London transport Oyster card?

There seem to be vastly different fares with London public transport for
cash payment or for holders of a Oyster card.
Is it possible to buy online an Oyster Card (pay as you go) using a
credit card not issued in the UK? Can one have the Oyster card sent to a
German postal address?
Can pay as you go Oyster cards easily be topped up, e.g. at every tube
station?

--
Georg Schwarz http://home.pages.de/~schwarz/
+49 151 11559652

On 3 Feb, 21:23, (Georg Schwarz) wrote:
There seem to be vastly different fares with London public transport for
cash payment or for holders of a Oyster card.
Is it possible to buy online an Oyster Card (pay as you go) using a
credit card not issued in the UK? Can one have the Oyster card sent to a
German postal address?
Can pay as you go Oyster cards easily be topped up, e.g. at every tube
station?

--
Georg Schwarz http://home.pages.de/~schwarz/
+49 151 11559652

George -

Not sure about whether you can have one sent to you, but they are
available and can be topped up from every tube station and many shops
in London. For more info have a look at the Transport For London
website.

David

"davidcfrank" wrote in message
ups.com...
On 3 Feb, 21:23, (Georg Schwarz) wrote:
There seem to be vastly different fares with London public transport for
cash payment or for holders of a Oyster card.
Is it possible to buy online an Oyster Card (pay as you go) using a
credit card not issued in the UK? Can one have the Oyster card sent to a
German postal address?
Can pay as you go Oyster cards easily be topped up, e.g. at every tube
station?

--
Georg Schwarz http://home.pages.de/~schwarz/
+49 151 11559652

George -

Not sure about whether you can have one sent to you, but they are
available and can be topped up from every tube station and many shops
in London. For more info have a look at the Transport For London
website.

I understand that you can have them sent to you but I'm
not sure that I'd advise it.

Oyster fares are only significantly different for single fares.

Surely as a tourist, one will be doing enough travel to be
buying day (or week) tickets?

tim

On Sat, 3 Feb 2007 22:23:30 +0100, (Georg
Schwarz) wrote:

There seem to be vastly different fares with London public transport for
cash payment or for holders of a Oyster card.
Is it possible to buy online an Oyster Card (pay as you go) using a
credit card not issued in the UK? Can one have the Oyster card sent to a
German postal address?

No idea, but I'd've thought it would be pointless, you can buy them in
minutes easily at a tube stop, I bought one at Heathrow T4 the other
week quicker than the guy in front of me bought his travelcard,

Can pay as you go Oyster cards easily be topped up, e.g. at every tube
station?

Yep.

Jim.

On Sun, 4 Feb 2007 10:10:32 -0000, "tim....."
wrote:

Oyster fares are only significantly different for single fares.

Surely as a tourist, one will be doing enough travel to be
buying day (or week) tickets?

But a capped day travelcard is worthwhile as it removes the should I
buy one decision, and a weekly ticket will be an oyster anyway

Jim.

"tim....." writes:

I understand that you can have them sent to you but I'm
not sure that I'd advise it.

can you haven them sent to a non-UK address? If so, could you please
direct me to the appropriate web page?

Oyster fares are only significantly different for single fares.


Surely as a tourist, one will be doing enough travel to be
buying day (or week) tickets?

I think the Oyster Cards caps at 50 pence below a one-day travel card.
I am not sure about three and seven day travelcards though. Anyone knows?

Also, does anyone happen to know whether travel cards (e.g. 3 day or 7 day)
start at 00:00 hours on the first day or only at some later hour in the
morning?
How long does the tube run at night during the week?
I'll be arriving at Luton aiport something like 10:30 PM.
If I take the Easybus into town, will I still be able to use the subway?

Hello, Georg!
You wrote on Sat, 3 Feb 2007 22:23:30 +0100:

GS There seem to be vastly different fares with London public
GS transport for cash payment or for holders of a Oyster card.
GS Is it possible to buy online an Oyster Card (pay as you go)
GS using a credit card not issued in the UK? Can one have the
GS Oyster card sent to a German postal address?
GS Can pay as you go Oyster cards easily be topped up, e.g. at
GS every tube station?

I came across this statement:
"Oyster cards are available to purchase before you leave home
on VisitBritain’s on-line shop: www.visitbritaindirect.com."
I looked at the site quickly and I'm not sure if value can be
added later ("topped up") but there are some attractive features
like automatic adjustment of daily maximum payment.

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not

"Jim Ley" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 4 Feb 2007 10:10:32 -0000, "tim....."
wrote:

Oyster fares are only significantly different for single fares.

Surely as a tourist, one will be doing enough travel to be
buying day (or week) tickets?

But a capped day travelcard is worthwhile as it removes the should I
buy one decision,

Only if the user is absolutely certain that they won't
want to use national rail (and I challenge a tourist who
is deciding what to do on a daily basis to be this sure).

and a weekly ticket will be an oyster anyway

Yep, but he would be best advised to buy this on arrival
rather than arrange for it to be posted. You won't get a
refund on the posted one if for some reason it isn't needed.

tim




Jim.

"Georg Schwarz" wrote in message
...
"tim....." writes:

I understand that you can have them sent to you but I'm
not sure that I'd advise it.

can you haven them sent to a non-UK address? If so, could you please
direct me to the appropriate web page?

Other than the one which seems to require a valid UK postcode,
no.

There have been comments that tfl have in the past posted
paper travel cards abroad. Perhaps this feature was so little
used that they abandoned it.


Oyster fares are only significantly different for single fares.


Surely as a tourist, one will be doing enough travel to be
buying day (or week) tickets?

I think the Oyster Cards caps at 50 pence below a one-day travel card.

It does yes. Provided that you never want to use 'national
rail' (i.e that bit of London's railways that isn't the underground).

You will also have to take your oystercard back for a refund
of your 3 pound deposit.

On balance, for a few days, I would just suffer the extra 50p
(YMMV).

I am not sure about three and seven day travelcards though. Anyone knows?

You cannot get a three day card on Oyster.
The seven day one will automatically be issued on osyter
with no deposit required.
I would caution against buying this online before you arrive
in case your plans change. You will not be able to change
what you have bought.

Also, does anyone happen to know whether travel cards (e.g. 3 day or 7
day)
start at 00:00 hours on the first day or only at some later hour in the
morning?

The one and three days cards are 'usually' sold as an off peak
product starting at 09:30 M-F.

How long does the tube run at night during the week?

After midnight.

I'll be arriving at Luton aiport something like 10:30 PM.
If I take the Easybus into town, will I still be able to use the subway?

Which subway is this (and in what sense do you meam "will I
be able to"?

tim

You can buy in advance, but you can also get them at any tube station
and a lot of shops around London as well:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/fares-tick...7/visitors.asp
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/fares-tickets/2007/where.asp

PJW


On Sat, 3 Feb 2007 22:23:30 +0100, (Georg
Schwarz) wrote:

There seem to be vastly different fares with London public transport for
cash payment or for holders of a Oyster card.
Is it possible to buy online an Oyster Card (pay as you go) using a
credit card not issued in the UK? Can one have the Oyster card sent to a
German postal address?
Can pay as you go Oyster cards easily be topped up, e.g. at every tube
station?

--
Georg Schwarz http://home.pages.de/~schwarz/
+49 151 11559652