Off-peak Tube fares for journeys between central London and Heathrow Airport have suddenly been scrapped – but travellers can take advantage of a hack to get around the price hikes.
It was announced on Monday that tickets for London Underground journeys to and from the airport – that start, end or go through Zone 1 – will increase by £2 each way with immediate effect.
Piccadilly line passengers will now have to pay £5.50 – an increase of 57 per cent.
Previously, Tube travellers paid £3.50 if they avoided going through Zone 1 from the airport between 6.30am and 9.30am and between 4pm and 7pm in the opposite direction.
Passengers on the new Elizabeth line from Paddington will have to pay £12.80 after the fare was upped from £10.80 – an increase of 17 per cent.
But an eagle-eyed travel blogger has spotted ways to get to and from the airport from Zone 1 that save between £2 and £3 per person and those those prepared to put in a little time and effort.
The trick involves taking the Piccadilly line to Hatton Cross, the stop before Heathrow’s first station, tapping out at the ticket barriers, and getting back on the Tube to continue the journey to the required terminal.
Passengers on the Elizabeth line can get off at Hayes and Harlington Station, tapping out and in again to board another train to either Heathrow Terminal 4 or 5.
Travel blogger Diamond Geezer revealed the hack that also works in the reverse direction.
He wrote: “You’d have to exit the station for long enough to convince TfL’s software you were making two journeys, or better still go straight back in using a different contactless card.
“But you’d be saving £2.10 by taking a break here, which in normal times might be deemed penny-pinching but we no longer live in normal times.”
Also, as of Monday, the fee for an Oyster card increased for the first time since 2011 – from £5 to £7.
Diamond Geezer said that the increase is actually £7 as the new fee, which was previously refunded at ticket counters when the cards were returned, is no longer a repayable deposit.
Transport for London (TfL) said its recent price rises are a result of conditions imposed by the Department for Transport as part of a £1.2bn funding package agreed last week.
The fare increases are expected to generate an additional £27m per year and support TfL’s target to achieve “financially sustainable operations” by April 2023, the company said.
Shashi Verma, TfL’s chief technology officer, said the fare hikes are “necessary to comply with the government’s funding conditions” and “will help ensure TfL can reach financial sustainability as soon as possible.”
