I know there have been a zillion threads on this but .... just want to check if what I think I know is actually correct.

You buy an oyster card for £3 and "load" it with the amount of money you think you are going to spend. Then they automatically deduct the least expensive fare for where and when you are using it. Yes?

So if I bought one at the tube station at Heathrow (they do sell them there?) and used it on a Friday before 9:30 am to go to central London they would deduct the £4.2 fare. Then if I used it several more times within Zone 1 during that day and then on Saturday and Sunday they'd deduct the correct amount, capping it at the price of a one day travelcard if I used it several times. So I don't need to tell them I want a one day travelcard or not?

How long do you have before an Oyster card and/or the money on it expire?

Can you use credit cards to buy an Oyster card at the Heathrow tube station?

Thanks

I am not expert on Oyster fares, but yes, you can use a credit card to buy it at Heathrow , and you can ask the person in the sales booth which fare combination is the best for your expected use. They will sell you what you need.

It will never cost more than the equivalent one day Travelcard - but it will always calculate the lowest total of fares for that day.

For example a 1 day peak time Zone 1-6 Travelcard would cost £14.80 but if you used Oystercard PAYG to travel from LHR then spent the rest of the day in zone 1-2 it would cost at most £7.20 (peak zone 1-2) plus £4.20 - ie £11.40. If you get into central London after 9:30am it would then drop to £5.60 + £4.20 ie £9.80

BTW if you asked for a 1 day Travelcard you'd get one on a paper card rather than Oystercard

Yes, isabel, you understand it correctly: and the money and card stay valid indefinitely (so you could leave some cash on it, take it home and keep it for next time if you wanted). Or, if you were staying long enough to make it worth your while, you could put a 7-day travelcard for zones 1 and 2 on to the Oyster and just add in a bit of cash for the add-on fares to and from Heathrow.

You have it and if the first trip is after 0930 on a weekday, the fare from Heathrow would be £2.40 and if the rest of the day was spent in zone 1, each tube ride would cost £1.80 each reaching a cap of £7.50....if all you do is use buses the rest of the day the cap would be £6.30 calculated as £2.40 for the off peak trip in from Heathrow and £3.90 the one day cap for buses only...the beauty of the system is you need do nothing...all the permutations supposedly are built into the computers...you just remember to touch in and touch out on the tube and touch in on the bus!

From the TfL site:

For visitor Oyster cards:

<i>Does my Oyster card for visitors ever expire?
No, it does not have an expiry date. The pay as you go credit will sit on your card until you are ready to use it again.</i>

And for regular Oyster cards:

<i>Is there a time limit for using Oyster to pay as you go?
No, if you use Oyster to pay as you go, it does not have an expiry date. It will sit on your card until you are ready to use it again. However, if you do not use for two years it will stop working, even if you still have money on it to pay as you go. If you wish to use the balance or, in the case of a registered Oyster card, have it returned to you, you will need to contact the Oyster helpline.</i>

Hi isabel

You can also cash-in your Oyster card at Heathrow if you don't plan to return to London some time soon.

On that last journey to Heathrow you can actually use part of that 3 pound 'credit' you paid for the card originally. I think I read somewhere that the total value remaining on the card needs to be under 5 pounds.

If you can't be bothered cashing the card in, there is a large plastic container you can toss it into, and all money remaining on those cards is donated to charity. Di

Usually, when you touch your Oyster on the pad, the machine will show you how much money you have left.

Can I chime in here?
We will be in London for 4 days with one return to Heathrow, oyster or 7 day travelecard?

Judy....for 4 days I would go with PAYG on oyster...as of now (there will surely be a fare increase on 01 January), a 7 day zone 1 & 2 costs £25.70....your add ons to and from Heathrow would be £2.60 off peak (after 0930 weekdays and outside 1600-1900) otherwise a tad more but PAYG would cap on the days you're in zone 1 & 2 at £5.70 and the first day (the day coming in from Heathrow again if after 0930 on a weekday or all weekend the cap would be £7.50..just do the arithmetic, clearly somewhat cheaper for 4 days to go with PAYG (always remembering if you don't reach the cap for that day, you pay the lesser amount and any day you just use buses, the cap is £3.90)....personally I think 4 days is a clear win for PAYG...5 days is a lot closer (PAYG probably still wins but not by all that wide a margin)...6 days or more is clearly a 7 day trvelcard on oyster.

But somebody will probably steer the discussion here (I won't) to the whole question of the 2 for 1's available with media from national rail companies as opposed to tfl.

xyz, thanks so much. PAYG for us.

I also learned that if you plan to turn back your Oyster card (as I did) and get back your 3 pound deposit, it's best to use the same method of payment all along. Buy it with cash, top it up with cash, get your deposit and balance back in cash. If you mix cash and credit card, you fill out some kind of form and wait many weeks for your money.
Have a great time!

i will be there for 7 days with my husband in november. what is the difference between the regular oyster card vs the visitor card?

http://visitorshop.tfl.gov.uk/english/ticket-types.htm

The 7-day travelcard will almost always be better value, unless you're only going to travel by bus or make fewer than two tube journeys a day. Even then, the savings may not be that great.

I second what PatrickLondon says, and do not underestimate the value of convenience. Being able to travel about without having to figure out zones and fares is worth something to me, even if there is little or no fare savings in dollars/pounds.

As I understand it, the Oyster card for Visitors is pre-purchased and has a &pound;2 non-refundable activation fee. It's a "pretty" card with London monuments illustrated.

The regular Oyster is what you buy in London, plain blue in color and has the refundable &pound;3 deposit.

And, of course, the difference noted above in expiration.

If I'm incorrect in any of this, trust I'll be corrected!

And, BNYCgal, there's one other difference between regular and visitors Oyster cards. Again from the TfL website:

<i>Can I add a 7 Day Travelcard to my Oyster card for visitors?
No. You can only add money to your Oyster card for visitors, to pay as you go.</i>

"We will be in London for 4 days with one return to Heathrow, oyster or 7 day travelecard?"

Whenever "we" is involved the first question to be asked is "are you going to use the 2-4-1 offers on daysoutguide.com". If the answer is yes then you need a way to get to a train station in order to buy paper Travelcards with the "crows feet" logo on them.

For 4 days there's little difference in 7 day Travelcard and 4 one day Travelcards - the former will be cheaper if you travel before 9:30am weekdays, the latter will be cheaper if you don't.

I would get an Osytercard each at LHR and put some PAYG money on it to use generally. THEN on the day BEFORE using the 2-4-1 offers go to a train station and buy an appropriate 1 day Travelcard (generally zone 1-2) to use the next day instead of your Travelcard.

If you intend going to Hampton Court you'd need a zone 1-6 Travelcard so it might just be better to buy a train ticket that day as the easiest way is by train and train tickets get you the offers