Keith Raeburn wrote:


Yes you can ask for a ticket to the beginning of the zone.

Don't count on the fare being cheaper than that to the first station
inside the boundary, though. That would be far too simple.


Certainly you can *ask* and the booking clerk will understand you,
but (in my experience) you will *not* receive.
Twice recently I have landed at Gatwick and asked for a single to
"the edge of Zone 6"; each time, without comment, I have been handed
a ticket to (IIRC) Coulsdon South, the first station inside the
"Zones". The clerk also volunteered the information "any train from
platform ... " (in other words, anything except Gatwick Express,
whether or not it stops at Coulsdon South).
On the other hand, going outward to anywhere, I get a ticket which
states "from boundary Zone 6". The wording is different in the two
directions, but the rules and the price seem to be the same.
I have a pensioner's "Freedom Pass" but I imagine the rules are the
same as for Gold Cards.
--
Bill Borland