Oyster Card, am I understanding it correctly?

Will my wife and I be able to board with one contactless credit card or must we both have our own card.

2.6 Only one person at a time can use a contactless payment card for travel. You may pay another person’s pay as you go fare only if they are travelling with you and you have paid your fare by another means.

But both cards can be on the same account.

But both cards can be on the same account.

They are totally separate but can be bought on the same credit card. Each transaction when purchasing the card will be handled seperately.

They are totally separate but can be bought on the same credit card. Each transaction when purchasing the card will be handled seperately.

If both cards are on the same account, what will the daily limit be?

They are totally separate but can be bought on the same credit card. Each transaction when purchasing the card will be handled seperately.

If both cards are on the same account, what will the daily limit be?

If you buy Oyster cards using a credit card, you can use the same credit card to buy more than one Oyster. But you then use the Oyster cards (loaded with credit) to travel.

If you use the contactless credit card to travel without buying an Oyster, then each of you needs to use their own credit card. You can't both travel on the same credit card if you're directly using that to pay for the travel. There's no reason why the two credit cards can't charge to the same account - TfL isn't concerned about that question. And in that situation, each of the credit cards will be charged independently, just as if you were out shopping separately.

Plainsman has used the term "daily limit" more than once. I'm now not entirely sure what's being meant by this. If it's the maximum fare charged (ie the daily cap), then each credit card is treated independently and is subject to its own daily cap (currently £6.40 per day if travelling only in Zones 1 and 2). But if you're referring to how much the credit card company will allow you to charge to the card, then technically that's a matter for the credit card company. However, that will probably be academic because the way that contactless works is that all the travel for a single day is totalled, and a single charge is sent by TfL to the credit card company overnight for all of the previous day's travel.

I was referring to the "daily limit" as the "daily cap".

The information I am referring to is from http://www.londontoolkit.com. It clearly states a BP3 activation fee for a Visitor Oyster Card, and a BP3 administration fee for a regular Oyster Card bought in London, thereby making both cards the same price. Both fees are (according to them) not refunded if less than a month.

Either way, it's the best way to get around, so whatever it is, it is!

Apologies for resurrecting this thread, but I happened to be looking at London Toolkit and noticed that they have removed this incorrect information, so I wanted to get that on the record. They now correctly state that the deposit and credit are immediately refundable, with no £3 'administration fee' on a 'normal' Oyster Card.

London Toolkit is normally very accurate, so I was surprised that they had something up that was so clearly wrong.

Apologies for resurrecting this thread, but I happened to be looking at London Toolkit and noticed that they have removed this incorrect information, so I wanted to get that on the record. They now correctly state that the deposit and credit are immediately refundable, with no £3 'administration fee' on a 'normal' Oyster Card.

 

London Toolkit is normally very accurate, so I was surprised that they had something up that was so clearly wrong.

Maybe Bob's still reading CC. :D

LOL, don't know if Bob is but I still am and I have a few questions. Is it possible to buy an oyster card at Heathrow with GBP's or a Credit card or are they only sold at train and bus stations? We'll be traveling by private taxi to our hotel so we only need them after we check in to the hotel.

Or should we just wait to buy them somewhere near IWM (we're staying across the street) and if so where would be the easiest station to walk to?

Or should we just buy the Visitor Oyster and have them mail them to us. I can't figure out the advantage of the Visitor Oyster over the regular one. Other than having it already paid for before you travel and the coupon offers. Anyone know? We already purchased the London Pass so our sightseeing is already paid for.

Sorry about all the questions. :o

Apologies for resurrecting this thread, but I happened to be looking at London Toolkit and noticed that they have removed this incorrect information, so I wanted to get that on the record. They now correctly state that the deposit and credit are immediately refundable, with no £3 'administration fee' on a 'normal' Oyster Card.

 

London Toolkit is normally very accurate, so I was surprised that they had something up that was so clearly wrong.

Thank you for correcting this information as I was just about to start a new thread asking about refunds of the deposit and credit remaining. Rick Steves had mentioned getting the deposit back but made no mention of remaining credit, so thank you again!!!!

Now I don't have to figure exactly how much to load the card with!

LOL, don't know if Bob is but I still am and I have a few questions. Is it possible to buy an oyster card at Heathrow with GBP's or a Credit card or are they only sold at train and bus stations? We'll be traveling by private taxi to our hotel so we only need them after we check in to the hotel.

 

Or should we just wait to buy them somewhere near IWM (we're staying across the street) and if so where would be the easiest station to walk to?

 

Or should we just buy the Visitor Oyster and have them mail them to us. I can't figure out the advantage of the Visitor Oyster over the regular one. Other than having it already paid for before you travel and the coupon offers. Anyone know? We already purchased the London Pass so our sightseeing is already paid for.

 

Sorry about all the questions. :o

What are the coupon offers? We had just planned on getting the cards when getting on the tube at Heathrow, but if there's a monetary benefit to getting a visitor card, we'll do it ahead of time. Thanks

What are the coupon offers? We had just planned on getting the cards when getting on the tube at Heathrow, but if there's a monetary benefit to getting a visitor card, we'll do it ahead of time. Thanks

Links show how I got to the info.....Last link has the list

https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/visitor-oyster-card

https://tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/english-visitor-oyster-card-leaflet-new.pdf

https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/experience-london/special-offers

Actual list of offers here: https://tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/explore-more-and-pay-less-with-visitor-oyster-card.pdf

Is it possible to buy an oyster card at Heathrow with GBP's or a Credit card or are they only sold at train and bus stations? We'll be traveling by private taxi to our hotel so we only need them after we check in to the hotel.

 

Or should we just wait to buy them somewhere near IWM (we're staying across the street) and if so where would be the easiest station to walk to?

Nevertheless, if you don't need them until after you've checked-in to your hotel, you could just as easily get them then. If you want to go to a Tube station, then off the top of my head, I think that the nearest Tube station to the IWM is Lambeth North - but the IWM website will quickly confirm or refute that.

In addition to Tube stations, they are sold at Oyster Ticket Stops (which are basically shops - often small local shops - that are agents for TfL). Start at this page to find the nearest ones to your hotel: https://tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payments/buying-tickets/oyster-ticket-stops.

You can definitely buy Oysters at Heathrow. You can get them from the Tube stations there, and I believe that at least Terminal 5 has machines in the terminal building that will sell them.

 

Nevertheless, if you don't need them until after you've checked-in to your hotel, you could just as easily get them then. If you want to go to a Tube station, then off the top of my head, I think that the nearest Tube station to the IWM is Lambeth North - but the IWM website will quickly confirm or refute that.

 

In addition to Tube stations, they are sold at Oyster Ticket Stops (which are basically shops - often small local shops - that are agents for TfL). Start at this page to find the nearest ones to your hotel: https://tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payments/buying-tickets/oyster-ticket-stops.

Thank you for the link. I printed out a map of the places around our hotel. There are several Ticket Stops within 3-5 minutes. It will be much easier to buy the Oyster Cards after we get rid of our luggage. :)