Great Western Coffee Shop

I^ve been reading the Coffee Shop as a ^lurker^ for some time, and I must say how much I admire the civilised tone of your discussions, as well as the expertise and professionalism of many participants.

I^m a regular (two days per week) traveller from Reading to central London, usually with off-peak Travelcard.
However, in the next few days I have to go to London on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and again Monday the following week. At least two of these four round trips will have to be Peak-time outward journeys.
My questions ^ Is it worth buying a 7-day Tavelcard that will let me use any train?
Can I in fact buy one of these to start on a Tuesday, or are they only available starting on Mondays?

Your advice appreciated.

You can definitely buy a seven day season to commence on any day of the week, IIRC the only limitation is that you cannot buy it in advance to stop you sneaking any extra use in.

Paul

Welcome to the forum Hal.  An anytime one-day travelcard from Reading to Zones 1-6 costs ^43.00 (compared to ^37.50 for a anytime return without travelcard).  7 day tickets from Reading don't appear to be available (according to NFM08).

An off-peak travelcard ^20.50, ^16.00 for a day return without travelcard.

In London, it all depends which zones you'll be travelling in and how many journeys you need to make.  I'll assume Zone 1 only:
Oyster Single - ^1.90
Peak Daily Price Cap - ^8.00
Off-Peak Daily Price Cap - ^6.60
7 day Travelcard - ^27.60

So (excluding advance tickets):
2x Anytime Returns to London, 2x Off-Peak Returns + 1x 7-day travelcard = ^134.60
2x Anytime Travelcards + 2x Off-Peak Travelcards from Reading = ^116.00
2x Anytime Returns to London, 2x Off-Peak Returns + 8x Single Zone 1 journeys on an Oyster card = ^122.20

Travelcards run for 7 days from the start date, which can be any day of the week.

Edited to add: the Southern website is allowing the purchase of 7 day seasons from Reading: ^109.00 for a 7-day travelcard from Reading.  Also available to buy in advance.

Welcome to the Coffee Shop forum Hal!  :D

I'd go for the 7 day Travelcard season priced at ^109 as mentioned in Brucey's post. Just one point to add, you will need a photocard, so whilst you can buy the season ticket online, you'll need to go to a station with a passport sized photo to obtain your photocard.