Oyster Card & Tube Travel

completelybonkers_2

Please help.We are coming to London from the North and understand we NEED an Oyster card to enable us to buy a 7 day Tube pass for Zones 1-3. Is this necessary? How much are they? Is this the cheapest way to get around these zones? Please help. Thank you

dzug1

completelybonkers wrote: »

Please help.We are coming to London from the North and understand we NEED an Oyster card to enable us to buy a 7 day Tube pass for Zones 1-3. Is this necessary? How much are they? Is this the cheapest way to get around these zones? Please help. Thank you

If you buy the pass at a rail station rather than a tube station then you don't need an Oyster card. If you buy it at a tube station then you do need an Oyster card. They are free, but a £5 refundable deposit is charged - you get it back if you hand the card in. The price and validity of the pass is identical in each case.

The 7 day pass is the cheapest way to get around

They are £32.20 each - which covers both off peak and peak travel. There is no off peak only version. If you are willing to use buses only it's £17.80 a head.

completelybonkers_2

dzug1 wrote: »

If you buy the pass at a rail station rather than a tube station then you don't need an Oyster card. If you buy it at a tube station then you do need an Oyster card. They are free, but a £5 refundable deposit is charged - you get it back if you hand the card in. The price and validity of the pass is identical in each case.

The 7 day pass is the cheapest way to get around

They are £32.20 each - which covers both off peak and peak travel. There is no off peak only version. If you are willing to use buses only it's £17.80 a head.

And can we buy them on the day at a DLR station - ie Canning Town?? Sorry. )

Tigsteroonie

Mind if I jump into your thread? I've got a question on the same topic, and people are reading this!

A group of us are heading to London for a weekend (Friday to Sunday), we'll be wanting to travel around on the Tube all 3 days. What's the best way/ticket for us to buy? Does having an Oyster Card make it easier when going through Tube stations or is there no difference?

McCuddly

https://www.chester-le-track.co.uk sell them by post and can load the travel cards on

dzug1

Tigsteroonie wrote: »

Mind if I jump into your thread? I've got a question on the same topic, and people are reading this!

A group of us are heading to London for a weekend (Friday to Sunday), we'll be wanting to travel around on the Tube all 3 days. What's the best way/ticket for us to buy? Does having an Oyster Card make it easier when going through Tube stations or is there no difference?

You might be better buying one day travelcards for each day at a rail station - these allow 2 for 1 entry to many tourist attractions.

http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/ If you buy the cards at a tube station or get an Oyster the offers do not apply

There is no difference in ease of use between Oyster/paper travelcards.

completelybonkers_2

dzug1 wrote: »

You might be better buying one day travelcards for each day at a rail station - these allow 2 for 1 entry to many tourist attractions.

http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/ If you buy the cards at a tube station or get an Oyster the offers do not apply

There is no difference in ease of use between Oyster/paper travelcards.

Sorry to be dopey, but how do I know which are rail stations and which are tube? Can I buy from rail station in Blackpool??? (Home)

dzug1

completelybonkers wrote: »

And can we buy them on the day at a DLR station - ie Canning Town?? Sorry. )

DLR stations tend to have machines rather than ticket offices, particularly the smaller ones. However Canning Town is also a tube station so you can get them there for certain if the machines won't cooperate

parkside_stroller

Don't think anyone has mentioned the official Transport for London website

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/

Information available there on Oyster card including a leaflet you ca download -
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/tickets/getting-around-with-oyster.pdf

You can also buy an oyster card online from there - I bought a visitors one about 4 years ago and there was a £2 deposit at the time (not sure if has gone up or not). If you want to buy it in advance (I'd recommend that if you want to avoid queues or having to pay out cash potentially on fares before you get to a place where you can buy it) then you should make sure you do it in enough time to have it sent out _- I think you have to validate it within a certain amount of time however so do check that on the website.

dzug1

completelybonkers wrote: »

Sorry to be dopey, but how do I know which are rail stations and which are tube? Can I buy from rail station in Blackpool??? (Home)

Not 100% sure but you might be able to buy travelcards at the station in Blackpool. If you can it will depend on how clued up the ticket clerk is.

But if you are travelling to London by rail, you don't need to worry - your rail tickets to/from London will suffice for the 2 for 1 offers and where you buy you travelcard won't matter. If you are buying a single each way make sure you keep the outward ticket - you will need to show both bits to qualify for the offers.

glider3560

completelybonkers wrote: »

Sorry to be dopey, but how do I know which are rail stations and which are tube? Can I buy from rail station in Blackpool??? (Home)

Yes, you can.

If the clerk doesn't know how to issue the tickets, tell them to do this (it might help if you print/write this down, word for word):
Enter Origin as LONDON TERMINALS (1072)
Enter Destination as LONDON ZONES 1-3 (0033)
Go through as you would for a 7 day SEASON ticket
Issue ticket type 7TS (TRAVELCARD 7DS) for £32.20

Alternatively you can buy them as paper tickets online, go to https://tickets.southernrailway.com/sn/en/JourneyPlanning/SeasonMixingDeck
Enter the following:
From: 1072
To: 0033
Start Date: As required
Passengers: As required
Check the box next to Weekly
Click Search
Click the £32.20 box and click Buy Now
Go through and buy as usual - ticket will be sent by post or TOD