question for oyster card

daxu

Hi everyone,
My family (4 adults and a 1 year old baby) will visit London this Sunday (just for one day) and I am thinking of buying a oyster card for every adult. Here are the questions:

1. As we only need the oyster card for one day, can I return it and get my £3 deposit back that day?

2. We will choose pay as you go. What is the minimal amount of money to put in a oyster card? If there are some money left on that oyster card, can we get the money back?

Many Thanks

sarahluv

if you are only going for the day and are not going to use your oystercard again, you are probably better sticking to paper travelcards.

balsingh

Oyster cards really only benefit regular tube users. When you go to the station, they will probably only offer you travelcards as you only need them that day.

daxu

Hi Thanks.

What I planned was that we will visit British museum directly after get off from waterloo and then to see Buckingham palace etc. As it is only for a day, we possibly only need 2-3 bus ride. From the oyster web, it seems that with the oyster card, it will only cost 80p for each bus trip, without would be 1.5£.

I remember that a zone 1 travel card costs 6£, isn't it? So I would be better with pay as you go.

Cheers

zx2011

If you're coming buy train just ask for a Travelcard instead of just a ticket to Waterloo.

If you have a Network Railcard, then 4 adults will get 1/3 off your rail travel and 60% off the child fare too. Just buying the Network Railcard may mean you save more than the cost of the card too. It's £20. http://www.railcard.co.uk/

sarahluv

£6.20 for a zone 1-2 peak travelcard
£4.90 off peak (0930 onwards)
(oyster is 50p less)

--Tony--

I always stuck with the paper too but I have just been reading there is a daily cap (did not know that) and the cap is less than a travelcard!

I pay £5.40 for a 1-4 travelcard but the oyster cap is set at £4.90 so I would save 50p every time.

I assume the cap applied to trains and buses.

The cost of each journey you make is automatically deducted from your pre-pay balance when you exit the Tube system. If you have made several journeys on the same day, the amount you pay is capped at the cost of a one-day travelcard (the peak or off-peak fare, depending on when you made your first journey).

Got it all from here:
http://www.ukstudentlife.com/Travel/Transport/London/Underground.htm#Planning

6 uses and you have covered the deposit which is refundable anyway and it would be so much easier especially.

Plus if you don't make as many trips as you intended you don't pay so much.

yeslek

does anyone know how long the card lasts?

cos i'm going to be travelling to london quite a bit over the summer so would prob benifit for investing in a card

lynzpower

card lasts forever. You pay a 2 or 3 quid deposit then when you hand it back you get the cash back.

yeslek

cool - thanks.
might invest, i'd already have saved if i'd of got one earlier this year. nvmd.

balsingh

lynzpower wrote:

card lasts forever. You pay a 2 or 3 quid deposit then when you hand it back you get the cash back.

you can also register it on the internet so that when the credit drops below £5, it automatically tops up by a specified amount. That way you never need to worry when you come to London as there will always be credit on the oyster card.