Visit Britain Direct, but the fact that they are still selling 3-day Travelcards (which have been discontinued) would not give me a warm, fuzzy feeling.

 

You can also purchase Travelcards in advance through Transport for London, which is the organization that runs the London Underground system. The Travelcard pictured on their website would indeed meet the requirements of containing the National Rail logo and therefore should be eligible for use with the 2FOR1 discounts, but this is assuming you receive the card pictured. Might be best to contact TFL and verify that it will, in fact, contain the National Rail logo (the red symbol in the extreme upper left corner that looks like an equal sign with a squiggle through it). Here is the information from TFL:

 

http://visitorshop.tfl.gov.uk/english/ticket-types.htm

 

Good luck. Enjoy your trip!

[Twickenham]

Some clarification here, as the question really involves 3 separate issues.

 

Firstly, the website is selling a Visitor Travelcard. This is a product that is specifically targeted to tourists, available for purchase in advance via the web. Personally, I have crunched the numbers and never considered them particularly good value.

 

The travelcards that most of us speak of are available in the UK, at underground/train station and select corner shops. These are available in 1-day form, or 7 days or more for regular users.

 

Now, the trick for the 2-for-1 deals is this travelcard must be purchased at a National Rail station, on NR paper with their logo. This is to take advantage of the offers provided to users of the train. Now, you do not have to purchase a travelcard to take advantage of the 2-for-1 deals; you must merely have a train ticket of whatever form (I believe for a journey that day, but not sure on that one).

 

As already stated, there is no NR station at LHR, so travelcards purchased there are not eligible for the 2-for-1 specials.

[stace11]

Firstly, the website is selling a Visitor Travelcard. This is a product that is specifically targeted to tourists, available for purchase in advance via the web. Personally, I have crunched the numbers and never considered them particularly good value.

Further clarification, the website selling Visitor Travelcards is the Visit Britain Direct one that the OP mentions. Purchasing through Transport for London as I mentioned, is the same cost as purchasing in London at a Tube or National Rail station -- except there is a small additional delivery fee of £3.50.

 

Now, the trick for the 2-for-1 deals is this travelcard must be purchased at a National Rail station, on NR paper with their logo. This is to take advantage of the offers provided to users of the train. Now, you do not have to purchase a travelcard to take advantage of the 2-for-1 deals; you must merely have a train ticket of whatever form (I believe for a journey that day, but not sure on that one).

Correct, train tickets must be valid for the date you are trying to use the 2FOR1 vouchers.

[Globaliser]

I thought we couldn't use a travelcard to get to London from Heathrow ...

If you see references to not being able to use a Travelcard to get from central London to Heathrow (or vice versa), it may either be the zone issue that has been mentioned, or the fact that you can't use Travelcards on the Heathrow Express or Heathrow Connect trains to get to/from Heathrow. But Travelcards can definitely be used on on Tube (Underground) trains.