Oyster or Travel card for 4 days in London?

[budmeister]

We will have 3 and 1/2 days in London and will be staying near Paddington station. We are planning on a hop on/off bus tour, seeing the change of guards, Harrods, and riding on the London Eye. We have not chosen our other sights yet. I am interested in the easiest, simplest transportion card. All the websites are quite confusing. Help! I also cannot find out a price range for either card. I would appreciate any advice!

[Twickenham]

You want simplest? I'll give you simplest.

Go to the ticket booth at the Paddington Underground Station. Go to the teller, and ask for an Oyster card with enough credit on it for the days you'll be travelling. He/she will figure out how much money you need to put on it for 4 days.

[handfordr]

Twickenham is right. It can be very complicated trying to get to grips with Travelcard v the versions of Oyster.
But unless you have kids between 11 and 15, Oyster Pay As You Go is the way forward judging from your outline itinerary fir a few days.

[budmeister]

Thanks! I will consider this decision made!

[Globaliser]

Just in case you haven't picked this up from elsewhere, you will be asked to pay a £3 deposit in addition to the credit you put on the pre-pay Oyster. However, when you've finished with it, the deposit is fully refundable together with all of the unused credit on the card.

[Emma1]

i am just starting to plan our pre cruise stay in London. We have 3 children ( 10, 13,14) - a difference was mentioned bet the Travel vs Oyster card if you have kids. I wasn't even aware of thes cards. Can you please provide more info on this - anything to save money! Thank you.

[handfordr]

Originally Posted by Emma1

i am just starting to plan our pre cruise stay in London. We have 3 children ( 10, 13,14) - a difference was mentioned bet the Travel vs Oyster card if you have kids. I wasn't even aware of thes cards. Can you please provide more info on this - anything to save money! Thank you.

Its very expensive to pay for individual journey's on London's public transport, in fact on buses you cannot travel without a prepaid pass. Unless you're going to do a single tube journey you need to get a pass, either Oyster or Travelcard

Children under 11 travel free on public transport in London.
For children between 11 and 15 it gets complicated.
To get child fares on Oyster you have to apply for an Oyster Photocard for each child. For visitors this is a real pain, above all it takes about 3 weeks to process these.
Apart from paying child cash fares for each journey (very expensive) the work around is for the adults to purchase Travelcards and purchase an accompanied child Travelcard for each of the teenagers for which photocards are not needed. These cost just 1 GBP each per day and give unlimited travel for the day.

If you're buying Travelcards and are a visitor doing the normal sights its worth purchasing your adult Travelcards from Central London Mainline Railway Stations, nowhere else. You then qualify for the railways 2 for 1 admission promotions. Its not the usual second tier places on this promotion it includes some of the A1 list attractions like the Tower of London, City Cruises, London Zoo, Kenisngton Palace, Hampton Court, Madame Tussaud's, London Dungeon and 2 for 1 meals at places like Palanet Hollywood and Sticky Fingers as well as Theatre Offers and 2 for 1 London walks.
For a visitor the savings can easly pay for the outlay on the travel passes. But you have to buy the Travelcards from a Central London Mainline Railway Station, nowhere else, not from Underground Stations or the railway stations at London's airports or the tourist offices. You also have to download the vouchers from the 2 for 1 website prior.

If you read the article on the link below you'll probably get a good grasp
Travelcard v Oyster

[Joan27]

Can you buy the lONDON Pass online?

IS THAT THE SAME AS THE TRAVELCARD?
THANKS, BETTY

[handfordr]

Originally Posted by Joan27

Can you buy the lONDON Pass online?

IS THAT THE SAME AS THE TRAVELCARD?
THANKS, BETTY

The London Pass is not the same as a Travelcard or Oyster.
The London Pass is primarily a card to give you admission to a subset of London's attractions, the others are primarily public transport passes.
You can buy a Travelcard tacked onto a London Pass if you want.

However for most people the London Pass is not a good buy at all, very few will be able to make it pay financially. some value paying a premium with the London Pass so as not to queue up for tickets at attractions though.

[CJcruzer]

we bought Oyster cards while in London - we had to top ours off with another 8 GBP - we had about 1.70 left over, which was refunded, along with the 3GBP deposit (refunded when you hand in the card).

[Red Hat Cruise Cat]

Originally Posted by handfordr

Its very expensive to pay for individual journey's on London's public transport, in fact on buses you cannot travel without a prepaid pass. Unless you're going to do a single tube journey you need to get a pass, either Oyster or Travelcard

Children under 11 travel free on public transport in London.
For children between 11 and 15 it gets complicated.
To get child fares on Oyster you have to apply for an Oyster Photocard for each child. For visitors this is a real pain, above all it takes about 3 weeks to process these.
Apart from paying child cash fares for each journey (very expensive) the work around is for the adults to purchase Travelcards and purchase an accompanied child Travelcard for each of the teenagers for which photocards are not needed. These cost just 1 GBP each per day and give unlimited travel for the day.

If you're buying Travelcards and are a visitor doing the normal sights its worth purchasing your adult Travelcards from Central London Mainline Railway Stations, nowhere else. You then qualify for the railways 2 for 1 admission promotions. Its not the usual second tier places on this promotion it includes some of the A1 list attractions like the Tower of London, City Cruises, London Zoo, Kenisngton Palace, Hampton Court, Madame Tussaud's, London Dungeon and 2 for 1 meals at places like Palanet Hollywood and Sticky Fingers as well as Theatre Offers and 2 for 1 London walks.
For a visitor the savings can easly pay for the outlay on the travel passes. But you have to buy the Travelcards from a Central London Mainline Railway Station, nowhere else, not from Underground Stations or the railway stations at London's airports or the tourist offices. You also have to download the vouchers from the 2 for 1 website prior.

If you read the article on the link below you'll probably get a good grasp
Travelcard v Oyster

Never been to London - What are Central London Mainline Railway Stations,. How will I know them, and where do I find them? I'll be arriving at Victoria Station from Southampton, is there a Mainline Railway Station at Victoria Station?

[handfordr]

Originally Posted by Red Hat Cruise Cat

Never been to London - What are Central London Mainline Railway Stations,. How will I know them, and where do I find them? I'll be arriving at Victoria Station from Southampton, is there a Mainline Railway Station at Victoria Station?

Victoria Railway Station is a mainline railway station so you can get the Travelcards valid for 2 for 1 promotions from the railway booking office there.

However if you buy them from the London Underground ticket office or the tourist office at Victoria Station they are not valid for the promotion

[Luv_to_Cruise]

Handfordr! Thank you for the info. We leave for the UK in 3 weeks and I couldn't figure out how to get the 2 for 1 discounts without a train ticket purchase..I'll get the Travelcard at Victoria!!

[Stelladoro]

We were confused as to which card to purchase prior to our post-cruise one week London visit last May. We landed at Heathrow and when we explained our travel needs to the Tube ticket agent, he recommeded the Oyster card. He loaded an additional amount on the cards to cover our fare from Heathrow to our hotel near Earl's Court, as the airport was out of zones covered by the cards. Oyster cards worked out very well for getting around London and they're very easy to use.
When we purchased train tickets at Waterloo station for our day trip to Hampton Court, ticket agent gave us a 2 for 1 coupon for entrance to the Palace. Great Deal!
Enjoy your visit to London!

[handfordr]

Originally Posted by Stelladoro

We were confused as to which card to purchase prior to our post-cruise one week London visit last May. We landed at Heathrow and when we explained our travel needs to the Tube ticket agent, he recommeded the Oyster card. He loaded an additional amount on the cards to cover our fare from Heathrow to our hotel near Earl's Court, as the airport was out of zones covered by the cards. Oyster cards worked out very well for getting around London and they're very easy to use.
When we purchased train tickets at Waterloo station for our day trip to Hampton Court, ticket agent gave us a 2 for 1 coupon for entrance to the Palace. Great Deal!
Enjoy your visit to London!

The Travelcard v Oyster question is very complex. For instance one of the reasons you had to buy a ticket to Hampton Court and not use Oyster is that the train ticketing systems on the Hampton Court line are not compatable with Oyster but are with Travelcard.

Things are going to change again in 2010.
The 3 day Travelcard is going to be withdrawn.
The 1 GBP accompanied child day Travelcard is also going to be withdrawn. For visitors with children between 11 and 15 this is a real pain as this was the best work around to get child fares without having to get an Oyster Photo Identity Card.
As an Oyster Identity Card takes 3 weeks to process, this seems to me that a lot of families visiting with teenage kids will have to pay full child cash fares with no daily caps or get adult passes from next year.

[Globaliser]

Originally Posted by Stelladoro

We landed at Heathrow and when we explained our travel needs to the Tube ticket agent, he recommeded the Oyster card. He loaded an additional amount on the cards to cover our fare from Heathrow to our hotel near Earl's Court, as the airport was out of zones covered by the cards.

And just to underline the complexity that handfordr refers to about Travelcards/Oyster cards, here's what I think happened to you: Your Oysters were loaded with period Travelcards, as you talk about the "zones" covered by the card. In addition to that, they were loaded with some cash credit as well to cover your extra travel from Heathrow to the edge of the zones for which your Travelcards were valid.

The reason for all of the apparently-confusing detail is this: The "Oyster card" that we normally discuss here is the pre-paid version; you put an amount of cash on it and it's drawn down as you use it (subject to daily price capping etc). On the other hand, Travelcards are the passes that are valid for specific zones and specific periods of time. However, the physical Oyster card is capable of having a Travelcard loaded onto it as well as pre-paid stored value, and they are capable of storing both at the same time.

This sounds like it's why the suggestion was made that you should just take one Oyster card with both a Travelcard and some stored value loaded onto it. As you say, it makes life extraordinarily easy. Many Londoners do the same thing - they have a Travelcard loaded onto an Oyster for the normal commuting, plus some cash for the times when they travel beyond their zones. It stops you having to think very much at all about buying tickets.

[skisteamboat]

Originally Posted by handfordr

Its very expensive to pay for individual journey's on London's public transport, in fact on buses you cannot travel without a prepaid pass.

I agree with the first part but not the second. Last week, I paid 2 Pounds cash to the driver to travel from Kensington Olympia to my lodging on Allen Street in Kensington.

I did not have the time (or inclination) to get my Oyster Reloaded with a travel card after arriving at Gatwick.

That all said, an Oyster or Paper Travel Card is clearly the best for travel on the TFL system.

Cheers

[handfordr]

Originally Posted by skisteamboat

I agree with the first part but not the second. Last week, I paid 2 Pounds cash to the driver to travel from Kensington Olympia to my lodging on Allen Street in Kensington.

Cheers

I was being simplistic so as not to confuse. I was assuming most people reading this for info (i.e. visitors) will be travelling in the centre of town and thus won't be able to pay cash when boarding.
Noy sure though where the boundary is where you can start paying cash.

Just noticed that the Oyster bus fare is going up from 1 GBP to 1.20 GBP in January, a 20% increase!

[Globaliser]

Originally Posted by handfordr

Just noticed that the Oyster bus fare is going up from 1 GBP to 1.20 GBP in January, a 20% increase!

That's a steep (percentage) increase.

But we have had it good with Oyster bus fares over the last few years. 90p/£1 per bus boarded, and a current daily price cap of £3.30 (if you only use buses) - that's pretty good value.

[junglejane]

We are a family of four Americans, DD's 8 and 12, who spent a week in London last July before our cruise. We purchased preloaded "Oyster Cards for Visitors" from this site: http://www.visitbritaindirect.com/en...ductCode=TV105. They are priced in dollars, and you can arrive in London good-to-go without having to buy anything or figure this out, which is a great benefit if you are jet lagged, hauling luggage, etc. The maximum daily Oyster charge is about 7 pounds (11 dollars) per day, so buy the $40 card if you are going to be there for 4 days. You can add more fare to it later if needed, and by then you will be more familiar with the whole operation. We bought three adult cards, and our 8 year old tagged along for free. The $11 per day for unlimited transport is a great deal, and this expenditure will be minimal in comparison to everything else you will pay for in London. The only thriftier alternative might have been getting a reduced fare for our 12 year old, which would have amounted to a few dollars a day. Not worth the hassle of "one more thing to do" upon arrival. As an additional two cents worth, I would advise you to appoint whoever in your group is best with maps as "official navigator" and have them study the transport maps before you go. You will have fewer arguments and get lost less if you know the key station names, the lines you will use and the directions you will travel, etc.