How to avoid the hike in Heathrow travel costs
Several online blogs are advising budget-conscious travellers they can sidestep a 57% fare increase by adding just a few minutes to their journey.
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Your support makes all the difference.A trick to avoid the hike in the cost of taking public transport between central London and Heathrow Airport has emerged.
Several online blogs are advising budget-conscious travellers they can sidestep a 57% fare increase by adding just a few minutes to their journey.
Discounts for off-peak travel on London Underground and Elizabeth line trains from Zone 1 to Heathrow were scrapped on Sunday.
This means adult pay-as-you-go fares outside the morning and evening peak periods have risen from £3.50 to £5.50 on the Tube, and from £10.80 to £12.80 on the Elizabeth line.
But London Underground passengers travelling on the Piccadilly line to Heathrow can pay the same fare as before if they get off at Hatton Cross – one stop before the west London airport – tap out at the ticket barriers, tap back in, and catch the next Tube.
The same method can be used to save money on Elizabeth line journeys.
Getting off – and back on again – at Hayes and Harlington station is £3 cheaper than a non-stop trip to Heathrow.
A post by London blogger “diamond geezer”, which outlined the potential savings, stated that “in normal times” it would be seen as “penny-pinching”, but “we no longer live in normal times”.
He added: “The Heathrow off-peak fare hike is very much the advance guard for a number of nastier decisions coming down the line – thanks Mr Shapps – so steel yourself for more unexpected and unwanted announcements coming all too soon.”
Transport for London (TfL) said the removal of off-peak discounts is a result of conditions imposed by the Department for Transport – led by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps – as part of a £1.2 billion funding package agreed last week.
The fee for buying an Oyster card also rose on Sunday, from £5 to £7.
The price increases are expected to generate an additional £27 million per year and support TfL in achieving its target of “financially sustainable operations” by April 2023.
Heathrow Express fares are unaffected by the changes.
The service – which runs non-stop between the airport and Paddington, west London – costs £25 for a single ticket bought on the day of travel, although advance tickets are available from £5.50.