LONDON: Oyster/Travelcard Help!
 

Hello,

I will be in London for 3 weeks, at the end of this month, and am wondering what the best option would be for traveling about London- an Oyster card? Travelcard? Or Travelcards loaded onto an Oyster card?

I don't plan on 2 for 1 deals, as it's just me, and plan on staying mostly in zones 1 and 2. A friend told me to get an Oyster card and load 3, 1 week Travelcards on it. Is that what I should do? I was a bit confused as to why I would need both an Oyster card AND Travelcards.

If not using the 2for1 offers, yes, get an Oyster card loaded with TravelCards. "Travel card" is a confusing word, but it just means a weekly pass.

It's probably easiest for you to just do Pay-as-you-go if you are not interested in 2-1 offers. This simply means loading some funds onto your Oystercard (at one of the machines or the staff windows) and topping it up as and when you run out. Pay-as-you-go caps at the cost of a 1- day travel card anyway so you need not worry about trying to work out what your exact daily usage is likely to be.

Seven 1 day 'anytime' travel cards (the equivalent of using pay as you go for a week) is £45.50 (6.50*7).

A 7 day travelcard is £32.40.

Your friend is correct - get three zone 1-2, 7 day travelcards added to your Oyster.

The Oyster is just the name of the plastic card. The travelcard is your pass that is loaded onto the Oyster.

Fare info here: http://content.tfl.gov.uk/adult-fares.pdf

That only makes sense if you are going to be using the tube every single day and right up to the travel card limit every single day - I'd be willing to bet the OP won't.

For me it would be worth it to not deal with the hassle of topping up in Central London stations. Freedom to hop on and off tubes, buses etc without thinking about how much is left on my card.

To each their own.

https://tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payment...ypes/on-oyster has information

I honestly think that you need a PhD to understand some of these London transport websites.

What I'd do is go to a manned ticket booth, and ask for an Oyster card loaded with three one week travel cards for zones 1 and 2, and perhaps with an additional £20 added in case you go outside those zones.

The word "cards" is confusing. You end up with just one card, the size of a credit card.

Alternatively, you could ask for an Oyster card and say that you'd like to load it with e.g. £50.

Each time you "tap out" your Oyster at the end of a journey, a small screen will tell you how much you have left.
You can add money to your card at the station machines or get a ticket booth attendant to do it for you.

At the end of your three weeks, you will be nonchalantly tapping your Oyster in and out like a seasoned Londoner

Thank you, everyone! I think I understand it now. You've all been most helpful!

Ho hum. I've just spotted this!

April 2016 all manned ticket offices at Underground Stations are due to have closed and most will have closed well before that. All ticketing will now be performed by ticket machines including Oyster refunds as well as purchases. At busy entry points for visitors to London visitor centres have been opened for assistance and advice, these are open at Gatwick, King's Cross St. Pancras, Liverpool Street, Victoria, Euston, Paddington and Heathrow Terminals 1, 2, 3.

Yup that is true, there are staff to help out in most central stations.

>>That only makes sense if you are going to be using the tube every single day and right up to the travel card limit every single day - I'd be willing to bet the OP won't.<<

Not true IME/IMO. The break even point for a 7-day travel card is about 4.5 days -- so call it 5 days. One would have to avoid the tube completely several days for PAYG or daily travelcards to be the best options.

What most people would recommend are three 7-day zone 1-2 travelcards plus a little PAYG (to cover any journeys beyond zone 2) - all loaded on an Oyster.

And the great thing about the Travelcard and it's many relatives is that you can just hop on a bus for a couple of stops, or take the tube because your feet got tired, without worrying about the cost. I love the freedom, it's a real black mark for a city when it doesn't have a day or multi-day transport pass.