Another London Travelcard vs. Oyster Question
 

Traveling with the family for a week to London. I have probably spent more time analyzing the London transit options than anything else, and I'm still confused. So here goes.

Our facts:

1. Two adults and two kids - 18 and 15.
2. Only zones 1 and 2 - no Heathrow, etc.
3. Expect to travel during the morning peak on a couple of mornings.
4. Will likely use more than one round trip per day.
5. The 2-1 offers on Travelcard don't seem that attractive because we'll be getting discounts to those attractions through walking tours we are planning to take.
6. Didn't get my act together early enough to order a picture card in advance for the 15YO.

Seems to me that the way to go here is to get one-day Travelpasses for the 15YO and ordinary Oysters for the others, with some topped up PAYG. Does that make sense?

Thanks for indulging yet another T vs. O question.

To be honest people make this much more complicated than it is. I always get my guests a 7 day zone1-2 pass I think its £27 for the week. This gives you the freedom to hop on teh tubes and buses without having to worry about the funds and I have found that to greatly outweight saving a few GBPs here and there with pay as you go. You dont have to think about it.

As for the 2for1, if you dont feel you need it get the 7 day pass on an oyster. If you do want to use them, get the paper 7 day travel card at a national rail train station.

I honestly dont think the confustion of figuring out how many journeys a day in peak or not peak, then worrying about whether you have enough on the card is worth it to save a couple quid.

>>Seems to me that the way to go here is to get one-day Travelpasses for the 15YO and ordinary Oysters for the others, with some topped up PAYG. Does that make sense?<<

You can put 7-day travelcard values on Oyster (Oyster is a mechanism, not the tariff); if you stay in the zones your travelcards carry, you won't need PAYG top-up, but if you do, you can add money as required.

When you buy the travelcards, there's no harm in asking if there's any concession for the 15-year old. The child photocard seems to be necessary for one-day travelcards as well, and would in any case have an admin fee that would mean you'd have paid not much less in total than the adult rate. So either way, you wouldn't lose much by having to get an adult's 7-day travelcard on Oyster like the rest of you (and maybe the 15YO is of an age to appreciate being treated as an adult?!)

Just do as the commuting locals would do – get a one week travelcard for zones 1-2 loaded onto an oyster card and off you go. Simple!

"Another London Travelcard vs. Oyster Question "

It not "London Travelcard vs. Oyster", Oystercards hold either money (PAYG) and/or a Travelcard

If you are staying a week - in fact if you are staying more than 4 days then Travelcards are the way to go as they work out cheaper than PAYG after 4 days.

The 18 yr old is an adult so pays adult fares, the 15yr old can get 1 day Travelcards.

The only other question is what sort of Travelcard to get - On Oystercard from a Tube station or a paper card from a train station.

The cost is the same, there's a refundable deposit on the Osytercard and is easier to use out of zone but the paper Travelcard does give the 2-4-1 offers so even if you only use it once for the offers you save money.

I, too, analyzed and agonized more than it was probably worth and almost succumbed to the idea of making some spreadsheet (that's my husband, not me!). Your decision sounds probably right for you (i.e., 7 day cards-worth loaded on the plastic Oyster). We decided to use PAYG on Oyster, which was good for us two times (one time only there 3.5 days). We may have saved 3-4 pounds each (and also one day we bought 1day paper passes to use 2for1 vouchers, so if we'd had a 7daypass on the Oyster, we would have paid twice for transport that day; this isn't an issue for you.)

A couple comments--I have forgotten--is the 7-day card good for peak travel? Or are there 2 tiers, one peak and one not? We definitely did not want to be limited to waiting til off-peak; you seem to be aware of this consideration.

If the 2for1 offers aren't needed, then there is definitely no reason to make the effort (even if minimal--time is at a premium!) to travel to a station that sells the paper 7daycards.

One minor advantage to the PAYG is that if there is money left, you can turn it in and get a refund, whereas the 7daycard fee is spent, whether you actually use that day's allowance or not. But probably if you are using the Tube 2-3 trips per day, it might come out about equal anyway. Plus you do have to remember to make time to find a last tube stop to turn in the cards--we forgot last time so I have Oyster cards with some pounds left on them (incentive to return?!--like I need one![incentive, that is!])

Thanks for all of your responses. The consensus here seems to be the one-week Travelcard loaded on the Oyster. Will that work given that we'll be traveling during the morning peak (at least twice from what I can tell)? Will PAYG cover that?

The 7 day travel card gives you unltd tube and bus rides anytime. You do not need PAYG.

As jamikins said, a 7-day travelcard is good anytime. The 1-day travelcards come in either peak or off-peak versions.

Yes, the 7 day travel card is what I use when I have to commute, and I always travel at peak times.

As a post-mortem, we used the 7-day travelcards on Oyster for the three of us who were 18+, and definitely the right move. We went with one-day travelcards for the 15YO, which was a bit of a pain because it meant having to wait on line each morning at the local Tube stop, but at 3 pounds, for the amount we used the Tube, it was the right move.

Thanks to all of you for your help.

Glad it worked out, hope you enjoyed London!

We had a great trip. If I get the time, I'll try to post a trip report. But for now, I could tell you that the two highlights of the trip for me were (1) a Blue Badge walking tour of the new Olympic site and (2) seeing Danny Boyle's Frankenstein at the Olivier. There is no bad time of year to visit London!!!