Contactless vs GWR ticket - or why would you ever buy off peak from GWR...

[whole diary]

[ConfusedofCaversham]

Hi there, I hope this is the right forum and I've searched around and could not find this exact topic.

Now I have the pre-emptive apologies out of the way I wanted to please confirm my understanding and check I am not going a touch mad...

I travel from Reading to Liverpool Street once a week and back, getting the peak GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) train in the morning and then changing on to the Elizabeth line at Paddington to get to Liverpool street station.  On the way home I will sometimes travel to Reading after 19.00 as I meet friends for drinks and generally enjoy day release from my home office (the joys of hybrid working).

Up until now I have been getting a daily peak travel card for £59.60.  I think I would be at least no worse off just using contactless from Reading as I might be able to benefit from the £11.30 off peak rate after 19.00 for the return trip. So £26+£11.30+£5 (tube £2.50 x2) for a trip cost of £42.30.  If I get peak home with contactless that would only be a £57.  Even if I need to make more than two tube trips the capped daily contactless travel card only works out at 10p more than the GWR daily travel card.

What I find amazing (unless I am missing something) is that the contactless off peak price is £11.30 (London Paddington to Reading) where as the same ticket from GWR is £22.60???  And you can get the same trains...  And the peak rate is also cheaper £26 vs £27.60.

[laird]

Yes the contactless payment method is cheaper, by a large margin if you tap in during off-peak.
The only other thing to be cautious of is since the contactless is timed based on entry so you would need to tap in at 19:01 or later to get the off-peak fare. If finely timed you could use an oyster card to go from Liverpool Street to Paddington then Contactless from Paddington at 19:01, effectively a different type of split ticket to ensure your departure from London is charged at the lower Off-Peak rate.

The only other thing to watch out for is since your London Paddington to Reading section occurs after morning peak it could be worth investigating using a ticket with a railcard discount if you do find that section to be in the evening peak.

[ConfusedofCaversham]

Yes the contactless payment method is cheaper, by a large margin if you tap in during off-peak.
The only other thing to be cautious of is since the contactless is timed based on entry so you would need to tap in at 19:01 or later to get the off-peak fare. If finely timed you could use an oyster card to go from Liverpool Street to Paddington then Contactless from Paddington at 19:01, effectively a different type of split ticket to ensure your departure from London is charged at the lower Off-Peak rate.

The only other thing to watch out for is since your London Paddington to Reading section occurs after morning peak it could be worth investigating using a ticket with a railcard discount if you do find that section to be in the evening peak.

Thank you on the network card, I will look into it!

I had assumed that as I was tapping out at the underground barriers coming off the Elizabeth than tapping into Paddington rail after 19.01 it would be a completely separate trip- even if using the same contactless card for both legs?  I'm not sure why I would need to use an Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services) card or different contactless card?

So the Liverpool street to Paddington tube trip would be £2.50 and the Paddington to Reading section counted as a separate trip at £11.30.

[laird]

The system is clever enough to join the two sections of your journey together so you would end up paying peak fare throughout if you don't find a way to split at Paddington.

Conversely if you enter during the off peak time it will be better to stick to one card as the whole journey will remain off peak.

[grahame]

Hi there, I hope this is the right forum and I've searched around and could not find this exact topic.

Now I have the pre-emptive apologies out of the way I wanted to please confirm my understanding and check I am not going a touch mad...

Welcome to the forum ... perfect board to post in, and even if it's been covered in part before, we can't expect you to have read 20,000 previous threads for it.   Think you have an answer too 

You are not going mad - it's the system that's mad at times. 

[Birdie100]

There is no doubt contactless, especially offpeak, is substantially cheaper. As commented above, touching in at Liverpool Street Pre 7pm, then out and in at Paddington will ‘fuse’ the journeys. Easily avoided by the use of two cards! In general though, since discovering the offpeak trick 18 months ago I deliberately have a ‘long’ day when I do go up to town (touching in before 6.30am and after 7pm on the return) as it makes the journey much cheaper!

One other thought if you’re not in a desperate rush (or perhaps would like a late night snack) returning home. It’s possible to travel for £3.40 to Hayes. So if you’re ever stuck on an Elizabeth line train, you can hop off, enjoy Hayes town centre, then touch back in on a different card. To twyford, the train fare is £5.50; I suspect it’s similarly cheaper to Reading. Thus generating a subsidy of £2.40 from TfL^» (Transport for London - about) to invest in Hayes’ amenities!

[ConfusedofCaversham]

The system is clever enough to join the two sections of your journey together so you would end up paying peak fare throughout if you don't find a way to split at Paddington.

Conversely if you enter during the off peak time it will be better to stick to one card as the whole journey will remain off peak.

Oh wow that is clever in a unhelpful way (depending on time of day...).

Thanks!

[ConfusedofCaversham]

There is no doubt contactless, especially offpeak, is substantially cheaper. As commented above, touching in at Liverpool Street Pre 7pm, then out and in at Paddington will ‘fuse’ the journeys. Easily avoided by the use of two cards! In general though, since discovering the offpeak trick 18 months ago I deliberately have a ‘long’ day when I do go up to town (touching in before 6.30am and after 7pm on the return) as it makes the journey much cheaper!

One other thought if you’re not in a desperate rush (or perhaps would like a late night snack) returning home. It’s possible to travel for £3.40 to Hayes. So if you’re ever stuck on an Elizabeth line train, you can hop off, enjoy Hayes town centre, then touch back in on a different card. To twyford, the train fare is £5.50; I suspect it’s similarly cheaper to Reading. Thus generating a subsidy of £2.40 from TfL^» (Transport for London - about) to invest in Hayes’ amenities!

That is a great tip thanks. 

Yes, I only go into the office once a week, so making the most of the outside world and saving money is a double bonus!

[autotank]

There is no doubt contactless, especially offpeak, is substantially cheaper. As commented above, touching in at Liverpool Street Pre 7pm, then out and in at Paddington will ‘fuse’ the journeys. Easily avoided by the use of two cards! In general though, since discovering the offpeak trick 18 months ago I deliberately have a ‘long’ day when I do go up to town (touching in before 6.30am and after 7pm on the return) as it makes the journey much cheaper!

One other thought if you’re not in a desperate rush (or perhaps would like a late night snack) returning home. It’s possible to travel for £3.40 to Hayes. So if you’re ever stuck on an Elizabeth line train, you can hop off, enjoy Hayes town centre, then touch back in on a different card. To twyford, the train fare is £5.50; I suspect it’s similarly cheaper to Reading. Thus generating a subsidy of £2.40 from TfL^» (Transport for London - about) to invest in Hayes’ amenities!

You're not the only one that does this - frequently pop in to the Tesco at Hayes on my way home to pick up essentials and save money on my way home to Twyford off-peak. I can get to Hayes from Bond Street for just £2.25 as I have a gold card discount loaded onto my Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services). This makes the saving £3.55 and a meal deal is only £3.40 with a Clubcard!

In the morning I frequently touch in at Twyford by 0634 when catching the 0648 train to London and then walk to my office near Bond Street and pay just £8.80! Contactless has really helped reduce the cost of my commute, but surprisingly I don't see many/any others rushing to touch in before 0635 to save.