Simple trick helps avoid price hike if you’re travelling to Heathrow on the tube

Jack Peat

Fares increased by 57 per cent on some journeys this week

A simple hack could help people travelling from central London to Heathrow Airport after prices were hiked by 57 per cent on some journeys.

On Sunday, discounts for all off-peak travel on London Underground from zone 1 to the West London airport were scrapped, meaning adult pay-as-you-go fares outside the morning and evening peak periods have risen dramatically.

Previously, those travelling after 09:30 in the morning and not between 16:00 and 19:00 in the evening were charged £3.50 on the Tube and £10.80 on the Elizabeth Line.

But those fares have now gone up to peak pricing, meaning it now costs £5.50 and £12.80 respectively regardless of what time you travel.

Thankfully, a simple travel hack could help you avoid the hike in prices.

London Underground passengers travelling on the Piccadilly line to Heathrow can pay the same fare as before if they get off at Hatton Cross – one stop before the west London airport – tap out at the ticket barriers, tap back in, and catch the next Tube.

The same method can be used to save money on Elizabeth line journeys.

Getting off – and back on again – at Hayes and Harlington station is £3 cheaper than a non-stop trip to Heathrow.

A post by London blogger “diamond geezer”, which outlined the potential savings, stated that “in normal times” it would be seen as “penny-pinching”, but “we no longer live in normal times”.

He added: “The Heathrow off-peak fare hike is very much the advance guard for a number of nastier decisions coming down the line – thanks Mr Shapps – so steel yourself for more unexpected and unwanted announcements coming all too soon.”

Transport for London (TfL) said the removal of off-peak discounts is a result of conditions imposed by the Department for Transport – led by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps – as part of a £1.2 billion funding package agreed last week.

The fee for buying an Oyster card also rose on Sunday, from £5 to £7.

The price increases are expected to generate an additional £27 million per year and support TfL in achieving its target of “financially sustainable operations” by April 2023.

Heathrow Express fares are unaffected by the changes.

The service – which runs non-stop between the airport and Paddington, west London – costs £25 for a single ticket bought on the day of travel, although advance tickets are available from £5.50.

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