Couplecamp

Hi,

After realize that the Oyster PAYG card is the best option for a 5 day stay in London with my wife, another question came to our minds: can we load a card with enough money for us both and use just one card or each of us will need a card separately?

flanneruk

"can we load a card with enough money for us both"

No. Absolutely not.

Well, you can try: but the way the technology works means your bill will almost treble.

As a matter of interest: why would you want to anyway?

Couplecamp

Hmm, ok, thanks.

"As a matter of interest: why would you want to anyway?"

No need to carry 2 cards.
No need to pay 2 deposit for the cards.
Easiest for a couple.

julia_t

As flanner says, NO.

You have to swipe the card to go through the turnstiles of the tube station, or when you get on a bus.

You can't swipe it a second time for the second person without exiting the tube station first - and I can't actually think how it would work on a bus... because each person has to swipe their card or buy a ticket as they get on a bus.

Anyway, the card is not that expensive to buy, so just get two and load a reasonable amount onto both cards. You can always top it up, and you can get the 3 GBP deposit back when you leave.

I live in England, so do my kids and all our friends, we all have our own Oyster cards and top them up when need be. We don't even consider trying to cheat the system.

MelJ

This just isn't allowed. There will be metro guards in orange vests as you enter and exit the turnstiles. You do NOT want to get caught passing your Oyster card over the turnstile to your wife so she can enter/exit.

flanneruk

It's not cheating, the guards don't give a stuff, it's allowed and no-one's going to get "caught". Just required to pay the cost of assuming things in developed countries work the way they do in the Third World.

Swipe in once, and if you don't swipe out before swiping in again you'll be charged the maximum possible fare. Twice.

The reason the poster is really asking the question is because in primitive cities, card sharing is common.

RM67

The system works out the charge at the end of your journey, so it expects you to touch in once and out once on each leg of a journey. Touch in twice in a row and you'll get the maximum possible fare charged to your card.

Two people can share a card, as long as they're not actually travelling at the same time e.g. you use it on Day 1, partner uses it in Day 2, while you stay at home.

MelJ

Sorry, Flanner, but I saw one of the guards stop a lady who did this. The second lady showed her card and I concluded that hers had malfunctioned and the woman who helped her was doing just that--helping her. I didn't stick around so I probably shouldn't have concluded that it isn't allowed.

But you will concede that it gums up the works when there's a crowd wanting through?

ellenem

"The reason the poster is really asking the question is because in primitive cities, card sharing is common."

Are you referring to New York City? Our pay-as-you-go MetroCards CAN be shared by as many as four people, passing the card across the turnstile just as you suggest. Since there is one fare no matter how far one travels, there's no confusion in sharing.

Couplecamp

Ok, I really thank you for all your answers.
It wasn't my intention to start a fuss or something like. I understand and we have no problem to use 2 cards each. The question was just because we managed to use one single card with the total ammount of money we'd need individually in other places. No cheats, nothing against the law. Just a way to ease the things for a traveller foreigner couple.

Thanks again, folks.

jfcarli

I have finally understood the WHY you are charged for maximum fare if you do pass a second time upon exiting the station.

christycruz

I thought of sharing a card with my sister, just as OP was thinking. But as soon as I got there and saw the system, I saw it wouldn't work.

At the end of our trip I stood in a short line and got the balance and deposit of our Oyster cards back. No biggie.

I LOVE Paris' "primitive" train system. It's easy to share a carnet.

avalon

For any trip over 4 days, I load a 7 day travelcard on my Oyster.

You can;t share a Navigo, similar to an Oyster in Paris. I hate the 7 day card in Paris as it has to start on aMonday. Oyster is so much better