5.25 days in London - Travelcard or Oyster or what?? 2for1 deal???
 

I know there are many posts about this, but it is so confusing, so I wanted to get your opinion on my specific plans.

We will arrive in London (Heathrow) around 8:30am from the United States on Friday, June 13. We will be heading to the County Hall Marriott.

We will be in London until about 11am on Wednesday, June 18th when we will be taking the Eurostar to Paris.

So my question is since we will be in London on a Friday, then the weekend (off peak time), then a Monday and Tuesday and just a little bit on a Wednesday morning as we head to the Eurostar station....what makes the most sense for us to purchase? An oystercard or just a travelcard or what? I would love to take advantage of the 2for1 offers if possible, so I will need a rail ticket though right? However, we would like to do the following 2for1 deals: Hampton Court Palace, City River Cruise, maybe a walking tour, The Original London Sightseeing Bus Tour, Tower Bridge Exhibition, Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, British Museum.

BUT - the catch is....you only get 2for1 access on the day you have a train ticket right? And we won't have a train ticket for several days since it would not be needed. We would need several days to see this many 2for1 attractions.

Thoughts?

You can use a PAPER travelcard for the 2 for 1 offers

The main problem is that 7 day travelcards can only come on paper if you buy them at a main train station - all the Tube stations only sell 7 day travelcards on an Oystercard

Shorter period travelcards do come as paper

http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/faq.aspx

We used a Gatwick Express ticket for 2for1 at the Tower, and our date of travel was NOT the same day we went to the Tower. Based on my own experience and from what I've read from other posters, I really don't think the people at the ticket booths are that stringent about this same date of travel business.

The British Museum is free, I'm not sure why it would be included in 2for1 unless that's for a special exhibit?

If you really want to get to all those 2for1 sights (Tower, Westminister Abbey, Hampton Court Palace, etc.) then buying 2 weekly travel card would probably be a good idea. There is alot of talk here about getting the PAPER travelcard as opposed to loading a travelcard on an Oyster card, in order to qualify for the 2for1 deals. I think I just read someone said they got a paper travelcard at Gatwick...maybe look into whether you can buy them at Heathrow.

My understanding is that the travelcard 2 for 1 offers only apply to rail off peak travelcards (ie paper cards that include a rail ticket with the rail logo on them). These can only be bought at railway ticket offices. Technically, you would need a rail travelcard for every day that you want one of these 2 for 1 offers.

Oystercards also attract some 2 for 1 offers, but they are not as good as the railcard offers. See:

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

I would buy pay as you go oystercards for travel from the airport, to Eurostar and for going around town. You could start by putting no more than £10 on and see how it goes. It will automatically adjust to give you discounts for off peak and one day fares. When you go to Hampton Court, you could buy a 1 day rail travelcard at Waterloo Station. That travelcard can also be used on any tube/bus journeys that you take during the same day and if you do an evening walking tour.

An addition to my previous post.

On returning from Hampton Court, you could also use the rail travelcard to buy discounted 24 hour tickets for the Original London Sightseeing Bus Tour (and I understand they include 24 hour Thames River Cruise passes). The bus tour visitor centre is at Cockspur St, by Trafalgar Square and it's open until 7pm.

You might not want to start using the ticket until the next day, but you bought it when your rail tickets qualify for the discount.

A seven-day travelcard is good for all time periods, including peak hours. Buy a seven-day, zone 1-2 PAPER travelcard at Waterloo station which is very close to your hotel.

The ticket suggested by TimS would cost £24.20, and you would need to buy additional tickets from Heathrow and to Hampton Court.

are you sure a 7-day paper travelcard is valid for the 2 for 1 deals? the website http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk says only a monthly or yearly travelcard is valid.

The daysoutguide says that the only OYSTER cards that are good for 2for1 offers are the monthly or yearly ones--and they must be accompanied by a record card showing the National Rail logo. However, any PAPER travelcard is good. Here is a quote from the site:

"2for1 and special offers/admission vouchers are available with almost ANY type of train ticket issued to London on normal 'paper' ticket stock (i.e. not electronic or 'smartcard' but for exceptions see below) and valid on the day you wish to the visit the attraction, theatre, or restaurant, e.g. rail tickets include Day Travelcards, Family Travelcards, Cheap Day Returns, Savers, SuperSavers, Advance Purchase Tickets, Apex, Open tickets, Season Tickets, various promotional travel tickets that may be issued from time to time, etc..."

thanks for clearing that up Tim

Correct me if I am wrong....

The tube fares are MUCH cheaper if you use an oyster card versus pay as you go or paper travelcard....right?

If that is the case, then you would have to make sure that the extra money you spend in fares using a paper travelcard would be less than what you would save with the 2-for-1 offers. Otherwise, just use an Oyster card which has lower fares.

Am I completely wrong in my thought? Please let me know.

I want to get the cheapest possible fares for using the tubes, but I also want the 2-for-1 deals.

We will be arriving to Heathrow from the United States around 8:25am on a Friday morning. We will leave via the Eurostar to Paris on Wednesday morning. So what would make the most sense for me?

a bit of confusion I'm afraid.

An Oyster card is just a plastic card that stores an amount of money for your transit. A weekly travel card is one amount of money you could load on an Oyster. Or you can load a lump sum "pay as you go" amount.

So it isn't Oyster vs. PAYG . . . . . .

i guess I should have said paper vs oyster then??

Or are paper travelcards and oysters the same price/fare for the tube?

I know one way is more expensive than Oyster....

Travelcards cost the same whether you get one on paper or on Oyster.

The real differential in price is between paying cash for each trip as you go, rather than buying a travelcard for a specified time period, or using Oyster to pay for each trip as you go.

Whatever you do, don't pay cash for each trip: prices are set deliberately high to discourage you from doing so.

My understanding of the Oyster PAYG is that the CAP for each day will be 50 pence cheaper than the DAY travelcard - if you take that many transportation.

Let's say you plan to take 5 tube rides in 1 day. If you buy a

PEAK paper day travelcard - you'll pay £6.80

OFF PEAK paper day travelcard - £5.30

However, if you use Oyster PAYG, your whole day price will be capped at
£6.30 if you travel peak
£4.80 if you travel off-peak

So, the only reason you would want to get PAPER day travelcard is if you want to use it for 2-for-1 offers. On days you don't need the PAPER travelcard, just use Oyster PAYG.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...s-08-01-02.pdf

yk,

A seven-day travelcard is a lot cheaper than the total of seven "capping" days, either peak or off-peak, using PAYG on an Oystercard. A seven-day card for zones 1-2 costs £24.20 and includes travel during peak times.

TimS - I don't disagree with you. But the OP here is going to be in London for exactly 5.25 days, so the 7-day travelcard may not give him the best deal.

If you read his other posts, he's arriving from LHR on Day 1 and plan on taking a car service from the airport and then do HOHO bus for the rest of the day. He also is thinking of going to Hampton Court Palace for one day (where he can take the train from Waterloo station).

Since the OP is trying te be as economical as possible for this trip (again, see his other posts), he may be better off just getting Oyster PAYG.

Just another query about travelcards particularly a 3 day card. Does it work on calendar days or hours ie if I dont validate it til say 3pm on day one can I use it up to 3pm on day 4 or only say Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday regardless of the time we start using it on Monday. IS this confusing sorry. We arrive early Monday but probably won't use trains til late in the day, but need to get to St Pancreas on Thursday morning so will I be covered by a 3 day travelcard?
Thanks everyone

mariebut - I'm 99.9% sure that the Travelcard goes by the calendar day, not 24 or 72 hours. The day you buy it is the day the clock starts ticking. No "validation" needed.

Some of the 2 for 1 offers I read are only good till May 31. Are there other 2/1 for June?