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I intend to pay with a contactless card, in London Underground + buses, and to reach the daily/weekly spending cap.

Once I have already reached the daily cap, what's the cheapest way of combining underground+buses for reaching an airport?

If I want, for example, to travel from Liverpool street to Standsted would the segment Liverpool street – Tottenham Hale using the Stansted Express train be covered under this daily cap?

Could I travel with the underground to the nearest train station to Standsted and then take a train/bus?

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  • Which zones are you going to travel in during your stay? If you remain in zones 1-2, the stop in Tottenham Hale (zone 3) will bump your cap.
    – jcaron
    Commented Feb 10, 2019 at 10:18

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Looking at my handy zone map, I see that Tottenham Hale (TOM) is zone 3. A quick look at a selection of trains from LST to SSD shows that all stop at TOM but next after that variously at Harlow Town and Bishops Stortford, both of which are well outside the capping zone (even Cheshunt is zone 8). So I don't think you can do better than to use capped Oyster to TOM, then travel by ticket to SSD.

However, even with National Rail services, the rules about combining tickets are that you must use a train that stops at the place where you go from one ticket to another. In the case of Oyster, it's even more onerous: you'll have to physically disembark in order to tap out.

I note that an Anytime Single from LST to SSD is £18.10, while one from TOM to SSD is £16.70, a difference of £1.40; less if you're using an off-peak ticket. Whether it's worth getting all that luggage off the train, finding an Oyster tap-point, possibly changing platforms, and waiting for another train in order to save £1.40 is a decision only you can make. I certainly wouldn't bother.

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  • @Pierre B You should check out service alterations on this route before deciding which option to take - sometimes trains don’t stop at certain stations when there’s a rail replacement bus stanstedexpress.com/travel-information/…
    – Traveller
    Commented Feb 10, 2019 at 9:44
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Generally the London Oyster daily cap only applies to any destination/stations within Zones 1-9. Both Stansted and Luton airports are outside of this area so in order to get there, you would have to pay another fare after leaving the Oyster zone.

I would recommend Easybus to get to Luton/Stansted cheaply http://www.easybus.com/en/

The full map of where you can use a contactless card/oyster payment is here: (Includes Heathrow and Gatwick airports)

https://tfl.gov.uk/maps/track/national-rail

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  • The question is how to best combine both system That is, assuming that the Oyster is already a sunk cost. At what point should I leave the Oyster zone to pay the lowest amount to reach any airport.
    – Pierre B
    Commented Feb 9, 2019 at 22:57
  • The Oystercard will be extended to include Luton Aiport Parkway at some point "Early 2019" when I don't know but the readers are installed at the station.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-46397470
    – Sarriesfan
    Commented Feb 10, 2019 at 16:44

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