On May 17, 5:04*pm, Jarle H Knudsen wrote:
My annual London vacation is coming up, and this time I will be joined by a
friend who will arrive a few days later than me. This is his first visit to
London, so he is a bit nervous about travelling in the big city. We have
agreed to meet in a Central London station since travelling down to Gatwick
to meet him is deemed to expensive and time consuming. I haven't done that
journey myself, so can you advice on how to

- buy the correct ticket
- get on the right train
- get off at the right station

He will be arriving at Gatwick Airport around 2pm on Monday June 14. We are
staying near Walthamstow Central. My research shows that the cheapest fare
is £17 return with FCC to St. Pancras, which is convenient for the Victoria
Line.

OK, first thing to say is that ticketing between Gatwick and London is
mindbendingly mindboggling!

But yes, there is a £17 Anytime Return fare - note that this is an FCC-
only fare, though if you get it issued to St Pancras then I don't
think it actually states "FCC only" on the ticket as such - instead
the destination would be specifically stated as "St Pancras" and the
route shown as "Not Underground", which basically restricts you to the
FCC Thameslink route only anyway. Note that this ticket is therefore
*not* valid on any Southern services between Victoria and Gatwick (nor
on the slow stopping Southern trains from London Bridge either - but
you wouldn't want to use them anyway!).

You don't state when your friend is returning to Gatwick - note that
on many weekends (though not all) the FCC Thameslink route through
central London is closed - see the information on FCC's website he
http://www.firstcapitalconnect.co.uk/Main.php?iCmsPageId=64

If the FCC Thameslink 'core' route (in central London) is closed then
FCC trains to Gatwick will start from London Bridge instead - the
ticket should be valid for travel on the Tube (in lieu of FCC) between
St Pancras and London Bridge, though if the ticket doesn't work the LU
gates I can imagine it being questioned by a member of staff given
that it reads "Not Underground"! However if your friend is travelling
from Walthamstow on the Tube it wouldn't cost them anything extra to
go to London Bridge instead (it's a zones 1-3 journey either way). If
they're travelling back at the weekend it might be worth checking what
Tube lines are and are not running too.

From Gatwick your friend would need to catch a Bedford bound train -
these will be clearly displayed and announced as "First Capital
Connect services". They'd need to get off at St Pancras, obviously!
The stop before it is Farringdon - as long as they are paying
attention once the train started going underground (after Blackfriars)
they shouldn't miss it. There's only one way out of the low-level
platforms at St Pancras onto the main concourse, and you can arrange
to meet them on the other side of the gates there.

Going back to Gatwick from St Pancras, your friend would need to catch
a Brighton bound train (not Sutton, Wimbledon, Sevenoaks or anywhere
else) - likewise if the train was starting from London Bridge it would
be going to Brighton too.

There's all sorts of other weird and wonderful ticket combinations
that I could dream up for you, but there's not a lot of point! Make
sure you both get Oyster cards, or otherwise buy Day Travelcards on
each day or indeed a weekly Travelcard depending on your proposed
travel patterns. And enjoy yourselves!