Is the National Rail 2-for-1 offer applicable if the arrival and departure airports are different?
My daughter and her boyfriend are planning a weekend getaway to London next month. They'll arrive at Gatwick airport, but they haven't decided yet which airport they'll fly back from.
When we were in London, I remember we used the National Rail 2-for-1 offer. My question is: Is the National Rail 2-for-1 offer still valid if the arrival and departure are from different airports? Do all the airports in London work with National Rail?
Thanks! 😊
Yes, the National Rail 2-for-1 offer is still valid even if different airports are used for arrival and departure, as long as the main condition is met: having a valid train ticket issued by National Rail (not from the Underground or solely Oyster/Contactless).
As for which airports National Rail serves:
- Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, and Southend have National Rail-operated trains, so tickets from these routes qualify for the offer.
- Heathrow is more complicated, as most routes are on the Heathrow Express or Elizabeth Line, and only certain tickets qualify for the offer (Heathrow Express tickets don't work, but paper tickets for the Elizabeth Line might).
- London City Airport is only connected via DLR, which is not National Rail, so it's not eligible for the offer.
If your daughter and her boyfriend arrive via Gatwick and return through another airport with National Rail service, they can take advantage of the offer without any problem. They just need to print the vouchers and bring paper train tickets as proof.
Hi Corinne,
The key to taking advantage of the 2-for-1 offer doesn't lie in the arrival or departure airport, but rather in the type of transportation used. To access the promotion, you need to have train tickets issued by National Rail in physical form—do not use an Oyster card or contactless payment.
Upon arriving at Gatwick, you must purchase a train ticket to London from one of the companies operated by National Rail, such as Thameslink, Southern, or Gatwick Express. This ticket will allow you to use the offer throughout your entire stay in the city.
Before traveling, you should also download and print the vouchers from the official Days Out Guide website. At each participating tourist attraction, you’ll need to present both the voucher and the train ticket to receive a free entry with the purchase of another.
For the return trip, if you choose to leave from Stansted, just make sure to buy a paper ticket for the Stansted Express, which is also part of National Rail. This way, even on your last day in London, you can still benefit from the promotion.
If, instead, you're heading back from Heathrow, bear in mind that tickets for the Heathrow Express are not valid for the offer, but those for the Elizabeth Line are, as long as they're purchased in paper form. In the case of London City Airport, the offer does not apply because this airport is solely connected by the DLR, which isn't part of National Rail.
In conclusion, the 2-for-1 National Rail offer remains valid even if you use different airports, as long as you have National Rail train tickets for both journeys in physical format.
Cheers
