Oyster card- London

Just a reminder to those of you planning to visit London in the near
future- think about getting an Oyster card. Those who live in London and
use the tube and buses etc. know about this already. I ordered mine by
post, and used it for the first time this morning- no problem. It's
really quite cool, and of course is cheaper for single journeys. Daily
travelcard is the same I think, but the 'capping' is neat. That is, you
only get charged for individual journeys until you make enough that the
travelcard would be cheaper, at which point it's capped.

www.tfl.gov.uk/oyster

--
David Horne- http://www.davidhorne.net
usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk
http://homepage.mac.com/davidhornecomposer http://soundjunction.org

David Horne, _the_ chancellor of the duchy of besses o' th' barn and
prestwich tesco 24h offy wrote:
Just a reminder to those of you planning to visit London in the near
future- think about getting an Oyster card. Those who live in
London and use the tube and buses etc. know about this already. I
ordered mine by post, and used it for the first time this morning-
no problem. It's really quite cool, and of course is cheaper for
single journeys. Daily travelcard is the same I think, but the
'capping' is neat. That is, you only get charged for individual
journeys until you make enough that the travelcard would be
cheaper, at which point it's capped.

www.tfl.gov.uk/oyster

The One-day Travelcard is more expensive than the capping on a
Pay-as-you-go Oyster, though the Travelcard is also valid on National
Rail services, which Oyster isn't generally. For example, an off-peak
Zones 1-2 One-day Travelcard is GBP 4.90, whereas Oyster is capped at
GBP 4.40.

--
Richard J.

Richard J. wrote:

David Horne, _the_ chancellor of the duchy of besses o' th' barn and
prestwich tesco 24h offy wrote:
Just a reminder to those of you planning to visit London in the near
future- think about getting an Oyster card. Those who live in
London and use the tube and buses etc. know about this already. I
ordered mine by post, and used it for the first time this morning-
no problem. It's really quite cool, and of course is cheaper for
single journeys. Daily travelcard is the same I think, but the
'capping' is neat. That is, you only get charged for individual
journeys until you make enough that the travelcard would be
cheaper, at which point it's capped.

www.tfl.gov.uk/oyster

The One-day Travelcard is more expensive than the capping on a
Pay-as-you-go Oyster, though the Travelcard is also valid on National
Rail services, which Oyster isn't generally. For example, an off-peak
Zones 1-2 One-day Travelcard is GBP 4.90, whereas Oyster is capped at
GBP 4.40.

So it makes sense all round then.

One minor quibble is that the acceptance of Oyster is hard to find out
at stations. I'd read about this already in another newsgroup, but
experienced it first hand today at Liverpool Street.

"Can I use Oyster at Ilford?"- question to some at London Underground.
"I don't know- ask up at the main station"
"Can I use Oyster at Ilford?"- question to someone at main station
"I don't know. Ask at platform 16"
"Can I use Oyster at Ilford?"- question to someone at platform 16
"No. I don't think so. Ask at the underground.

So, I bought a ticket, and when I got to Ilford- they had Oyster set
up...

--
David Horne- http://www.davidhorne.net
usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk
http://homepage.mac.com/davidhornecomposer http://soundjunction.org

"Richard J." wrote in message
...

The One-day Travelcard is more expensive than the capping on a
Pay-as-you-go Oyster, though the Travelcard is also valid on National Rail
services, which Oyster isn't generally.

Season tickets bought on Oyster are valid, but it can't be used for single
journey tickets or "capped" one-day travelcards on most national rail
routes. Pain in the bum for those, like me, who live in parts of London
served by national rail rather than the tube.

Alan Harrison

On Mon, 30 Jan 2006 17:06:18 +0000,
(David Horne, _the_ chancellor of the duchy of besses o' th' barn and
prestwich tesco 24h offy) wrote:

Just a reminder to those of you planning to visit London in the near
future- think about getting an Oyster card. Those who live in London and
use the tube and buses etc. know about this already. I ordered mine by
post, and used it for the first time this morning- no problem. It's
really quite cool, and of course is cheaper for single journeys. Daily
travelcard is the same I think, but the 'capping' is neat. That is, you
only get charged for individual journeys until you make enough that the
travelcard would be cheaper, at which point it's capped.

www.tfl.gov.uk/oyster

So, how does it work for the casual visitor to London.
Do you just go up to the counter at the Tube station
and ask for the equivalent of the old 1,2 or 3 day travel card?

A casual visitor will have to get an Oyster card (£3 deposit) at the
tube station and load it as pre-pay. The card will then automatically
take care of the capping.

You can still buy (paper) travelcards over the counter but they are
full price. The range has changed slightly - eg no weekend card now.
Weekly and longer can go on Oyster but not short period ones.

You can get the deposit back (and any unused credit) but you have to
apply in writing. They send you a cheque.

irwell wrote:

On Mon, 30 Jan 2006 17:06:18 +0000,
(David Horne, _the_ chancellor of the duchy of besses o' th' barn and
prestwich tesco 24h offy) wrote:

Just a reminder to those of you planning to visit London in the near
future- think about getting an Oyster card. Those who live in London and
use the tube and buses etc. know about this already. I ordered mine by
post, and used it for the first time this morning- no problem. It's
really quite cool, and of course is cheaper for single journeys. Daily
travelcard is the same I think, but the 'capping' is neat. That is, you
only get charged for individual journeys until you make enough that the
travelcard would be cheaper, at which point it's capped.

www.tfl.gov.uk/oyster

So, how does it work for the casual visitor to London.
Do you just go up to the counter at the Tube station
and ask for the equivalent of the old 1,2 or 3 day travel card?

Just go to website. You order it online, and it arrives in the post.
Next time you're in London, just use it- no need to go to the ticket
counter. I've also set up automatic top-up.

--
David Horne- http://www.davidhorne.net
usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk
http://homepage.mac.com/davidhornecomposer http://soundjunction.org

I'm afraid you can't have 3-days travelcard on Oyster, the shortest is 7-days, then monthly.
IMHO there is no deposit when buying first Oyster with 7-days travelcard (and registering is optional then).
What is a hint: you get sometimes huge discounts in some of the museums for Outer, but you have to ask specifically at
the museum counter, i.e. madame Tussaud's is 2 for 1, which saves you 23 GBP, ask also at London ZOO, Aquarium, IMAX at
Science Museum, etc.
JaC

David Horne wrote:

Just go to website. You order it online, and it arrives in the post.

Sadly, the website only accepts UK addresses (at least it complains about
a German postcode) when trying to create a login.

.... Martin

Martin Bienwald wrote:

David Horne wrote:

Just go to website. You order it online, and it arrives in the post.

Sadly, the website only accepts UK addresses (at least it complains about
a German postcode) when trying to create a login.

... Martin

Alas, I think you'd be forced into getting on at a travel centre- here's
a list.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/ftt_tic_tfl.asp

--
David Horne- http://www.davidhorne.net
usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk
http://homepage.mac.com/davidhornecomposer http://soundjunction.org