Can I return my Oyster card at Pancras when I leave London?
 

I have a terrible headache and believe it was caused by Oysters.

All the posts I've found talk about turning your card in for the refund at Heathrow when you leave, which makes sense since you'd use it to get to Heathrow.

We're leaving the UK on the Eurostar and I wondered if there was someplace we could return the Oyster there. Can you do it at any tube station?

You can do it at any Tube station with a manned ticket window

But Oystercard - whether PAYG or Travelcard may not be the best option for you as travelcards bought at a train (rather than tube) station will allow you to use the offers on www.daysoutguide.com

You'd be very unpopular if you did.

The tube ticket kiosks at St Pancras have perpetually lengthy queues, since all 700 passengers on each arriving Eurostar go and ask the sellers complicated questions, in their inadequate English, about Oystercards.

Far quicker to exit for Kings Cross, go to the tiny queues at its enormous number of tube kiosks (right after the tube ticket barrier), do your business then follow the signs for about 50 yards to St Pancras. Stay underground, without going upstairs to Kings Cross railway station.

So the answer is...absotively posilutely. BTW, do bear in mind that if the first purchase on an oyster card is a 7 day or longer travelcard, there is no 3 quid deposit to be refunded....if there's a little bit of PAYG money left on it, keep it for your next trip.

wait, when I arrive to heathrow, should i buy the oyster card or travel card for 7 days there since id be staying there in london frm June 1 to 8?

Christina....we've been through this several times here. Unfortunately the question is difficult to answer of what is cheapest...the answer is easy if what is easiest.

The problem comes in because the National Railroads have promotions which give you some apparently excellent 2 for 1 discounts on some attractions in London. But to take advantage of them, you need a valid railroad ticket issued by the national railways, not the fares issued by Transport for London (tfl)...

If we left them aside, the easiest answer is to buy a 7 day zone 1 & 2 travelcard at Heathrow before boarding the tube into central London. You will also need an extension fare which is also put on the same card (called Pay as you Go) as London Underground is broken into zones...the further you travel the more zones you cross. 99% of the tourist attractions are in zones 1 & 2 so for your every day getting around all you need is the zone 1 & 2 card but Heathrow is in zone 6 so you will need extension fares from Heathrow till the train enters zone 2 (in effect a one way ticket for zones 6 through 3)...the extension costs £2 during peak periods (0630 to0930 and 1600 to 1900 weekdays)...at other times it's £1.10...the clerk at Heathrow will take care of that for you and after that, as long as you stick to zones 1 & 2 you would be done.

But these 2 for 1's do complicate matters and I'll allow somebody else to suggest a strategy for them as the national railroads are not represented at Heathrow and hence you cannot purchase any of their media there.

I don't think the travelcard is the best option for us since this is our 5th trip to London since '98 and we're not doing too many of the 2/1 attractions. Possibly will do a repeat visit to Hampton Court and a 1st visit to Kew Gardens on the same day, in which case a travelcard might be useful for that day. Otherwise we'll be better off with an Oyster, particularly as we walk a lot in London, certainly if it's only 2 or 3 tube stops.

Thanks for the suggestion about Kings Cross. That may be useful on both ends since we're flying into Gatwick and will be staying on High Holborne this trip, we might take the First Capital Connect to Pancras instead of the Gatwick Express to Victoria. So if the queues for the tube windows are long, we'll head to Kings Cross. If we have practically nothing on the card, I doubt we'd go to the trouble of returning it anyway. Hopefully would be of more use if we happen to go back than the leftover ticket carnets from '04.

christiana_ako: From your other thread is seems you are spending very little time in London so I wouldn't think you'd want/need a 7 day travel card - on Oyster nor on a paper one (unless you've changed your plans since posting). And being on your own much of that time means the 2 for 1 offers won't do you much good, so you won't need a paper travel card.

So a PAYG Oyster would be all you likely need.