How easy is it to get refunded left over monies you've deposited on the Oyster Card - there's the mandatory 3 quid deposit and then the funds you put in to cover ticket prices.

A friend told me at the ticket window they would only refund the 3 quid deposit and then fill out form either online or mail it then get a cheque in the post.

If the cheque thing is correct then an American say would get the cheque for a few quid at home and basically it would be useless. If credit to credit card maybe it would be easier to refund it.

Me i keep my Oyster Card because i'm always planning to return to London and use it again. But for the occasional tourist i see getting TravelCards for the time you're going to be there may be better perhaps than diddling with Oyster Card due to iffy refund - or you'd have to calculate your advance deposit, etc.

Plus i believe with printed TravelCards you get the 2 for 1 offer at many sights and not so with Oyster.

Anyone get the refund? thanks

Sooo, when you load a 7 day travel card onto an oyster card (no deposit necessary) you do not get the 2for1 deals as you have no proof of a travel card?

thereyet

that's what i read in other posts on Fodors recently

If you buy the Oyster card from a ticket seller do they give you a reciept that could then be used for 2for1?

thereyet

I wish people would check the website

<<< Can I use an oyster card?

You are able to use Oyster cards that are issued in conjunction with:

1. Freedom passes
2. Travelcards - weekly, monthly or yearly. However your Oyster card MUST be accompanied by your Record Card that proves the purchase of a Travelcard which is valid for the date of your visit.

Please note that Oyster Pre-Pay, and Single/Return tickets bought for travel by London Underground/tube only are NOT valid for use with this offer. >>>

www.2for1entry.co.uk/faq.aspx#2

Present your Oyster with the credit card receipt for your purchase of a 7-day Travelcard (a Record Card is only issued for monthly and longer season tickets*).

If you don't want to leave any residual value on your Oyster, plan on running it out the day before you leave. Then you can precisely calculate how much to top up in order to come out to 0£.

And quit stressing.

* http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/May2007.pdf Page 14, Section 6.6.3

PQ: You are wrong about a 7-day travel card not being valid for 2 for 1 specials.

The threads you read either were incorrect or you are mixing up shorter travel cards/PAYG w/ weekly travel cards loaded on oysters . . . . .

In February, a friend took a group of 6 girls and his wife to London...he purchased 8 oyster cards and on the day he left gave me the cards to refund them.

I went to a clerk at Victoria and she grimaced, said it was a lot of work but then went about refunding all 8 of them....there was about £4.60 left on all of them so each had a value of £7.60...I got back the money in british currency..no problem to me as I do visit London often but yes they are indeed refundable but there is some paper work involved which if there is a queue at a station might distress the people waiting on the queue.....

xyz123 - thanks - it seems for the one time London traveler Oyster Cards, for a few days visit may be more hassle than their benefits as per refunds. Yes you can calculate down to the pound and just leave it but that's another reason i may be tempted to just buy paper TravelCards if i know i will realize the value of it.

The main benefit of an Oyster Card is that it qualifies the user for reduced (often <u>greatly</u> reduced) single fares.

For example: with a paper Travelcard, an off-peak single from Heathrow to Piccadilly will cost &pound;4; the Oyster fare is &pound;2.

The fact that the Oyster will &quot;cap&quot; each day at 50p less than a one-day Travelcard is so much gravy.

What I think is the neat thing about oyster PAYG is that you don't have to make a decision at the start of each day..you know should I get a one day travelcard...should I get a one day bus pass whatever....you just start going and doing and the great tfl computer in the sky or wherever it is will figure out what you have spent and the most advantageous whatever...let's say, for example, you start out the day with a tube trip to central London and end up walking about, seeing a matinee, having dinner and going back on bus. Oyster card total outlay &pound;2.50 (&pound;1.50 first tube trip &pound;1 bus trip back)...if I was not on oyster, I might decide to buy a one day travelcard (&pound;5.10 which still beats cash fares of &pound;4 for tube and &pound;2 for bus)....or perhaps an all day bus pass (&pound;3.50 but then I am committed to buses the whole day and what if I decide to use the tube...or what if I'm in a hurry to get back and decide I want the tube to go back or.....)..the beauty of it is its very flexibility to let thing develop as opposed to feeling compelled to make a decision early in the morning and feel sort of bound to follow through on whatever that decision was.