martin j wrote in
news:18597737.1636.1319124944971.JavaMail.geo-discussion-forums@yqgd7:

Hi there.
Coming up to Travelcard renewal time and this year since my journey
has pretty neatly settled down to zone 3 south London to Canary Wharf,
via Crystal Palace and Canada Water, I don't think I need Zone 1 as
it's only about 1 week a month that I have to travel that way and only
on the inbound journey. Is it going to be cheaper to drop Zone 1 and
pay the difference via Oyster PAYG 1 week a month for only the inbound
journey's? Many thanks,
Martin J

The answer is going to be "it all depends..."

The relevant fares are

Crystal Palace to Canary Wharf not via Zone 1
Peak: £1.40
Off-Peak: £1.30

Crystal Palace to Canary Wharf via Zone 1
Peak: £4.10
Off-Peak: £3.20

Gipsy Hill [National Rail] to Canary Wharf not via Zone 1
Peak: £1.90
Off-Peak: £1.50
(route validation required; default is via Zone 1)

Gipsy Hill [National Rail] to Canary Wharf via Zone 1
Peak: £4.10
Off-Peak: £3.20

Annual Z1-3 £1,288
Annual Z2-3 £832

Let's make the following assumptions:

Your journey starts between 06:30 and 09:30 in the morning and 16:00 and
19:00 in the evening (i.e. is "Peak" both ways)

It is from a Zone 3 National Rail station (e.g. Gipsy Hill) (Crystal
Palace itself is London Overground so a cheaper fare applies via Canada
Water)

You work for 5 days a week, 48 weeks per year (i.e. ignoring Bank
Holidays)

For 12 weeks you travel outwards via Zone 1, making a through journey
(if your reason for going via Zone 1 is to break your journey in Zone 1
you will have to pay two single fares).

The January fares increase will be ignored.

So the totals a

Pay-as-you-go

2 x 5 x 36 x 1.90 = £ 684
1 x 5 x 12 x 1.90 = £ 114
1 x 5 x 12 x 4.10 = £ 246
Total £ 1044

Annual Z2-3 plus PAYG
Annual season = £ 832
1 x 5 x 12 x 2.00 = £ 120
Total £ 952

Annual Z1-3 £ 1288

So the best option looks like a Z2-3 annual season plus PAYG. Note that
if you actually started your journey at Crystal Palace PAYG throughout
would be cheaper, but you would lose the other benefits of a season
ticket.

David