BootsnAll Travel Community

When I went to London the other day--in the middle of the Christmas rush, being slightly late and in a hurry as always--I nearly collided with a crunch-up of passengers at one of the ticket barriers. Can these idiots never figure out to have their tickets ready to feed through the slot?

Actually, no. But this time it wasn't their fault. the slot had been sealed with brightly coloured tape informing us that the ticket gate was for OYSTER CARD HOLDERS ONLY

I shall leave the rant aside: buying a combined travelcard is still the cheapest option for out-of-towners. But it prompted me to look up oystercards on the web and I was shocked to find that single paper tickets for the tube cost a lot more. However, from what I can see, one day travelcards are still the best option if you carry out several journeys but are not staying long enough for a period ticket (one week and up).

It looks like a good idea to buy a pay-as-you-go oystercard at the station if you are in London for a few days, but what are peoples' experiences with this?

As for me, I definitely want to be able to breeze through that exclusive ticket gate in future!

Yep, Oyster Cards are cheaper if you use them for single journies or on the Bus (fyi, bus travel without an Oyster Card is going up to £2 in January!)

You can pick up an Oyster Card from your local Underground Station...doesn't take long to do, it's been ages since I've done mine so I can't remember if you have to fill in your address..but I have seen out-of-towners getting one so it shouldn't be a problem...

I think you have to pay either £3 or £4 for your Oyster Card and then you can top up with cash or buy a week or a month travelcard on it...

Be aware of what Zones you need. Central London is always going to be Zone 1...but if you want to go further afield it goes up a Zone until you get right on the outskirts of London which is Zone 6.

Obviously Zone 1 travelcards are the most expensive but if you only want Zone 1 it shouldn't be too bad...

Oyster Cards are quite handy to use, very easy to use and easy to top-up...

Me and my boyfriend got oyster cards when we were in london. We only had it for a week but it was so worth it we discovered after travelling for a week using paper tickets!! Especially if you are going to the airport or live out of the central area. It was 3pounds for the card which you get back when you return the card and you dont have to fill anything out.
Oh and i so agree with you about the intense stupidity of ppl at train stations!! Walking ever so slowly and taking up the whole aisle as well as not being prepared for ticket barriers that are so obviously coming up!!

Here is a funny note on this topic: 0.26km Tube trip is most expensive on earth

...a 43-second jaunt on the Piccadilly Line between Covent Garden and Leicester Square: 43 seconds covering 0.26km for a whopping £4.

That's 1.5 pence per metre...easily topping the next most expensive short hop on the Tokyo Metro which comes in at £1.51. In New York, in contrast, "a subway ride costs £1.07, and in Rome just 67 pence and allows unlimited rides on tubes and buses for 75 minutes".

quote:

You can pick up an Oyster Card from your local Underground Station

One can also pick up an Oyster Card on the net, as I did last week:
1) go to http://www.visitbritaindirect.com/ and select your country
2) click the Oyster Card button
3) pay

They will send you a pre-charged card in the post! It is so much better than queuing...

Be aware however that the Oyster card does not cover all train journeys in the outer zones - know your coverage otherwise you could be liable for a fine!

Trips by train are not yet covered anyway, as far as I know. Apparently, you can only use your oyster card for trips between London Bridge and New Cross (Zone 2) if you have a seasonal ticket, despite the touch-in/touch-out points. So if you take the train (as opposed to the tube), a travelcard may be the better option. (I know this because travelling from central London to New X by tube is a pain, and I always take the train)

The only thing about Oyster cards I didn;t like is that they are not valid for the Trains, unless you have a "week travel card" paid for specific zones in your Oyster
If you have a Pay as you go Oyster card, you can't make use of any train....

In addition to all the reasons above, I like the Oyster card for the the swipe-&-go convenience, & the not-having-to-fish-paper-card-out-of-pocket convenience.

hey gang,

Which card / ticket makes more sense to use for 2 days within zones 1-2 ?

For just 2 days, I'd probably go with daily travel cards. Once your fares amount to the same, the OC automatically charges the travel card-equivalent anyway. But if you think you'll travel less often, picking up an OC at the newsagents may be a better deal. The 3 quid deposit is refundable (but not any surplus money you charged it with).

It's not a problem in zones 1-2 (unless you want to go to New Cross for some reason) but remember that the OC doesn't work on trains. The travel card does.

thanks!