You cannot tap in and out on the Stansted Express. We found this out the hard way.
This year we have already travelled to and from London via London Heathrow and London Gatwick, both times using the express rail services and tapping in and out with our credit cards. So when we had to fly from London Stansted we didn’t even consider that you wouldn’t be able to do the same on that service, so we tapped in and boarded the train to Stansted. We saw no signage saying that contactless payment was not accepted. (Our experience was the same as this lady’s – five years ago!)
Arriving at Stansted, we are greeted by a wall of ticket checkers who finally tell us we cannot pay in the same way that you can at London’s other airports. No problem, we tell them, we’ll pay you for our ticket now. We are then informed that there is also a £100 fine to pay!
It should be noted that these people are very rude and arrogant, treating us as stupid for thinking that LONDON Stansted is not included as part of London when it comes to rail fares, while freely admitting that thousands of people make the same mistake. Why do you think they have you all standing there? I may not be the smartest, but I’m pretty sure I would realise when my job is unfairly fining people who clearly had every intention of paying the fare.
Of course we kicked up a fuss, but to get rid of you they tell you that you can appeal the fine. Don’t bother. You will wait weeks for a response and they side with Greater Anglia even though this has been highlighted as an issue by London Travelwatch, an independent travel watchdog, and reported on by The Standard and the Daily Mail.
Luckily for me, I have options when I travel to London and can generally avoid Stansted altogether. But even when I do have to fly from there, I won’t be using the Stansted Express again out of principle as I refuse to give them another penny.
I also happen to work in the travel and tourism sector, so I can actively discourage people from using the service too. In my case at least, their cash grab has ended up costing them far more in the long run which takes the sting out of the con a tiny bit.
Shame on you Greater Anglia, and every one of your employees that help you rip off travellers.