tailsock

Hi all. I've read some threads concerning oyster vs travelcards and want to quickly run my plan by you to see if it would be the smartest:

the scenario: we'll be in London for 4 days and want the 2 for 1 discounts for Churchill War rooms, Westminster abbey, etc. so my plan was to get the week-long travelcard for the both of us. My dilemna was the trip into London from Heathrow however (we're fine w/ the Piccadilly line btw). Someone in another thread mentioned buying a PAYGO oyster upon arrival and putting some money on it for the trip to our hotel. Since we'll only be there 7 days i'm wondering if it would be smarter to do a couple of daily travel cards for 4 days instead & oyster for the others? whichever way saves us more money because if we went with the 7 day travelcards we'd be looking at about $91USD just for transportation for 4 days. thanks

janisj

Are you visiting 2for1 sites <u>every day</u> of your time in London? For instance the war Rooms and Westminster Abbey are practically next door neighbors. Very easy to do both on the same day.

Me --I'd probably get PAYG Oysters at LHR and only buy 1-day paper travel cards on the one or two days you'll need them.

bilboburgler

Hi, tailsock, I'll let others give the financial answer and shove this back up the list. The reason for my addition is that in London that the word "metro" is used in London for a newspaper or a university. You either want to use the word "tube" or "underground" though this is potentially confusing as there is also an "overground" and connected bus services. Use Tube.

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

PatrickLondon

I think the OP's instinct, refined by janis's suggestion, answers the question. Concentrate the activities requiring 2for1 offers into as few days as possible, accept the inconvenience of finding a national rail station to get paper travelcards for those days, use Oyster PAYG for the other travel. (Your travelcards only need cover zones 1 and 2, presumably). Where is the hotel, incidentally?

tailsock

i see what you mean: do the war rooms and westminster abbey, & london eye on the same day...and then the next day the Tower of London and St Pauls. that way i'll only need the rail station travelcards for two days. Oyster PAYG for the rest

tailsock

sorry Patrick.....we'll be staying at the Leonard near Marble Arch

janisj

tailsock. Those two day plans are totally doable.

The Abbey in the AM, lunch, Cabinet War Rooms, wander around a bit and across the bridge to the Eye.


The Tower in the AM, lunch, St Paul's and then you'll have from mid/late afternoon on free for other things.

texasbookworm

Yes, I agree with you and others above that Oysters bought upon arrival at LHR and then oneday paper Travel cards bought at TRAIN/RAIL stations will be the most economical.

Two considerations, which may not be helpful as you seem to have done your homework:

The only hitch to such a plan (and it is the plan that we followed generally in 2010) is that you will have to plan to go to the Rail/Train station probably the day before; I haven't looked at your accomodations on a map nor do I know what your itinerary the day before looks like, so I don't know which will be most convenient station, but you will need to factor that in to your plans. For us we had to make a sort of hour detour to Victoria Station which was an interesting side trip anyway, because we weren't passing near any Rail stations on our day before we used the 2for1 vouchers.

You will need to pick a Peak or Off-peak Travel option, if it still works like it did for us. I'd just spring for Peak so you aren't limited at all. You want to be at those major sights when doors open anyway.

And I'm guessing you have found the TfL website--good one to get familiar with.

Another one to look at is walkit.com--you can plan walks and see estimates of time and distance. It's more accurate than Googlemaps' walking option.

Enjoy!!!!

janisj

One minor glitch - there is no rail station all that convenient to Marbel Arch (your hotel is in Seymore St.)

You could walk up to Bond St and catch the Jubilee line (using PAYG) to Waterloo which would work for the Eye/Westminster Abbey/War Rooms day. Or you could just buy your paper tickets during you wanderings on any day before you need them at any train station you are near. You can have them issued for the next/a future date.

the stations you are most likely to be near are Charing Cross (Trafalgar Sq/Covent Garden) Waterloo (the Eye) Kings Cross (British Library/British Museum)

tailsock

thanks for the replies guys. very helpful and i think i'll retool what i originally planned to do. one last thing: when we get refunds for the oyster cards, is the unused balance refunded as well? found limited info on this online

janisj

Yes -- be sure to allow time at LHR to get the refund. There is often a long queue.

But any chance you'll return to London in the foreseeable future? ££ on an Oyster doesn't expire.

KayF

I don't know if we were just unlucky but the woman at the ticket window at Heathrow refused to refund the money on our Oyster Card as it was over a certain amount (over £10 or £15 I think). She said we had to register the card first and handed us a long form. We had a longhaul flight to catch so didn't bother with all this rigmarole. Just be prepared, we were also told at another main tube/train station (weeks before) they didn't do refunds which astonished us, as they were more than prepared to take our money!

Kay

texasbookworm

I think from what I have read that the refunding is not perhaps consistently handled. In 2008 we took our 2 cards to the agent at LHR who told me that one had more than he was supposed to refund, but he did anyway. (I think it had about 12 pounds, the other about 7). That was nice.

In 2010 we were rushed at LHR and didn't have much left on the 3 Oysters, so I just kept them and I used them this past summer.

So, if you want to get refund and you have time, just keep amount down to below 10 and leave time. If not, keep them til next time!

(I have read somewhere that someone else was told that refunds are now not done at the time of return, funds sent later, but I'm not sure where I read that so don't know if that's true or not. It wasn't in 2008 but lots has changed since then.)

KayF

I think they can send funds on later but not sure if this is the case for all refunds. You don't want to end up with a cheque in pounds so see if they can transfer the funds to a bank account. Our bank charges a lot to convert a cheque in another currency, it wouldn't be worthwhile banking the cheque.

Kay

Loisde

I can't add anything to this except - do whatever JanisJ tells you to do. After traveling with her in London, this woman knows what she's talking about.

And by the way, she is just as excellent a travel companion as you think she would be.

janisj

Aw shucks O

(I was going to call a few days ago but have total laryngitis and can barely squeak)

Hooameye

I've also heard that if you top up Oyster with a mixture of cash and credit card (best to keep it one or the other), that can also cause refund problems.

xyz123

One other thought...I think everybody here has nailed it....the day before you do the 2 4 1's, you will probablyt do something in London say see a show in the West End, visit a restaurant whatever. In the course of your travels that day, chances are you will be by a national rail station say at Charing Cross or whatever or perhaps you've capped that day on PAYG...before retiring make the quick trip to a mainline train station to pick up your one day travelcard for the next day. You will want the one day zone 1 & 2 off peak travelcard most likely as off peak means it is not valid before 0930 on weekdays...for weekends there is no peak nor is there any other peak period relative to the one day travelcard later on a weekday (that peak business then ony applies to single fares and out of zone 1 &2 payg oyster fares)....if somebody else covered that already sorry.

annhig

just a thought for what to do on your Tower/St. Paul's day - get the bus back along Fleet Street [a no 11 from memory, but do check] get off at the Royal Courts of Justice [a victorian mock gothic pile] , cross the road to the south, and use any of the little lanes/gates to enter the Temple.

you will step back into a different world of elegant buildings, gas lighting, beautiful gardens, and ancient chapels, including Temple Church where a number of crusaders are buried.

and it's all free!

Dr. Johnson's house is nearby if you are interested in him. [I am, but never made it in there, despite working in the Temple for 15+ years].

tailsock

wow good suggestions here!