London Underground Oystercard

[indie_chick5]

Can someone please help with my enquiry? It might sound a daft question, but I am travelling to London in April and I haven't been in ages. We need to get the tube, obviously, to get around. I am looking at getting an Oyster card, but the zone fares confuse me. If I buy an Oyster card online with say, £20 on it, do I literally just swipe it in and out of each underground station? Could someone also please advise roughly how much I would need to put on it? We are staying for 4 days, located in Tottenham Court Road and obviously will be travlling around a bit, but not far outside of central London (just the usual museums, markets and parks). Thank you for any advice you can give.

[Canary42]

As an occasional visitor to London myself I can certainly recommend an Oyster card.

Yes, you swipe at the station you enter then again at the one you leave.

The system first debits your account by the maximum fare from the station of entry (since at that stage it can't tell where you will exit) and then refunds the difference when you swipe out on exit.

£20 sounds a bit on the light side to me, but someone more conversant with London fares will probably give better information.

[indie_chick5]

Thanks Canary, I understand a little better already, thanks to you explaining it taking the highest fare and then refunding it because it doesn't know where you'll come out. I find website don't put it in layman's term like that, and as a novice it leaves me baffled!

[dzug2]

If you stay in zones 1 and 2 then the maximum amount you will pay each day is £7 off peak. So put £30 on it.

If you need peak hour travel as well then a weekly card at £29.20 would be better than PAYG which would be £8.40 a day.

There's another complicating factor - you say 'I' for some of your post and then switch to 'we' at times. If you are interested in the deals on

http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/

then you need train tickets. These can either be your tickets to/from London (be sure to keep both outward and return portions) OR a travelcard. The travelcard has to be issued at a rail station, not a tube one. Its travel validity is the same

Oyster will not get you 2 for 1.

[indie_chick5]

Ok, so I'll put £30 at least on each card. I am going with my boyfriend - I know we will need a card each. You mention trains - do Oyster cards work on the overground trains? We have our tickets from Cornwall to London already booked...

Also, does any remaining credit stay on your Oyster card indefinitely? Or does the amount expire after, say, 12 months? Thanks.

[rockyracoon]

I would top up your Oyster as you go along, dead simple at the ticket machines, one day all your sightseeing may be walkable (more pleasant than the tube) so you'll have no need to budget for travel that day.

[dzug2]

Oyster cards are valid on all forms of transport - National Rail, London Overground rail, underground rail, DLR, buses, trams. Not sure about river boats - I think there may be a deal on some of them

They never expire but after two years may need revalidating at a ticket office The money will still be there.

[dzug2]

Oh and if you ONLY use buses, the daily cap is lower - a bit over £4 I think

[indie_chick5]

Thanks for all of your answers xx