Visit to London - Tube Travel Query

acebanditcat

Another two day trip planned for central London and this time I'm determined to try and find out which is the best way to travel on the underground.

In December my husband and I visited for two days with our son. After first reading it up I bought Travel cards for us both (our son traveled free) for two days at the total cost of £48! I realized the next day that this was probably wrong and took the hit for that visit and thought I'd ensure I ask before our next visit.

So this time traveling for two days in March on a Thursday and Friday. My partner has a contact-less bank card but I don't. So is an Oyster card a better option for myself?

It looks like we may travel to London a couple of times a year for a treat so is the Oyster card
just something I can top up with each time I go? But now I see there is a visitor oyster card so now even more confused.

So wondered if anyone can help with my query.

Thanks in advance

Alter_ego

Have you considered bus travel? Especially if you have a bus pass.

acebanditcat

No, why have I got a bus pass?

newuser86

If you have a contactless card then use that, otherwise just buy a regular oyster card and top it up , this can be done at any station.
An oyster card will have a cap on the amount you can spend in a day before it turns into a travelcard for that day, somewhere around £8 i believe.

zagubov

The Oyster card is a bus pass, as is any contactless debit card.

The bus, especially the top deck, is a much more pleasant experience than the tube.

p00hsticks

acebanditcat wrote: »

It looks like we may travel to London a couple of times a year for a treat so is the Oyster card
just something I can top up with each time I go?

Coming at in from another point of view....

If you are going to be visiting quite often, plan your itineries each time to visit locations that are quite close together on a single trip (e.g. V&A, Natural History & Science Museums on one trip, National Gallery. M&M world, Leicester Square lego shop on another) to minimise the need to use the tube at all - we find that once you are in central London walking is often as quick and far more interesting than getting the tube for just two or three stops. When we do need it (e.g. from intial journey from station to hotel) we've had Oyster cards in the past, but will be using contactless debit cards next time we go for simplicity.

TBagpuss

Yes, you can top up an oyster card when you need to - you can top it up using cash or cards, using the ticket machines at tube stations etc.

Both with the oyster card and using contactless there is a daily cap (I think currently it is £6.60 in zone one) the daily cap is lower than the cost of a daily travelcard so it is a better option.

I think if you're there for 7 days a 7 day travel card can sometimes be cheaper, if you're using the tube etc every day.

Using a contactless card it is important to use the same card all day, as the cap is per card.

You can use the oyster card on buses as well as the tube (same with contactless)

You do pay a £5 deposit when you first get a PAYG oyster card but you can then top it up indefinitely (and I think the deposit is refundable if you decide to ditch the card if/when you get a contactless card)

glider3560

TBagpuss wrote: »

You do pay a £5 deposit when you first get a PAYG oyster card but you can then top it up indefinitely (and I think the deposit is refundable if you decide to ditch the card if/when you get a contactless card)

The deposit is refundable. Any tube ticket machine can refund the £5 deposit and remaining unused credit (immediately in cash) provided the total to be refunded is less than £10.

The machines also sell new Oyster cards. You could therefore buy and refund a new card on each trip, if you don't want to worry about misplacing the Oyster card between each trip.

The Visitor Oyster Card is just a rip off. It costs £3 and the £3 is non-refundable. Even if you are a visitor, just get a normal Oyster card for £5, which is refundable.

You can use the fare finder to calculate the exact fare for each journey: https://tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payments/fares/single-fare-finder?intcmp=1660

Remember to touch in and out for every journey, even if the barriers are open or if there are no barriers. Visitors forget this (my mum once paid a £8ish maximum fare because she just walked through the open barrier behind me when exiting, thinking she was getting a free journey!)

Register your contactless card and your Oyster cards online to keep track of what you're being charged: https://oyster.tfl.gov.uk/oyster/entry.do#

jblessing

Another option, if you have a phone with NFC, is to set up Android/Apple Pay on your phone, then you can use it just like a contactless card

zagubov

You can do what Londoners do and when shopkeepers give you change, just get them to load it onto your Oyster card.

I'm sure I've seen a map that shows how close the tube stations are; some of your journeys will be a pleasant walk.

tightasagnats

Buses are OK but you can grow a beard at certain times of day. New hopper fare is good though, Mayor Khan just introduced it, so if you get on a 2nd bus within an hour of getting on the first, you pay only for the 1st i.e. £1.50 using your Oyster card or contactless. Have fun in our fair city.....and if you like music, St Martin's in the Fields has a free lunchtime classical recital on a Friday, just by Trafalgar Square. Nice cafe in the Crypt below.