Using a bus pass in London

cathedralmouse

My husband and I are visiting our son in London next weekend. We both have senior citizens bus passes issued in Northumberland where we live, but I understand these can be used throughout England, including London, for free bus transport after the rush hour.

Here's the silly question. What do you do when you get on a London bus? It's always so busy and we don't want to hold everyone up or look stupid by not doing the right thing. Do we just show the driver the pass? We both have oyster cards for TFL travel, but having only recently retired and acquired the bus passes, we've never had the opportunity yet to use them in London, and are a bit apprehensive that there'll be a hitch!

Thanks in advance for any pointers.

wealdroam

I usually show mine to the driver and if you are very lucky you might just get a slight nod as an acknowledgement.

McKneff

It's as easy as that......

dzug1

In London you don't have to wait for the rush hour to be over either

Thanks to Uncle Boris

If you have senior railcards these can be registered on your Oysters for a reduction on tube fares as well

dawn27

when my mum visits she just shows her bus pass to the driver, hers is issued in Kent and she doesnt have any problems.

Jennifer_Jane

Thanks for the OP and the replies. I was also wondering. Am going up to t'big city from oop North, and I always get a bit intimidated despite (or probably because) I lived in London in the 60's. London takes no prisoners on it's public transport.

surreysaver

dzug1 wrote: »

In London you don't have to wait for the rush hour to be over either

Thanks to Uncle Boris

If you have senior railcards these can be registered on your Oysters for a reduction on tube fares as well

You sure its not just Freedom Passes that can be used anytime? Senior passes issued within the authority that they are used may not be as restricted as those which are issued elsewhere.

Senior Railcard discount can be loaded on an Oyster - but it will give discount on National Rail fares, not Underground. It will also cap at the railcard discounted rate for One Day Travelcards.

dzug1

surreysaver wrote: »

You sure its not just Freedom Passes that can be used anytime? Senior passes issued within the authority that they are used may not be as restricted as those which are issued elsewhere.

Senior Railcard discount can be loaded on an Oyster - but it will give discount on National Rail fares, not Underground. It will also cap at the railcard discounted rate for One Day Travelcards.

Yes I'm sure of what I wrote - English bus passes can be used at any time in London. It's a (fairly) recent change

And a senior railcard on an Oyster WILL give discounts on individual off peak PAYG Underground fares - as well as the discounted cap. I made such a one off journey myself a week or so back and got a discount

mrschaucer

Yes, I can second what dzug1 says - Senior Railcard registered to your Oyster will give discounts on underground fares. Details on the Senior Railcard site (but they hide it well!)

cathedralmouse

Many thanks for all the replies in clearing that up! We already have our Senior Railcards registered to our Oystercards so should catch any savings available there. We'll just show our bus passes as we get on the bus. In Northumberland we touch them on a pad in a similar way to the Oyster cards, as we get on the bus. So many different systems throughout the country and it's different again for crossing the border into Scotland etc. It's just nice to know the procedure for London so that we don't look like the country bumpkins we really are!

WickedWolfie

You can use a national English bus pass at any time in London on those buses operated by/for TfL. See:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14305.aspx#tkt-tab-panel-4

That's where some of my Council tax goes......