oyster card

suki1964

You can put what you like on the form. The registration is a bit of a con as far as I can see (I have pre pay) The idea of registering it is so that you can top up from home, check amount left etc. Trouble is even if you do top up online you still have to go to a station an place the card on the reader for the money to be added - no benefit at all. And as for the registration, I have filled my form in twice and its still not been registered so I cant use online even if I wanted to (had the card 6 months now).

Giving your own details wont nessecarily mean you will get it back if you loose it either as anyone who finds it can use it - no photographic id required

isasmurf

You don't have to register your name and address if you are on pay-as-you-go. However, by not registering if your card is lost or stolen whoever steals/finds it can use whats on the card. If you register your card, it can be blocked preventing anybody from using it and I think have your balance refunded

suki1964

Thanks for clearing that up for me

Mind I have tried twice now to register my card (with correct details) I fill the form in, take a trip to the station to hand it in and nothing ever happens. Ive given up now

laney66

Does anyone know if its worth me getting one of these things for myself and 12yr old? We shall be visiting London next month for a weekend. I expect the majority of our travel to be within Zone 1.
Is this the best value? I understand there is no such thing a a weekend travelcard now. Excuse my ignorance, but I havent visited London for over 5yrs.

Karnam

theres a 3 day travel card now.... and your 12 yr old can travel for free on buses! im not sure excatly what the child fare situation is on the tube though

Milky_Mocha

suki1964 wrote:

The idea of registering it is so that you can top up from home, check amount left etc. Trouble is even if you do top up online you still have to go to a station an place the card on the reader for the money to be added - no benefit at all.

True there's little benefit. However in my case its beneficial to top up online as the stations I use (Lewisham and Canary Wharf DLR) don't top up oyster cards. The Canary Wharf underground station does but I can't be bothered to walk to it only for the purpose of topping up.

When I asked at Lewisham station abt topping up my oyster card they said the man replied, "We don't deal with oyster cards, here sorry. Only lobster cards".

Lobster cards? What is that? Please enlighten me. I don't think he was being sarcastic. There probably is such a thing.

Fossil_2

laney66 wrote:

Does anyone know if its worth me getting one of these things for myself and 12yr old? We shall be visiting London next month for a weekend. I expect the majority of our travel to be within Zone 1.
Is this the best value? I understand there is no such thing a a weekend travelcard now. Excuse my ignorance, but I havent visited London for over 5yrs.

Yes, as you should save money.. as long as you get your pre-pay (now called Pay As You Go) Oyster Card (£3 refundable deposit) and top it up with money. Not sure about child fares.. look up on the TfL website.

Family travelcard (which would've been ideal for you) no longer exists.

Milky_Mocha wrote:

When I asked at Lewisham station abt topping up my oyster card they said the man replied, "We don't deal with oyster cards, here sorry. Only lobster cards".

Lobster cards? What is that? Please enlighten me. I don't think he was being sarcastic. There probably is such a thing.

No such thing as a lobster card

I think the Oyster Card as inspired by the Octopus Card used in Hong Kong.. I think we'll be able to buy McDonald's using our pre-pay (Pay As You Go) Oyster Card in a couple of years time.. like in Hong Kong.

isasmurf

laney66 wrote:

Does anyone know if its worth me getting one of these things for myself and 12yr old? We shall be visiting London next month for a weekend. I expect the majority of our travel to be within Zone 1.
Is this the best value? I understand there is no such thing a a weekend travelcard now. Excuse my ignorance, but I havent visited London for over 5yrs.

Normally I would say yes, but with a child in tow it changes things depending on how you mean to travel around London.

If you only use Buses then an Oyster is the cheapest. As has already been stated your 12 year old travels free on London Buses. With an Oyster card you pay 80p per journey and once the cost of journeys you make on buses exceeds £3, your will pay no more for the rest of the day. Alternatively if you pay by cash it will be £1.50 per journey or you could buy a One day bus pass for £3.50.

If you want to use the Tube then I'd say don't bother with an Oyster. Get yourself a Z1-2 one-day travelcard (£4.90), and you can then get your child a one day travelcard for £1. An Oyster card will stop charging you once you have spent £4.40 in a day if you don't travel outside zones 1 or 2, and will not charge your child more than £1 per day- but you do need to get a photocard for your child's Oystercard to be valid for child rates.

If you are going to use National Rail at all then Oyster is not widely recognised and you'd be better off getting the one day travelcards.

Do not buy a 3 day travelcard. They are only issued for all zones and as you only need zone 1 then it's cheaper to buy 3 one day travelcards.

laney66

isasmurf wrote:

Do not buy a 3 day travelcard. They are only issued for all zones and as you only need zone 1 then it's cheaper to buy 3 one day travelcards.

Thanks. Thats what I originally thought. I couldnt justify the cost of a 3 day card as we arrive on a Saturday lunchtime, and go home on the Monday lunchtime. What a minefield! And I thought travelcards in the West Midlands were complicated!

jordylass

laney66 wrote:

Does anyone know if its worth me getting one of these things for myself and 12yr old? We shall be visiting London next month for a weekend. I expect the majority of our travel to be within Zone 1.
Is this the best value? I understand there is no such thing a a weekend travelcard now. Excuse my ignorance, but I havent visited London for over 5yrs.

Hi Laney, I am taking my children next week for a couple of days, and having looked at all the options the Oyster card is the best option. I wasn't sure at first until I read that it worked out if a travelcard would have been cheaper for that day and then only deducts that amount from the card. Children travel free on the buses and you can buy a childs travel card for £1 per day each (for up to 4 children I think) for all of their tube journeys, there are also lots of discounts into attractions, eating and shows with the Oyster card. Hope you enjoy it, i am so excited, now wish i'd booked a couple of extra days.