Cheapest travelcard for london trip

rb211

Hello, I'm taking myself and 4 children to London shortly, mainly sightseeing and want to purchase 3 days worth of travelcards (would like unlimited travel). What would be the most economical way of doing this ? Ages are 11,15,16 and 17 and me as an adult. We are staying just outside zone 4. Thanks for any replies

alanrowell

The 16 & 17 yr olds are adults unless you want to go through the hassle of a 16+ card which is unlikely to save money

Assuming you are travelling by train to & from London you can use the offers on Daysoutguide.com - just ensure you have the outward & return tickets to hand when you need to claim the offers.

Otherwise for each adult get an Oystercard & load each with £20 cash. The 11 & 15 yr olds can get one day Travelcards.

When you leave return the Oystercards and reclaim deposit & unused cash.

Edit - just a thought. If the 16 & 17 yr olds have 16-25 Young Person Traincards then they can link them to the Oystercard and get a discount on fares in London

http://www.16-25railcard.co.uk/buy-16-25-railcard/faqs/validity#9

Livingthedream

Have you got a Family and Friends railcard, you can use it to get a discounted 1 day travelcard, which will give discounted adult fares for the 16 and 17 yr olds and heavily discount child rates for the 11 and 15 yr olds.

rb211

Many thanks for the replies.

I am driving to lee valley campsite Chingfod E4 7RA from north west England . From there we are going to make our way into central London for 3 of the 6 days we are there.

Do I need to order the Oyster card online, with photo's of everybody, or can I purchase them there ? Also does the oyster card cover the bus journey from the campsite in chingford to walthamstow tube station ?

We don't have any sort of railcards, we very rarely use trains.

Many thanks

dzug1

For 3 days you are going to be just as well off with paper travelcards. They (or Oyster) will cover the bus to Chingford station, yes - though on the first day you will have to pay until you get to the station to buy them. After that buy them in advance when you are near a station. Or drive into Chingford to buy them

If you buy them at Chingford station they will give you 2 for 1 offers

Child Oyster cards require a photo and cost £10, non refundable. Given that they will only be paying £3 a day anyway they are not even going to begin to recoup the cost

Adult Oysters do not require a photo. You just pay a £5 refundable deposit. They do not give 2 for 1 offers.

bb21

dzug1 wrote: »

They (or Oyster) will cover the bus to Chingford station, yes - though on the first day you will have to pay until you get to the station to buy them.

No, they shouldn't have to pay separate. If you mean buy a paper travelcard at Chingford station then they can buy the travelcard in advance of travel from any railway station beforehand, which means that they do not have to pay separately for the bus journey to Chingford on the first day.

rb211

Many thanks

So this is what I understand from the following advice -

Walk/drive from campsite to chingford train station and

Buy 3 days worth of travelcards for under 16's. 2 for 1 offer ?

Buy 3 oyster cards (refundable deposit ?) and top up with £20 each. 2 for 1 ?

Catch the train at chingford train station into liverpool st or get on a bus from campsite to Walthamstow tube ? which is best ?

All train/bus journeys are covered by the unlimited travel with travel/oyster cards ?

Once again thanks

dzug1

There is no point in getting Oysters at all - get three days worth of travel cards for the adults as well, £8 each per day zones 1-6 or £7.30 1-4, offpeak. That way they will get 2 for 1 offers as well and you won't have the bother of paying and reclaiming the deposit.The net cost will be the same.

I think I may have misled you on Chingford and buses - the journey planner is giving me different results now to what it did yesterday and it looks like Walthamstow is better

Getting to Chingford is slightly quicker but requires 2 buses rather than one (or a walk and a bus). Walthamstow is one bus. Remember to buy the travelcards at the rail (not tube) station to be valid for the 2 for 1. They will be slightly cheaper from Walthamstow (zone 4) and will still be valid on the bus to the campsite, but not on the train to Chingford.

As to whether the train or tube is better from Walthamstow - depends where you are heading in central London. The travelcards will be valid either way