JamilaZ

I am reading a lot of mixed reviews on the London Pass. I'm planning to go in late March and am thinking of getting the 6 day pass. It looks like I would come out a head on visiting many attractions. Some reviews are very good and others complain that you still have to stand in line at the attraction to exchange for a ticket? It's hard to decide on if I should get this. Anyone with experience on this?

doug_stallings

It's expensive, but it includes Westminster Abbey and the Tower, two of the most expensive attractions in London. So that's a plus. It also includes some expensive touristy things I'd never do, so if you are interested in those, then it's a huge plus. You get fast-track entry at a few but not most attractions, and the fast-track doesn't include Westminster Abbey or the Tower, which are also two of the busiest attractions. The biggest advantage is that you can also buy an Oyster card if you don't already have one. The biggest disadvantage is that it doesn't really get you around a lot of the lines, even if you plan carefully. So I'd view it as a money-saver, not a time-saver, and I'd assume you could only do 2 things in a day, not 3 or 4. Is it still valuable to you under those circumstances?

The downside is that if you get an Oyster card, you have to get it delivered to you, so you have to pay for shipping or collect it in person, and there's only one office near Leicester Square where you can do that.

bilboburgler

Not, you would have to be very very serious with immense stamina and a complete lack of interest in what you are doing to manage to benefit from this scheme. Every year we get someone on this site who has done the calcs and can see the benefits. Not one has yet come back with a positive view. Don't take this as a challenge.

janisj

>>It looks like I would come out a head on visiting many attractions. <<

Not really. The pass entices you with all the sites it covers. But a London Pass (especially a 6 days version) is very expensive and one would have a very difficult time moving fast enough to visit enough of the big sites to cover the costs. Then you factor in the many museums and galleries in London are free. What happens is that LP holders end up visiting schlocky commercial places (Madame Tussauds, London Dungeon, etc) because they are covered and not because they are 'must see's'. For the vast majority of visitors the LP is a huge waste of money.

Are you traveling solo or with someone else? If you are with someone, a much MUCH better deal are the 2for1 deals https://www.daysoutguide.co.uk

janisj

we were all posting at the same time . . .

caroltravels

I bought passes last year for a 4-day stay in London and put a lot of thought into the decision. I'd think about what you want to see and how much time you have. My analysis was that we pretty much broke even on entrance fees. We got in quickly to most places. We did wait in a long line at Westminster. At the War Rooms, they allowed timed ticket holders in before those of us with passes. Annoying but we did get into the Tower of London almost immediately. With some effort, you could probably find good deals by combining travel passes or advertisements.

However, the person I went with had never been to London before and we couldn't stay long. One reason I chose the pass was that if she saw something that caught her eye or that I thought she'd like, we could go in without paying more entry fees. She never would have seen the Banqueting House without it and I would have missed my nice rest on the bean bag chair used to view the ceiling. We got our money's worth from the pass. Boy, did our feet hurt when we left London!

JamilaZ

We would be 2 adults and one 13-year-old.

My "must-sees" are priced out like this with adult ticket/child ticket prices:

London Pass - sale price for 6 day pass 135/100 GBP

Kensington Palace 19.50 /9.70 GBP
Hampton Court Palace. 19.20/9.60
Tower of London 22.70/17.70
Banqueting Houses 5.50/0.00
Westminster 20/9
Bus tour 33
Tower bridge experience 9.80/3.80

and then free museums. It's coming out almost breaking even unless we add some other stuff on the pass such as Churchill Museum, the Shard, Royal Albert hall and others. I want to take it easy and not rush around. We could do 2 attractions per day and maybe one day take a trip on a bus tour out of London.

I also saw the Historic Royal Palace membership for 105 GBP which gives access for 2 adults and several kids. That would cover Kensington, Tower of London, Hampton Court, Banqueting House for the 3 of us.

As far as rail special, we are staying close to St James' tube stop. Do tube stop tickets count towards that 2 for 1 special?

janisj

You need paper travel cards bought from a train station -- NOT an Underground/Tube station. But it would get you the very same travel as an Oyster so no difference in net cost. Using the 2for1's you'd save almost £70 on just the main properties on that short list. You don't want the bus tour (waste of time stuck in traffic)

The London Passes on 'sale' will cost the three of you €370 for 6 days. The child's pass alone is £100 - that is silly expensive.

bilboburgler

bus tour; I suggest just using a few buses will do just as well. You do know that the average speed of these things is very slow?

Tulips

Doug Stallings; "The downside is that if you get an Oyster card, you have to get it delivered to you, so you have to pay for shipping or collect it in person, and there's only one office near Leicester Square where you can do that."

I don't understand this. Why on earth would you order an Oyster card with shipping costs or collect it at Leicester Square? That's silly. Just get one from any machine at any London Underground station. There's no advantage to getting one in advance.

Jamila; do you absolutely want to do all the things on that list + possibly British Museum, Natural History, Science Museum and other free museums? That's a lot for 6 days (are these 6 full days, or including arrival/departure?). Make a list of what you want to do including the free museums, parks, shopping, wandering around London neighborhoods - and then see if it's worth it.

rialtogrl

I bought the 10-day London Pass last summer and I got my money's worth. I think for the six day pass you could do the same - especially in late March when it won't be as busy (presumably) as when I was using it. I got it because after many trips to London I wanted to get off my Bu** and see some of the Biggies that I didn't want to pay for before.

I agree that the Hop On bus is a total waste - don't do it, whether you have the card or not. What I loved was that I saw not only the Biggies but some smaller museums like the Fan museum and Handel & Hendrix house. You might not want to with only six days. I would also suggest to go to the Shard for sure, but if you don't get a LP you can go to Skygarden for free..

I even went to see a movie with the pass. They have drinks and food at the theatre! It can be a fun night out.

I think if you analyze things and you will break even anyway, get it. Then you can visit some other places if you have the stamina. For sure, I will not be going back to the Tower of London again any time soon but I am glad I did and I am glad I did it with the pass. In the end, I think I did some 100 euros more than I got the pass for, but that was in 10 days.

doug_stallings

***Let me clarify because I was imprecise. You can get a VISITOR OYSTER CARD with a London Pass. You cannot buy it from a machine in London; it must be purchased prior to arrival. And you can't buy a regular oyster card in advance if you don't live in the UK. I consider that an advantage because you don't have to stand in line at a machine in Heathrow on arrival (assuming you want to take the Tube to your hotel). But there's a real question about whether a Visitor Oyster Card is even the best alternative. The OP might be better off with a 7-day Travel Card for a 6-day trip. You can't load a 7-day Travel Card onto a Visitor Oyster Card, which you can with a regular oyster card. For overseas visitors, the main concern is always being able to either get cash or use their credit card reliably in a machine. I don't know the definitive answer here.***

JamilaZ

I plan to take a hired car to the hotel and am staying close to a tube stop. Before I had a kid, I took the tube frequently but then after that, I did not take kid and stroller into trains for convenience. I may take a mix of Ubers/Taxi and train. So if I buy that rail card that gives the 2for1 offer, that allow access to the tube too per what janisj wrote above? I want to make this trip as convenient as possible and not go pick up anything at a booth that is not right by my hotel.

We arrive March 24 and depart April 1. Essentially that is 7 full days and half of the first day.

Draft plan is changeable depending on mood and weather:

Sunday: Arrive around 10 AM. Get to hotel by 1 or 2 PM. I am thinking if weather is nice, maybe do bus tour because teen will enjoy that plus live commentary. It would be a nice introduction plus shows a lot that we will not have time to go into or by foot such as the different neighborhoods, St. Paul's Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, Parliament,etc.

Monday: Kensington Palace, High Teat at Orangery (or somewhere close) and Victoria & Albert Museum; Harrods/Knightsbridge browsing if time
Tuesday, Westminister Abbey (tour with Verger)/Banqueting House; Tower of London & jewels; Skygarden
Wednesday: London Bridge Experience and London Tombs; Hampton Court Palace
Thursday: British Museum or or others
Friday: Bus tour to Oxford, Stratford-Upon-Avon and Warwick Castle.
Saturday: Relax; shopping, perhaps Charles Dickens House, Churchill War Rooms other things that appeal to teen
Sunday: more of the same; may visit family.

There was also an attraction I read about on this forum where you go to an older house and it's set up as if the inhabitants just left. I have to search for that. I think my teen would enjoy it. Not sure if that's on the London Pass.

It seems that Historic Palace Membership at 105 GBP is a great overall price since it includes 2 adults and the 13-year-old, and then we pay for the other stuff we want to do a la carte. The prices on the 2for1 website seem slightly higher than what the website says.

AJPeabody

If a pass can be break even with a little planning, it is no advantage. Last fall we did our London touring with the ordinary oyster card (less than 5 minutes in line) for me because my contactless credit card failed (cracked internal circuit), while my wife used her contactless credit card, so no oyster card for her.

The visitor pretty colored oyster card has a fee to mail it, a 5 pound nonrefundable deposit, and no functional advantage over the ordinary oyster card. The ordinary oyster card gets your 5 pounds returned if you deactivate it. Heathrow had two big banks of machines for buying cards and getting refunds and no significant waits. Get your card then (the machines take credit cards for payment) and hop onto the Piccadilly line and you are into London for a pittance.

But I would recommend having a contactless credit card. The only drawback is that each rider needs a different card. Capital One gave us two cards with different numbers for the same account. Both worked until I sat on mine. Then get 7 day London travel cards at a railway station (there are a bunch of them and they all are on the tube) and save money with the 2 for 1 deals, which cover a lot more than the tourist oriented London Pass. You can download and print 2 for 1's at home before you go, show the travel card, and pay at the door. Having only 3 people means the kid won't benefit, but if I remember correctly, kids get in for reduced prices anyway. And the best museums are free entry.

bilboburgler

"a hired car", I'm assuming you don't mean you will hire a car but are instead hiring a car and driver. A car in central London for seven days is as much use as a ladder to a fish.

JamilaZ

bilboburgler: I mean I will book an car to pick us up from airport via Just Airports and drop us off at the hotel.

Thanks for the tip Mr. Peapody. What is a "contactless credit card?"

AJPeabody

Contactless is the kind of card that you put against the sensor instead of sliding a magnetic strip or inserting the chip end into a slot. The back of a contactless credit card will have a symbol, which I will try to copy here:

https://www.google.com/search?q=univ...ss+card+symbol

or a variation. Mine has just the oval and arcs. In London, the tube entry and exit gates had a big yellow circle where you touched the contactless card or the oyster card and the gate opened. You did it to get in, and again to get out. When you exit, the central computer figures out your fare and deducts it from the oyster or saves the charge for your credit card. At the end of the day or the end of the week, the computer figures the minimum charge and sends it to your credit card company. The oyster card is contactless and the computer can cover more things, but the principle is the same. More and more locals use contactless rather than oyster due to irs simplicity.

The payment/refund machines in the tube stations also have the big yellow pad, so you can add money (via coins, bills, or credit card) to an oyster card or get a refund. There are always roving workers to help you with problems or give advice. Everything is made very easy. Lines are fast and usually short.

janisj

You are probably talking about https://www.dennissevershouse.co.uk

It would not be on the LP . . . and I personally would not plan what I did based on what's covered by the LP - or you'll end up in a lot of second tier/schlocky sites and miss some truly top tier ones.

JamilaZ

janisj - No, i'm not planning the trip around LP. I know what I want to see and have been comparing costs of ways to see it.

caroltravels

Check out the opening times. Many close at 6-ish but The Shard is open later. We would have gone but our feet gave out!