London Travel Forum

Hello! More questions. I have been reading up on oyster card and 1 day travel cards but I am still so confused! Hope someone can help.

The plan is that I will probably be travelling only around zone 1 and 2 (with an out of town trip planned). THerefore, I will spend around 4 days in London (non consecutive). Ignoring whether I get peak or non-peak, do I:

1) Get an oyster card for the entire time I am in London?
2) Get a one day pass for each day I am travelling?
3) Get a 3 day pass and then one day pass?

I keep reading contradicting reviews. Some say that oyster will cap at the one day travel pass; so getting an oyster versus one day pass would not make a difference (other than the initial 3 pounds deposit). Some say it won't cap for the one day but will for a 7 day.

Basically, I am looking at it from a cost point of view. I understand that oyster is convenient as you just swipe it, but is it more value for money???

From what I read it seems that either of this cards can be easily bought. So getting it should not be a problem right?

The Oyster card is the cheapest way to go. It caps at a maximum amount slightly less than the cost for a travel card. The £3 desposit is refunded when you have finished with the card plus any money left on the card is also refunded. You can buy the Oyster card at any underground station and various other places - wwew.tfl.gov.org and go to Oyster Card and it will tell you all the locations.

It is confusing, even for us!

But yes, I think the Oyster card is the way to go (especially as your days are non-consecutive). As far as I know it caps every day it is used.

You can get your deposit (2GBPfor a Visitos Oyster Card) and unused credit back when you leave & hand in your card (allow some time for doing this, in case of queues), if credit is less than 5GBP. Otherwise there's a form to fill in, so keep your credit low!

https://oyster.tfl.gov.uk/oyster/entry.do

Price capping info:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/faresandtickets/singlefares/5196.aspx

Oyster FAQs:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/faresandtickets/visitortickets/5187.aspx

As I understand it, the £2 fee for the Visitor's Oyster is not refundable. It is a fee, as opposed to the £3 for the ordinary Oyster, which is a deposit. The card caps each day.

O....it's a sort of tax on visitors then. Fairy nuff. :-)

I don't know why anyone would buy a visitor Oyster when they can just buy the regular one when they get to London. I believe the visitor Oyster is only for those people who feel a need to buy one in advance before they leave home but visitors can get a regular Oyster at any tube station including the one at Heathrow, pay the £3, and get it back when they leave.

The difference between using Oyster cards and travelcards is negligible (usually only about 50p), one other thing you might look at is the 2 for 1 offers that you can get with one vs. the other, the Oyster card has some and then there are 2 for 1 offers with paper travelcards that may sway you to getting that instead

http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/

BTW, it wasn't clear from your post if you are staying 3 days and then coming back for 1, 3 day paper travelcards are good only for consecutive days.

Not every station has an Oystercard reader. Many National Rail stations are not, so you risk paying the penalty fare if you get off at one of these stations.

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/london/oystercard.html

This is not a problem with a paper travel card.

1) You can't use (nor buy) a travel card before 9.30 am weekdays, so this might be a problem.

2) If your destination is within the Oyster reach, then there will be a reader. For the out of town journey, you can buy a ticket before you start, saying you want it from the limit of your card.

3) For single journeys, Oyster gives you a discount.

You cannot buy and use an off-peak travel card before 9.30am but you can buy peak card, which, as you might expect, is more expensive.

The time of day you use your oyster card is also affects the daily price cap.

http://www.ukstudentlife.com/Travel/Transport/London/Underground.htm#TicketPrices2008

Use the oyster before 9.30 each day and it is 4x6.30=25.20

Use the oyster only after 9.30 each day and it is 4x4.80=19.20

You also pay £3 deposit.

One day travelcards cost 4x6.80=27.20 peak and 4x5.30=21.20 off peak

Buy a 7 day travel card which you can use any time and works on all national rail stations as well and this costs 24.20

Personally I would choose the latter and forget the oyster card complications. If you go out of town by train (or to the airport), you can ask for a ticket from zone 2, which is cheaper.

Putting the ticket in the machine is only marginally slower than tapping the oystercard.

So, you see, there is not a lot in it.

I live in zone 2 near a rail station with no oyster reader, I was always aware, I was losing out on a daily basis being restricted to travelcard. But for a week, there is no difference if I reach the cap.

It is all very complicated until oyster readers are fully rolled out across the transport system. We have been waiting a long time.

Honestly you can make yourself crazy with all of the different options for transport in London, am I leaving before 9:30 am, am I going to take 4 or more trips on the tube every day, etc. If you plan on using it a lot and don't want to have to worry about what time you are leaving in the morning, get the 3 day travel card. I actually like the travelcards better as you don't have to fuss with the deposit, don't have to worry about how much is left on the Oyster and don't have to worry about whether it is before or after 9:30 am when you start your journey.

Plus the 2 for 1 deals cover a lot of attractions in London, all of which cost a lot of money like the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey. As far as I can tell you can use these with the paper travelcards and not with the Oyster card (although honestly the few times I've used the vouchers they did not check).

Just finished my trip in London, My experience is use Oyster card but must start your journey after 09:30 everyday, then you can travel along the city by tube; bus ; DLR & overgound. finally, when you need to leave London thru Heathrow airport, simply take a bus trip to any tube station located at zone 3 or 4. It only cost 90P+1.8 pound (90p for bus & 1.8 pound for tube).

Just to make things complete, it is possible to load a 7day travel pass onto an oyster card. 7day travelpasses can be used anytime, no need to worry about the time of travel. This is an issue with 3day passes. This has the advantage of securing oyster discounts on journeys beyond zone 2 by tubes and buses, but only on a few national rail stations that have oyster readers. If you go to one of these stations you have buy a paper ticket first, though this can be from zone2. Walk through with an oystercard and you risk paying a penalty fare.

For tourists who want to tootle around zone 1 and 2 and only start after 9.30 and do not intend to use national rail stations with no oyster reader and carefully buy one off tickets they need outside zone 2 (like the airport) and don't mind the £3 deposit....

.....well, what could be simpler? ;-)

And, if between the lot of us we have succeeded in adding clarity to the original poster's question, I'll be mighty surprised!! Like many things, it's easier when you've done it, or gone through the "learning through doing" process!

Ha ha, I think the Oyster vs. travelcard question is the most frequently asked question on travel boards and if anyone actually understands it 100% I'd be shocked ;-)

That being said, once you get to London and buy a travelcard or an oyster card you'll wonder why you spent so much time worrying about it!!! You might spend a few extra £££ but with the overall amount you'll be spending on a trip to London it's just a drop in the bucket.

wow. I think i understood everything up to response #4 and then...everything got confusing again. Haha. I noticed that many responses involved rail/train. Can someone give me an example of a rail stop in zone 1/2?

From my itinary I think I can safely say I will only be using the tube in zone 1/2 with the exception of day 3, of which I have decided I will head to oxford.

So I don't think using the train is an issue.

Another thing I note was that some responses states that with the oyster card you only travel after 9.30 am; is this correct? I did not come accross this information during my research.

Thanks again!

To get around zone 1-2 in central London, you will be using buses or the tube, not the train. I think the poster was referring to tube stations that are also National Rail stations??? But Paddington, Victoria, King's Cross, I've always been able to use my Oyster.

You CAN use an Oyster before 9:30 am but it will cost more (I think it's £2 vs. £1.50 and the daily cap will be higher)

For travel to Oxford, you can either take the train or the bus, there are two competing companies, Oxford Espress and Oxford tube that run every 15 minutes or so to Oxford. I found that in January that I did not have to have a reservation, I just went and stood between the two stops at Marble Arch and jumped on the 1st bus that came. I think it was £15 round trip and I paid the bus driver.

There are plenty of suburban rail stations in London. For instance if you want to go to Kingston, or Greenwich. But I don't think Oyster is yet valid on those.

For going to Oxford, train fares from Paddington - train at 09:06 costs £6.50 and coming back at 20:01 costs £4.00. Journey time is one hour each way.
www.thetrainline.com - NB it actually tells you that buying two single tickets is a lot cheaper than even a day-return. They're right - that costs £38

This map shows the combined tube and rail network.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/1106.aspx

Here are the bits of the rail network that have oyster readers.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/oysteronline/5823.aspx

Lots of stations in zone 1&2 are combined rail and tube stations, they generally have oyster readers.

The stations that do not are where you risk having a penalty fare deducted from your oyster card.

For the average visitor, bimbling around the tourist sites in central London, this is not an issue unless they are on a serious budget.

For Londoners, most of whom do not live in central London, these nuances significantly influence how much they spend on public transport. There are gotchas to avoid, like the 9.30 rule.

One day, when they get around installing a reader in my local station, I shall buy one of these new fangled Oystercards to get the most out of what is probably the most expensive transport system in the world.