If I buy a 1-day Travelcard (Zone 1-9), can I use it to go from London downtown to Gatwick?

I know if I buy it at Gatwick airport I can but If I don't know if I do at Downtown, will it work? My idea is to buy one at Heathrow and then go to visit London and take my connection to Gatwick. Am I right? What do you recommend me? If I pay by contactless CC, how secure and cheaper is compared to get a one day unlimited transport card?

Best Answer

Since nobody actually answered your question as phrased, I thought I'd make this very clear:

No, a Zone 1-9 Travelcard is NOT valid to Gatwick Airport.

You can see a map of Travelcard validity on the London's Rail and Tube Services map.

You can see that while Gatwick Airport is in the Oyster Pay as you Go area (meaning you can use Oyster or contactless bank cards to pay for travel), it does NOT have a zone number listed, meaning it is not valid with ordinary numbered-zone Travelcards.

You can still buy a Travelcard from Gatwick Airport if you wish but it's a so-called "outboundary" Travelcard, which is in effect just a one-day return (Americans would say "round trip") ticket to the boundary of Zone 6, combined with a Travelcard valid within Zones 1-6. There are various available depending on whether you need validity on Gatwick Express trains or not and whether or not you're travelling at peak times, but in any case, it will almost certainly work out more expensive than just using Oyster or Contactless. Henning gave more details on how this works in his answer.

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Can you use a Travelcard to Gatwick?

You can now use London's Oyster Cards and contactless payment options to pay for fares on the Gatwick Express, Southern trains and Thameslink trains between London and Gatwick Airport. However Travelcards are not valid.

Does a Travelcard cover all zones?

A Travelcard (in the zones it's valid for) gives you unlimited travel at any time on bus, Tube, Tram, DLR, London Overground, Elizabeth line and National Rail services in London. You can use it on all buses, and if valid in zones 3, 4, 5 or 6, on all trams.

Is Gatwick in the London Travelcard area?

Gatwick Airport is not be included in the advertised London Travelcard zones; instead it offers customers an alternative way to pay for their travel using PAYG. Season tickets will not be available on Oyster along the extended route.

Does an Oyster card cover all zones?

You can use a Visitor Oyster card in any zones, but your fare will vary depending on which zones you travel in. The card automatically calculates the cheapest fare for the zones you use.

Should You Get a 7-Day Travel Card When Visiting London? | London Transport Guide | Love and London

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