I have heard that a oyster card or travel card is best for travel on the London Tube. Do you agree? What is the difference between the two? How exactly does it work? We are five-- 2 adults and children aged 6, 12, & 13. Do the children receive a discount? Thanks.

There are many threads on this topic. Simply type "Oyster card" in the search box above.

Here are two threads you may find useful:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ter-card.cfm?7

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...d-377668-2.cfm

NEVER pay cash-per-ride.

There are some concessions for children:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14312.aspx

"I have heard that a oyster card or travel card is best for travel on the London Tube."

1) It isn't Oystercard or Travelcard, as you can have a Travelcard on an Oystercard.

2) With multiple adults in the group a paper Travelcard bought at a train station booking office in central London allows you to use the offers on www.dayoutguide.com

3) Children under 11 travel for free whwn with an adult, over 11 they need either a zip card or buy daily Travelcards (the latter is easier)

I have read the posts and looked at the oystercard web site and I am still confused. It sounds like we need a travel card on an oyster card-- correct? (not really sure why though?) When I look at the prices, do I pay for both of these cards (and are there physically two cards?)? We just want a card for zones 1-2.

* It looks like my 6 year old is free as long as he is with an adult and needs no card-- correct?

* For my 12 & 13 year old, I should have ordered them cards already-- our trip is within the week. Per alanrow, I now have to buy them daily travelcards-- correct? Are there limitations on the travelcard? What is the disadvantage of not having an oystercard on it?

* And for the adults, can I get an oyster card/travel card?

Thanks for helping me sort this out...

alanRow, I have tried to get to this web site several times, but can't access it.

I'll help you with the first part of your question. The fares for under 18's are a maze of different regs which perhaps somebody else can explain. As I don't travel with kids, it's all irrelevant to me. Anyway..

An oyster card is a card that is the size and shape of a cdredit card with a chip imbeded in it. It is the medium. You can load various things on it. As a matter of fact you can load up to three things on it at once.

1. A period travelcard. Usually for tourists this would be a 7 day travelcard. It is valid for the 7 days from its start (you can tell the clerk when you want it to start). It works exactly the way a paper 7 day travelcard works which you can get from a national rail station (there go those nasty 2 for 1's again. Let's leave them aside). As such, it is good for unlimited travel within the zones of validity. For most tourists this would be the two most cdentral London zones 1 & 2.

2. You can load a second period travelcard on. So if you're going to be in London for 2 weeks there is no 2 week travelcard. You wuld load a 7 day travelcard onto the oyster card and then at any time you wish you can load a second 7 day travelcard on to start the day after the first one ends its validity.

3. You can also load onto any oyster card an amount of money called Pay as you go. What is this used for. Well I'll give you the easiest example. Heathrow Airport is in zone 6. I come into London and will be staying for 7 days. I want a 7 day zone 1 & 2 travel card as almost everything I will do will be in zones 1 & 2 (Central London). But what about that morning? I need a valid ticket from zone 6 (Heathrow) till I hit the boundary between zone 3 and zone 2. This is called an extension fare. Currently the oyster card fare for a trip between zone 3 & zone 6 is £1.30 off peak. So I would need £1.30 at least in my PAYG account on the oyster card along with my zone 1 & 2 7 day travelcard. When I touch in at Heathrow (that is tap the yellow card reader), it is recognized that I have PAYG money...when I tap out at the end of the journey, the computer will recognize the 7 day zone 1 & 2 card and deduct the extension fare from my PAYG account. I do nothing. It is done by the computers.

Now here is the dicey part. If you're going to be in London say for 4 days, it doesn't really pay to get a 7 day travel card. Instead, you have two choices. You can purchase each day a paper travelcard for that day. The off peak zone 1 & 2 card costs £5.70 I believe (this is valid after 0930 on weekdays and all weekend. Of course it sure beats paying £4 for each single ride on the tube. That card has unlimited validity in zone 1 & 2 for that day. Done.

But what if your entire objective for that day is to make a trip from your hotel into central London and come back at the end of the day? Well obviously, you might think, I go with the one day travelcard as the alternative is two single cash fares for £8 total. No, no, no. This is where oyster pay as you go comes in.

Each trip on the tube in zone 1 on the tube as of today is £1.80 deducted from the PAYG account. Fine you go and come back. Your outlay for the day £3.60.

But wait a second you say. I want to go and come and then go to the theatre that evening and come back. So wouldn't that cost me more on PAYG. I mean that would be £1.80 4 times and that's £7.20. The answer is NO. Because th PAYG system will cap at the same price as a one day travelcard. So the two trips described above cost you £3.60. Your trip back to central London is £1.80 for a total of £5.40. The next tube trip costs you 30p as you would then reach the cap. If you use the tube any more, each succeeding trip would be free.

In other words, you don't have to make a decision each morning of what to do. You just tap in and tap out. The computer will figure ut from your fares the cheapest one day travelcard that is appropriate to the travelling you do each day. And as an added bonus, if you only use the buses that day..well each bus ride is £1.20 but it would cap at £3.90 which used to be the price of an all day paper bus pass but which no longer exists.

I hope I made it as clear as possible as the question of oyster card vs. travelcard comes up here all the time. Just think of the oyster card as the medium upon which various London transportation alternatives can be placed.

Unfortunately as noted here, the kids fares are more complicated as are the 2 for 1 attractions where they don't take oyster cards.

Can't explain all those in 500 words or less/.

BTW some of the fares indicated here will be going through the roof on 02 January and while it's bad enough for visitors, it'll really hurt locals.

xyz123, that is the clearest explanation that anyone has posted. THANK YOU!!!!

Question: Can I get an oyster card on the spot? Can the children get an oyster card on the spot (I don't think so from what I read although I don't understand why they wouldn't be able to do so if I am able to do so. But perhapsI can't get an oyster card either??).

Yes you get the oyster card right on the spot in an underground station booking hall (as it is called). You tell the clerk what you want and he or she does the rest.

As far as the kids are concerned, as I've said, the fare structure for the kids iver convoluted. For some kids, I think the 12 and 13 year olds, you need to apply for a picture oyster card which I don't think can be done on the spot. For those under, they ride for free if accompanied by you but I think you have to get some sort of ticket so they can pass through the gates but don't hold me to that. It is all explained on the tfl web site I think or maybe some nice Londoner can explain this better than I can!

Here's what I did this past summer. I travel to London at least once and sometimes twice a year, so I have a PAYG Oyster that I top up as needed. You can return it at Heathrow on your departure and get your deposit back, but I never do - I just keep it for the next time. My husband has the same, although he is in London less often than I am.

This past summer we took the kids, then aged 12 and 9. We stayed in Hampstead and mostly used the tube. The age of the children does make a difference here. My daughter, then 9, was free. All we had to do when we entered a tube station was find an attendant who let her through the barrier. No problem at all.

My son, 12, was not free, but every day we bought him a one-day ticket; I think it was about two pounds and took him everywhere we went for the day. We were there for five days and did this at the local tube station every morning.

I'm not sure if this was the best method, but this is what was recommended by a tube employee. It worked well for us. The whole system is good, but it is far more complicated than it needs to be, I think!

Enjoy your trip!

Thanks TaniaP!

Oops spelking mistook

www.daysoutguide.com

Put basically you can save the whole cost of your travel in London by visiting a couple of the sites on the list - but you must buy the Travelcard at a train station booking office in London. Anything else you visit means even more savings for you

I'd point out that a 7 day Travelcard costs less than 5 one day Travelcards - and hence 5 days of Oystercard PAYG use