Bill wrote:
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).

[see my other post]

Sometimes when I ask for Hertford East to Bounday Zone 3, my ticket says
"Boundary Zone 3". Other times it says "Seven Sisters", "Tottenham
Hale", "Northumberland Park" or "White Hart Lane". I assume it's a case
of the ticket seller either knowing how to issue BZ tickets or, if they
don't, just guessing what the appropriate destination should be.

In fact, last time I did it in the opposite direction, and asked for
"BZ3 to Hertford East", the ticket seller at Tottenham Hale thought for
a millisecond, then asked me "How much do you normally pay for that
then?" I replied, "Oh, about £6.20 I think", and he issued me with an
LUL Extension ticket for £6.20, i.e. no destination of any sort printed
on it.

Is this because they don't know, or because it involves pressing too
many buttons, or is there actually a good reason for it?