Student Oyster Cards

SharkyGeorge

Heya,

Can any wise souls give me advice about my student card?

I need a zones 1&2 travel card. Fares are going up by 6.6% in Jan.

Should I by an annual one now, at the risk that I may not use it for a month or two (during holidays or whatnot, although tbh I'm effectively going to be in London for the whole year) or buy monthly ones, even though they'll go up in January?

Not sure what to do really. Any advice on the usefulness of an annual card apprecated.

SG

Lokolo

Work it out.

How much is it for a year?
How much is it per month? (+ 7% for other months)

I think it may still be cheaper for a year but not entirely 100% sure.

Also you can't get discount during peak times from student railcard. But you still get Oyster discounts.

allrmsaver

I thought that if you buy an annual Student Oyster Card before the increase in prices then you won't have to pay the extra cost. 6.6% is a big increase and it will work out cheaper even if you don't use it for a month

silvercar

You need to find your timetable, off peak travelcards with a rail card may work out cheaper (valid after 9.30 am). You may also find you don't use the tube much, bus passes only can work out cheaper.

kibs

Work out your routes first. I find as a regular user, it is quicker to walk or take the bus than it is using the underground. Plus of course, when the bus gets stuck in traffic or similar you can get off. Maybe I was an unlucky traveller, but it seemed everytime I used the tube, we would stay in the tunnels for ages.

Another factor to take into consideration is your timetable. If you are travelling at rush hour, on the tube, as you may be aware you might have a wait to get on because they are really packed.

If you use the tfl's route planner, work out your return journey. We find that to go somewhere, it will encourage us to use the tube or make the bus journey seemingly complicated. But the return journey is usually pretty much straight forward. lol.

o_c99

An annual travelcard with oyster in Zones1-2 is: £676
Monthly is: £64.90 (before Jan)
Weekly: £7.90 (before Jan)

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/large-text-guide-fares-tickets-zones1-6.pdf (Page 28)

As was mentioned by Kibs, check your route. Is it easier to use the bus than the tube? In rush hour, especially in central London, the tube is packed.

A bus pass may be worth considering as it will be cheaper!

How long will you be at uni for? How much would it cost if you just bought a travelcard to cover your uni terms (e.g. Sept to June)? Do you really need it when you are not at uni?

SavvyStudent_2

Heya!

I've had experience of both paying monthly and an annual oyster card - for me, annual was best, but only because I was using it every day (in london all year round). If you're not going to use it every day, then work out if its really worth it over the course of the year. The best thing I ever did was decide to walk every day, and only put some pre-pay on when needed - as people have said before, maybe see if you could walk it, save a fortune and lose a few lbs!

Lx