Can you help me with an Oyster Card?

Old Oct 23rd, 2014, 09:10 AM
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 150
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Can you help me with an Oyster Card?

My husband, daughter and I will be in London for 4 days. We will be mostly in Zone 1 of central London with a 1 day trip to Windsor Castle. We'll be staying in South Kensington right near the tube station.

Are Oyster cards sold at all tube stations? Is the idea that you prepay for a certain number of trips? I'm guessing we'll ride the tube almost exclusively for trips within zone 1.

Thanks for your help!
Katherine4 is offline  
Old Oct 23rd, 2014, 10:53 AM
  #2  
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 72,630
Likes: 0
Received 50 Likes on 7 Posts
Yes - oysters are sold at all tube stations.

BUT if you want to use any of the 2for1 discounts you need to buy paper travel cards which are not sold at tube stations - only train stations

http://m.daysoutguide.co.uk/2for1-london

If you aren't using the 2for1s then an oyster loaded with what is called pay as you go. The ticket agent will advise you about how much ££ you'll need to load. The trip to Windsor isn't covered by an oyster.
janisj is online now  
Old Oct 23rd, 2014, 11:13 AM
  #3  
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 17,268
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Under many circumstances, visitors no longer need an Oystercard.

If each of you has a contactless Visa or MC payment card (in this case, the palaver about readers in developed countries not accepting chipless cards from the Third World doesn't apply, though there are a few country-specific limitations), the system treats your card as an Oyster. You swipe entering the train, bus or whatever, swipe again while finally leaving THAT FORM OR TRANSPORT, and the system calculates your daily cap. Till you reach that cap, you're charged the e-fare for each sector: once you've hit your cap, you pay no more - unless you go outside the relevant zones.

Among the circumstances where contactless (I believe) doesn't work properly is if your child would be eligible for a youngster's discount. But if your daughter's over 18, that doesn't apply. And you need a paper Travelcard for 2-4-1

Further details: https://www.tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-pay...is-contactless
flanneruk is offline  
Old Oct 23rd, 2014, 11:32 AM
  #4  
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,386
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
i was going to weigh in that an oyster card will save you a lot of money, because of the daily cap... but 'flanneruk' gave me some new information which i will use on our next trip this spring!

but if you do want to get an oyster card and you fly in to heathrow, get one at the airport and start using it from there. it is a little slower than the express train, but an easy ride to gloucester road station with no changes. i think s. kensington station is one change.
kawh is offline  
Old Oct 23rd, 2014, 11:46 AM
  #5  
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 72,630
Likes: 0
Received 50 Likes on 7 Posts
It won't be slower than the express train. The HEX only get one to Paddington and then it would be a tube ride or taxi from there.

So just getting on the tube at LHR and getting off at south Kensington is easier and like faster.

Or a car service if you don't want to faff about w/ the tube.

Kawh: No there is NO Change to S. Kensington, it is the next station.. . . . . And besides, for the next couple of months the Piccadilly line does not stop at Gloucester Rd . . . So it would be South Kensington in any case.
janisj is online now  
Old Oct 24th, 2014, 08:22 AM
  #6  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 150
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
We'll be getting a car from Heathrow bc we'll have a 6 year old, and enough luggage that we won't want to deal with the tube. We're also arriving rather late at night.

Can you give me more info on the daily cap? I don't really get how it works.

Thanks for your input!
Katherine4 is offline  
Old Oct 24th, 2014, 08:42 AM
  #7  
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 57,091
Received 5 Likes on 3 Posts
the daily cap [£7 at present for off peak and £8.40 for peak hour travel] is the most that you will be charged for one day's transport no matter how many journeys you make.

here's the website for the contactless card that flanner talks about:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-paym.../how-to-use-it

and here's the oystercard website:

http://www.toptiplondon.com/transpor...ts/oyster-card

but there are still other wrinkles in the system, for example when I wanted to get from LGW to somewhere in Zone 1 last winter [and back the next day] I paid only 50p per day to add a Zone 1-5 travel card to my railway ticket. I'm not complaining but it does make it more complicated. Ditto the 2-4-1 travel cards.
annhig is offline  
Old Oct 24th, 2014, 09:28 AM
  #8  
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 72,630
Likes: 0
Received 50 Likes on 7 Posts
The quick and dirty . . . after your 2nd or 3rd ride, (depends on time of day) you don't pay any more that day. The cost for all day is capped at £7 or £8.40 no matter how many trips one takes. The system handles the calculation - you don't have to do anything.
janisj is online now  
Old Oct 25th, 2014, 12:23 AM
  #9  
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,386
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Ok...back to the contactless visa, which I thought I understood....but how doew ONE visa card calculate a daily cap for two separate riders?? (Normally two riders would have two oysters)...?
kawh is offline  
Old Oct 25th, 2014, 01:01 AM
  #10  
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 2,254
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I don't live in London, so use my Oyster card infrequently and have not yet used a contactless card to travel. I have looked at the Transport for London website and cannot immediately see it stated, but I would assume you would each need your own contactless card, just as you would both need your own Oyster card or cardboard ticket.

You could possibly use the same card (contactless or Oyster) if you were not travelling together, but that is probably illegal. The logistics of doing so could get rather complicated.
chartley is offline  
Old Oct 25th, 2014, 01:22 AM
  #11  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,321
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I agree that each user needs their own card...just like the oyster.
jamikins is offline  
Old Oct 25th, 2014, 04:38 AM
  #12  
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 72,630
Likes: 0
Received 50 Likes on 7 Posts
logistically you couldn't use the same contactless credit card - if traveling together. First of all, once you open the gate w/ the card you have to go through and then you'd have to quickly pass the card back to the other person which in a crowded tube station would be very dicey.

But even if that was doable . . . the main reason is, that you swipe to enter then tube system and then when your journey is over you swine to exit. You couldn't swipe/swipe twice to get in and swipe/swipe twice to get out.

Now, IF you never travel at the same time as your partner . . . then sure, you could use the same card. just like w/ an Oyster.
janisj is online now  
Old Oct 25th, 2014, 05:14 AM
  #13  
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 2,093
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I may be wrong but isn't there a fee for the Oyster card for which you get a refund when returning home? If you remember to do so.
Micheline is offline  
Old Oct 25th, 2014, 05:24 AM
  #14  
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 72,630
Likes: 0
Received 50 Likes on 7 Posts
oops -- >>when your journey is over you swipe to exit
janisj is online now  
Old Oct 25th, 2014, 05:26 AM
  #15  
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 2,093
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Thanks janisj.
Micheline is offline  
Old Oct 25th, 2014, 08:21 AM
  #16  
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 57,091
Received 5 Likes on 3 Posts
yes, DS just got home from London and brought his oyster card back with him. There's only £1 left on it but it will be very useful if/when he or another of us goes there again.
annhig is offline  
Old Oct 25th, 2014, 09:05 AM
  #17  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 20,916
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
>>oops -- >>when your journey is over you swipe to exit
PatrickLondon is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Original Poster
Forum
Replies
Last Post
jranger
Europe
9
Jun 23rd, 2013 02:58 PM
tttman
Europe
5
Sep 3rd, 2011 03:18 AM
tkeipper
Europe
4
Mar 20th, 2011 09:34 AM
ILUVPARIS
Europe
35
Mar 4th, 2009 02:57 PM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are On


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information -