On 21 Sep, 01:31, Mizter T wrote:
[x-posted to uk.transport.london]

On Sep 20, 11:48*pm, "Alan" wrote:

"Railist" wrote:

So here's a new one for me... a simple ticket purchase. This happened
last Friday.

BOUNDARY ZONE 5 to GATWICK AIRPORT. 17 SEPTEMBER,
returning 19 SEPTEMBER. Gold Card.
Purchase Location: East Midlands Trains ticket office, St. Pancras.

How much do you think they wanted to charge me?

Assuming you wanted Standard Class, the correct fare appears to be £14.40,
but I'm going to guess at £28.70 - they'll have entered the name of a Z5
station on the north side of Thameslink.

Hold on, £14.40 can't be right either - can it?!

I haven't got access to the NFM/ Avantix Traveller right now but
looking at the fare from East Croydon (which is in zone 5) to Gatwick
it's only £5.00 for an Anytime single (that's undiscounted - so it's
£3.30 with the Gold Card discount).

Now I understand that the Boundary Zone 5 to Gatwick extension ticket
may well be valid on the non-stop and premium Gatwick Express service
(unless it's specifically 'Route: Not GatEx' ?), but even that
wouldn't really explain the price - after all, a single ticket on
GatEx costs £16.90 as it is!

(Of course, if starting from St P one wouldn't normally have any
involvement with Gatwick Express if the Thameslink service is running
normally.)

Also, I wonder if the FCC ticket office might have possibly done a
better job of it than the EMT ticket office...

Why can't it be like the Torpoint ferry? you get, on no booking,
everyone pays the same. The saving in wages, advertising and office
space if all the promotional staff were disposed of would be
considerable.