Discounts for off-peak Tube travel from Zone 1 to Heathrow are scrapped – but tapping out and in again one stop before the airport can let travellers dodge £2 price hike
- Off-peak discounts on Tube from Zone 1 to Heathrow were scrapped on Sunday
- Discounts on Elizabeth line trains for same routes were also removed by TfL
- Means that adult pay-as-you-go fares have risen from £3.50 to £5.50 on Tube
- Elizabeth line fares have risen from £10.80 to £12.80 while Oyster card rose to £7
- Savvy travel experts have come up with ways of getting around the price hikes
Airline passengers have been handed a cost-saving trick to sidestep the latest hike in fares for journeys between Zone 1 and Heathrow Airport.
Discounts for off-peak travel on Underground and Elizabeth line trains between the two locations were scrapped on Sunday – and the fee for buying an Oyster card also rose on Sunday, from £5 to £7.
Now 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 several online blogs are advising travellers they can get around the 57 per cent fare increase.
Savvy travel experts have worked out that Underground passengers travelling on the Piccadilly line to Heathrow can avoid the hike in fares 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.
Hatton Cross was added to the Heathrow Free Travel Zone on Sunday in an area that has historically been no charge between the airport terminals.
An online blogger who uses the alias ‘Diamond Geezer’ tipped off passengers, suggesting they use a different card to tap back in, or wait a suitable amount of time convince TfL’s software you are making two journeys.
The same method can be used to save money on Elizabeth line journeys too. Getting off – and back on again – at Hayes and Harlington station is £3 cheaper than a non-stop trip to Heathrow.
Underground passengers travelling on the Piccadilly line to Heathrow can avoid the hike in fares 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 map (above) shows the Heathrow Travel Free Zone which now includes Hatton Cross, allowing travellers to sidestep the price hikes
In ‘Diamond Geezer’s’ post, he 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 finances of TfL were hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, with revenue down, hence the need to hike fares.
A Heathrow spokesperson told The Independent: ‘It’s disappointing that Heathrow’s passengers are being unfairly singled out in a funding spat between the government and TfL, just as we are all trying to get passengers back onto the railways and to maximise the benefits of the new Elizabeth line which serves the airport.’
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.
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