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I would like to make the journey Reading-Oxford-London-Reading. At Oxford I was told I can do this on an Oxford-London Travelcard: I just need to hold on to the ticket when I arrive at Oxford. At Reading I was told I can't do this: arriving at Oxford is the end of the ticket's validity.

The conditions say that my ticket is invalid (apart from further Zone 1-6 travel) after the completion of my return leg, but I would argue that this leg isn't complete upon my arrival at Oxford (I complete it on my return to Reading).

Which is the correct advice, and what are my chances of persuading the gate staff that my ticket is valid to leave Reading (where they will likely have seen me buy an Oxford travelcard) and on arrival at Oxford to keep it?

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    Wouldn't you be better to buy a Reading to Oxford return, and a Reading to London Travelcard? That way you don't use anything out of order
    – Gagravarr
    Commented Jan 27, 2016 at 23:39
  • I'll probably have to do this... but it's more expensive.
    – user13190
    Commented Jan 28, 2016 at 6:46
  • Another option is to buy a Reading to Oxford single, and an Oxford to London Travelcard. It will require two tickets whatever you do
    – Gagravarr
    Commented Jan 28, 2016 at 19:05

2 Answers 2

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My understanding is that an Oxford-London Travelcard is valid for one journey from Oxford to London, as much travel as you like within London (Zones 1-6), then one journey back to Oxford. What you're trying to do is to use part of the return leg (Reading-Oxford) before you've used the outbound leg, which I think is against the terms of the ticket.

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  • This. What the OP needs is a Reading–London travelcard valid via Oxford (if such a thing is available). An Oxford–London travelcard will be retained by the barriers upon exiting at Oxford.
    – Andrew Leach
    Commented Jan 28, 2016 at 18:57
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    I was told (by the ticket office at Oxford), that I should just claim I need to keep the ticket "for expenses" or some such... I suspect this was not good advice: she might have let me get away with it, but in my experience her colleagues are likely to take a rather less sympathetic view of my interpretation of the rules.
    – user13190
    Commented Jan 28, 2016 at 20:25
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I would like to suggest you to use Oyster card, it has so many advantages over the Travel card. Note: Oyster cards are not valid for travel between Oxford, Reading and London.

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    What are the advantages of an Oyster card over a Travel card? Can you buy the Oyster card at the same location as the Travel card? Expanding your question will make it more interesting.
    – Joren Vandamme
    Commented Sep 25, 2019 at 11:32
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    Oyster cards are not valid for travel between Oxford, Reading and London.
    – user13190
    Commented Sep 25, 2019 at 11:38
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    Presumably there will be Oyster readers at Reading when The Railway Formerly Known As Crossrail opens, but they might only be valid there. And Oxford is far, far outside any current or planned Oyster validity area.
    – hmakholm left over Monica
    Commented Sep 25, 2019 at 12:14
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    Welcome to TSE. This answer has not been well-regarded as you assert that the Oyster card has advantages, but you do not actually list any of them, nor provide any external references to support your claim. I strongly encourage you to take the site tour and review the help center for a better understanding of how Stack Exchange works.
    – choster
    Commented Sep 25, 2019 at 17:04
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    What's the advantage of using an Oyster for travel between Reading-Oxford-London when the Oyster is not valid between Reading-Oxford-London?
    – kiradotee
    Commented Sep 28, 2019 at 19:06

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