London Multi-Day Underground/Bus Passes

How do these psses work? Can you buy them ahead of time and where do I get them?

There are confusingly two types of transport pass, Travelcards and Oyster Cards. Even more confusingly a 7 day Travelcard comes on an Oyster Card.

Putting it as simply as you can, the Travelcard is a flat fee card for 1,3 or 7 days where you can ride as often as you like on Underground and buses. The system is also brokend in zones radiating out from the centre, you purchase just the zones you need. Most visitors just need a card for zones 1&2.

The Oyster Card on short stays is worth considering on a Pay As You Go basis, an amount you specify is loaded onto the card and the fare is automatically deducted each ride as you pass through the exit barrier. Crucially there is a price cap on daily usage on the Oyster Card where once your fares for the day reaches this cap, you pay no more however many further journeys you take. Hassle factor on the Oyster Card is that you have to pay a 3 GBP deposit for the card that you recover at the ned of the trip with any money still left on your card.

You can purchase them in advance through places like the Visit Britain web site but there really is no need, pay for them with a credit card in London at an Underground Station. If you do purchase outside London a common scam is that they will sell you a card for zones 1-6, when nearly all visitors just need a zone 1-2 Travelcard.

Prices are posted at the url below, but they normally go up January 2nd each year. Remember kids under 14 travel free on the buses and kids under 11 travel free on the underground.

 

http://www.londontoolkit.com/briefing/travelcard.htm

To add a couple of things to this:-

1. A

previous post of mine about Oyster cards.The price capping mechanism on Oyster means that you don't have to decide in advance on any particular day (or period) whether you are going to use public transport enough to make it worthwhile buying a pass.The price cap is set at a level that is cheaper than the corresponding one-day Travelcard price for the journeys that you've done, but multi-day Travelcards are usually less per day than one-day Travelcards - you need to do some arithmetic!Refunds of unused credit and the Oyster card deposit can be made at any Tube station ticket office.Some advance notice of 2008 prices is available here.

Hope this helps.

We were in London this past summer and pretty much used the tube to get to anywhere we needed (exception was the airport). I was going to purchase an Oyster card before we left the States, but our friends, traveling with us, couldn't make a decision on whether they wanted to or not.

 

We finally got to London and ended up just buying day passes instead - they actually ended up being a little cheaper than the Oyster for us as we were there four days prior and a week after our cruise. The ticket rep told us that it's only the folks who use the Tube every say, like to get back and forth to work, who profit from the Oyster (don't yell at me, that's what he told us!)

 

The Tube works pretty much the same as the subway, but it's a lot cleaner, on time and I have to tip my hat to those Brits. I have to use a cane and there wasn't a single time we rode on the Tube(when really crowded) that someone didn't offer me their seat. That has never happened to me here in the States.

 

We loved the Tube and found it incredibly easy to use (although a little crazy at first until you get the lines down). Everyone was willing to stop and help us when we looked lost. The Tube was a big part of what we remember with fondness about London.

 

Minding the gap,

 

Charlie

Most of the time an Oyster Card is most cost effective, but on some occassions the Travelcard is cheaper. e.g. the current daily Oyster price cap in the centre is 6.10 GBP (peak - if you travel before 09:30 Monday to Friday) and 4.60 other days/times. A 3 day peak Travelcard is 16.40 GBP, A 7 day Travelcard is 23.20 both cheaper than Oyster if you make at least a couple of journeys each day, but a 1 day Travelcard is 6.60/5.10 more expensive than Oyster.

 

You also get different discounts/offers on the different cards. e.g. The Oyster Card ones are detailed here and give you 2 for the price of 1 to places like the London Eye and Madame Tussauds

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/microsites/oysteroffers/

We will be in London for five days, but will be on three tours, so would be worth it to purchase an Oyster card or use the Travelcard?

We will be in London for five days, but will be on three tours, so would be worth it to purchase an Oyster card or use the Travelcard?

 

 

All depends on what you are planning to do. If I were you I would just buy a one day travelcard for zones 1 and 2 unless you decide you want to go someplace special..this way you can just get around as you want.

Thank you for your response. We have another request for information. We are arriving at Gatwick Airport and need to transfer to London to the Park Inn Hotel near the Lancaster Gate. It has been suggested we take the train. The main problem is we will have 4 pieces of luggage and we 72 (male) and 69 (female) and fairly healthy, but to try and make train connections sounds a little bit much to me. How hard or easy do you think it would be for us? or should we consider other means of transportation? Thank you in advance. We don't go till next May so we could bulk up. LOL

I would suggest you take the Gatwick Express train to London Victoria and then take a taxi the 2 miles to the Park Inn from the front of the station. The Gatwick Express is a dedicated airport train, with escalators and lifts down to the platform from the station which is within the South Terminal. At Victoria its all on the same level.

 

You might want to consider the Dot 2 Dot hotel shuttle service. They put you on the Gatwick Express train at Gatwick and their small bus meets the train at Victoria Station and takes you to the hotel. The bus is shared with a maximum of 3 parties each going to different hotels.

... but a 1 day Travelcard is 6.60/5.10 more expensive than Oyster.

A one-day Travelcard is always more expensive than using pre-pay Oyster, because the Oyster price cap is set at 50p below the price of the one-day Travelcard. In addition, if you're using Oyster you don't have to decide in advance whether you're going to use enough public transport to get value out of the one-day Travelcard, or whether you need a peak or off-peak Travelcard. You just use the Oyster card. If, in the end, you don't use a lot of public transport that day, you only pay for what you used. If you do use more, then you pay no more than the cap, which is still less than the one-day Travelcard.

 

The downside, as handfordr says, is the hassle of getting a refund of the unused credit and the £3 deposit when you're finished with the card.

We will be in London for five days, but will be on three tours, so would be worth it to purchase an Oyster card or use the Travelcard?

I'd recommend the Oyster for this: You don't really know how much or when you're going to use public transport. You might end up using some on the days when you've got tours arranged - or you might not. Using an Oyster, you don't have to make any decisions in advance.

Dot 2 Dot hotel shuttle service is that something that can be arranged in advance?

Dot 2 Dot hotel shuttle service is that something that can be arranged in advance?

 

Dot 2 Dot Hotel Shuttle Service

Thank you - that is the kind of service I am sure we can use. We will need to get from Gatwick to hotel and then 5 days later hotel to Heathrow. I will pass this information onto my TA.