After reading many posts about the need for a passport size photo for the London travelcard a recent development was buried in a new post. There is no longer a photo ID for the weekly tube pass/travelcard purchased in London. Visitors buy the travelcard/tube pass without any photo needed. Thought this needed to be announced loudly for all!

http://www.transportforlondon.gov.uk...hotocard.shtml

bbkay, you are right, as evidenced by numerous recent posters. Go to this site and download the PDF; you will find the information that since May 2003 a photo is no longer required for a 7-day Travelcard.

http://www.transportforlondon.gov.uk/tfl/ftt_home.shtml

To be precise: a photo is not needed for weekly travelcards in zones 1 and 2. They are requred for the other zones, though.

But as most attractions (including maritime Greenwich) are within these two zones, it doesn't matter for most travellers.

Phil

bbkay and others
thanks for insisting that we pay attention to this information

Wonder what the poor chap who owns all those photo kiosks near the ticket booths in the tube stations is going to do to replce the lost revenue . .

Rich

It's still confusing, though. If one chooses not to download the PDF, but instead checks the page I gave in an earlier post, one could be easily misled about the photocards. Even the PDF states, however, that for some things child photocards are needed......then for some things child photocards are not needed....for some things adult photocards are needed......for other things adult photocards are not needed. Some consistency would be nice.

Confusing is right, Brimham! Early on when a poster reported this, I attempted to verify the info, and the only reference to "no photo" was in the PDF. I can only assume that they are lagging in updating their sites.

I wrote to the good people at Transport For London and pointed out how confusing the photocard thing is. Got a reply today!

What I wrote:

feedback: Your website is very confusing. On the Photocards page, you state that photocards ARE necessary to get Travelcards.

Yet on a PDF form that one can download from your website, it states the exact opposite! Please clarify the photocard policy for me, and also PLEASE update the incorrect information on your website.

If you are in any doubt as to the confusion your website is causing, please see the following travel forum at the well-respected Fodors travel wbsite:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34433063

date: dd/mm/yy

time: hh/mm

last: Moore

submit: Submit


And the reply:

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for your email.

I am sorry if our fares section is confusing with regards to Photocard
requirements. Having reviewed this section I can see that it is conflicting
with our PDF booklet.

I can confirm that Photocards are not required for zones 1 or 2, or zones 1
& 2, adult rate weekly Travelcards. Nor are they necessary for any adult
rate weekly Bus Pass.

They ARE required for any monthly or longer ticket as well as any child rate
tickets (the appropriate Child Rate Photocard should be held). They are also
required for any adult rate weekly Travelcard of different zones to those
mentioned above.

This is a relatively recent change to Photocard policy and it would
therefore appear that the website detail has been overlooked, for which I
apologise. I will get in touch with our Ticket Administration Manager who
will be able to make the appropriate arrangements for updating this
information.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Regards,

Matthew Bland
Transport for London

BrimhamRocks
Is there any advantage to purchasing a 7 day visitor travelcard in advance rather than buying a london travelcard in london?
The visitor card may not be purchased in london but must be bought in advance. The visitor card costs 19.80 pounds which is about the same as a london travel card.

No, there's no real advantage, especially now that you don't need a photo when buying the travelcard in London. Some people like the idea of getting it in advance so there's "one less thing to worry about" after they arrive. But some of us see that strategy as one more thing to worry about before you leave -- ordering, waiting for it to arrive in the mail, making sure you pack it and it's handy when you arrive, etc.

Yep, what Anonymous said.

Good for you, Brimham! I wrote them and got no answer (or maybe my junkmail filter was being overly consciencious).

I find that junk mail filters, for the most part, do their job well. HOWEVER, a few of my incoming real emails have been casualties, as well, so I kinda know how you feel!

hi dga,

I really think this is now about personal preference. As Anon said, some people prefer to have it taken care of before they leave. of course, then some say why have to worry about remembering to bring it.

I will mention that if you do pre-purchase DO NOT go thru the raileurope site or purchase it thru a travel agent(markup costs). Raileurope charges a MANDATORY $15 in S&H. I think they also give you a voucher instead of the card. Agents usually tack on a markup and give you vouchers. This means you have to trade it in when you get to london. For me, that negates any reason for pre-purchasing.

Anon, referred me to the following site which does NOT charge S&H and sends you the actual pass which will arrive about 7 to 10 days before your departure date:

www.ticket-on-line.com

If you are really interested in the cost/vs saving of travelcards vs day passes, and visitor travelcard see the following grid. To make sure we are comparing apples with apples, this applies to:

Central zones 1-2 only
Peak period unrestricted
Adult fares
In GBP(pounds)
all are good for tube and bus
n/a mean Card is not sold
Price under "day pass" is the 1 day pass cost times the # of days

----------Central 1-2 Zones------------
------London------London-----Visitor---
------Day Pass---Travelcard-TravelCard-

1 day---5.10-------n/a---------n/a-----
2 day--10.20-------n/a---------n/a-----
3 day--15.30-------n/a---------13.00---
4 day--20.40-------n/a---------16.20---
5 day--25.50-------n/a---------n/a-----
6 day--30.60-------n/a---------n/a-----
7 day--35.70-------19.60-------19.80---

You can't buy in london any other travelcard but a 7 day travelcard, anything less and you have to buy the individual day passes or carnets(exception they do sell a weekend pass).

The central zone visitor travelcard is sold only in 3,4 or 7 days.

Observations:

Clearly, unless you are planning to be in London less than 4 days, do not listen to anyone saying wait to buy individual day passes or carnets, its much more expensive. And most people use more than 2 carnets or bus tickets a day. If you wait to buy in london and you are going to be there 4 days or more, buy the london 7 day travelcard, it is less expensive than buying 4 individual day passes.

The decision to pre-buy a Visitor Travelcard vs. waiting until you get there has now boiled down to personal preference: They cost about the same and neither requires photocards.

It is now boiled down to two points:

why have to worry about it later or waiting in line to buy it vs. why have to worry about remembering to bring it.