kate22

Hey everyone! I'm going to London for the second time and have some travel questions. The first time was a university trip, so I did not have to pay attention to that kind of stuff. Now, I'm planning it all, and some different things throw me through loops.

Overall question: Oyster Card or Travel Card, 7-day or pay as you go? Or something else?

Here's the itinerary for travel, with various small zone 1 touristy trips each day unless noted
Day 1 - Heathrow to hotel (zone 1 near Tower Hill, thinking tube?)
Day 2 - RAF Museum (zone 4, thinking tube, don't know what else can get me there)
Day 3 - Day trip out of London with travel taken care of, just need to get to St. Pancras station
Day 4 - Windsor Castle. This is where I'm a bit stumped, as I see Oyster can be used on National Rail, but not ALL National Rail? Well, which ones? And what's cheapest in the end if I cannot use Oyster? Can I use a travelcard?
Day 5 - everything in zone 1 this day
Day 6 - everything in zone 1 this day
Day 7 - everything in zone 1 this day
Day 8 - CHRISTMAS! No travel anywhere. So here's where I'm thinking maybe not a 7 day travelcard as this day is useless? Or travel card for the 7 days before this? Sorry I make things complicated.
Day 9 - everything in zone 1 this day
Day 10 - everything in zone 1 this day
Day 11 - departure, need to get back to Heathrow

AND... I'm not done, I have to make things a bit more complicated. My mother is leaving on day 11, I am staying another three weeks for a different university trip and was told I would be
receiving an Oyster card when the rest of my classmates and professor get there. I cannot request it early, nor can I choose not to get it at all and keep whatever I'm using during my days beforehand. That makes day 11 confusing, as I will only use my previous card until about 9am and then be getting my new card for the rest of the day.

Your help is GREATLY appreciated. Sorry again for making things so confusing, I tried to figure it out on my own but with so many different payment options, fare caps, staying mostly in zone 1 except for a few times, and lack of National Rail and Oyster information, I figured I'd go to people who know way more about this than I do. THANK YOU!

janisj

OK - a travel card is just one sort of fare you load on an Oyster. You'd put a 7-day zones 1 & 2 travel card plus some additional Pay as you go ££ to cover the rides from/to LHR and the trip out to zone 4.

( You might be thinking of a <u>Paper</u> travel card which does the same thing but is only needed IF you are going to use some of the Days Out 2for1 discounts -- So you and your Mom need to look at the Day Out site to see. Papare travel cards cover the tube/buses but MUST be bought at a train station.)

http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk

>>Day 4 - Windsor Castle. This is where I'm a bit stumped, as I see Oyster can be used on National Rail, but not ALL National Rail? Well, which ones? <<

Oyster is only applicable to London. Windsor isn't in London. You'd go to either Paddington or Waterloo station and buy a regular train ticket to Windsor.

>>Day 8 - CHRISTMAS! No travel anywhere. So here's where I'm thinking maybe not a 7 day travelcard as this day is useless? Or travel card for the 7 days before this? Sorry I make things complicated.<<

Actually a 7 day travel card (on Oyster) works out cheaper for anything over 4.5 days. So if you aren't taking any public transport one day . . a 7 day card is still the way to go.

All that gaffing about w/ a different Oyster card makes no sense at all. Let them do whatever they want - If the organizers give you a new Oyster . . . just go to a ticket window and have the agent take the credit off it and add it to your existing Oyster. In fact I did just that a couple of trips ago. I ended up w/ two Oysters (long story ) and the ticket agent just combined everything on one.

kate22

Thank you so much! It's making a lot more sense now. However, a 7-day travelcard doesn't cover the rest of the 4 days on the trip. Just use pay as you go for those then?

janisj

jeeze -- my iPad <i>insists</i> on autocorrecting whenever I type faffing to gaffing . . . You'd think it would eventually learn )

>> However, a 7-day travelcard doesn't cover the rest of the 4 days on the trip. Just use pay as you go for those then?<<

Partly depends on what sort of fares are loaded on the Oyster the college is giving you. I'd probably get a 7 day + PAYG and then ask a ticket agent to combine the ££ from the new Oyster on to yours. If they can't do that (can't imagine why not but <i>maybe</i> the college is giving you some sort of 'special' card) you'll just end up w/ 2 oysters.

BigRuss

<<You might be thinking of a Paper travel card which does the same thing but is only needed IF you are going to use some of the Days Out 2for1 discounts -- So you and your Mom need to look at the Day Out site to see. Papare travel cards cover the tube/buses but MUST be bought at a train station.>>

This means paper travel card (dunno what papare is - that iPad is seriously wonky). And a "train station" means one for the national rail system, not a Tube/Underground station. "Train station" includes: Paddington, Waterloo, Euston, St Pancras, Kings' X, Charing X, Liverpool Street, Victoria, etc. And you buy from a manned ticket booth on the same level as the national trains (it'll have a Boots pharmacy and M&S Simply Food store) and you get a flimsy paper card, not a thick blue plastic card (that's Oyster).

And there's no limit on the number of vouchers you can get from the Days Out Guide website.