Yes, you can use a railcard on Stansted Express trains – ignore the website

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

• Matt says:

  10 Mar10 March 03:25

  Slightly O/T but the advance Heathrow Express tickets (Early Bird Discounted Single) are remarkably cheap and railcard discount works on top. Purchased tickets in September for a trip last week, and it was £3.65 and could be used anytime that day.

  • vneiz says:

    10 Mar10 March 06:21

    Actually this has now ended https://www.headforpoints.com/2023/11/28/heathrow-express-drops-5-50-one-way-advance-tickets/

• X2000traveller says:

  10 Mar10 March 08:01

  Really the biggest problem here is that the industry’s regulator. ORR, has done nothing about this for ages. They are supposed to be dedicated to protecting passengers. Hiding a discount that maybe 1/3rd of your customers have is hardly a passenger friendly move by GA.

  • johnny_c-l says:

    10 Mar10 March 08:35

    +1

• PeterK says:

  10 Mar10 March 08:07

  Shame on the operator #ripoffbritain

• Kraut says:

  10 Mar10 March 08:13

  Surely it should be somehow illegal for a rail operator to sell tickets without an options available

• lumma says:

  10 Mar10 March 08:14

  In some defence of this, the £45.60 price on the Stansted Express is a special group price that you won’t be offered on a different TOC site or at a ticket machine. If you try to book a family of 4 on the LNER site without a friends and family Railcard it will cost you £69 one way and on a weekday you can’t use a Friends and Family Railcard on the trains that depart Liverpool Street before 9.30am

  • Alex says:

    10 Mar10 March 12:23

    I concur. It’s cheaper to buy a railcard eligible ticket elsewhere, however for peak hours when railcard discount is not applicable, Stansted Express website provides a cheaper option not available elsewhere (especially with advance purchase)

• JaneDoe says:

  10 Mar10 March 08:21

  Drying out in April from stansted and don’t have a railcard. Is there a cheaper way of buying the ticket than the Stansted Exp website?

  • lumma says:

    10 Mar10 March 08:37

    You can buy advance tickets on the Stansted Express website which you won’t be able to buy anywhere else.

    For example it’s £15 one way on Wednesday 17th April currently and you can use it on any train that day. Railcard price that day is £15.15. National Express bus is £17

  • ChrisD says:

    10 Mar10 March 09:16

    The Stansted express website will only sell you an anytime ticket with maximum flexibility meaning you can travel peak times. If you know you’ll only be traveling off peak, then buying an open return ticket between SSD and LST on another TOC website will allow you to buy an off peak return which is currently about £27 instead of £36.

• lumma says:

  10 Mar10 March 10:18

  That off peak return is a “day return”. If you want to come back on a different day you can only buy the “anytime return” which is £36.50.

  • lumma says:

    10 Mar10 March 10:18

    Reply is to Chris D above

  • ChrisD says:

    10 Mar10 March 11:53

    Good point, you are right, same day only.

• Bervios says:

  10 Mar10 March 12:41

  Greater Anglia requires some regulation on this route. From not implementing contactless and the mayor stepping in, and subsequent reports of many tourist being caught unaware at Stansted and fined £100 after touching in with contactless.

  I have a network railcard and also assumed I couldn’t use it on a past occasion.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.