Eenuh Posted December 10, 2013 Posted December 10, 2013 I need some advice. My family is coming over for a visit this weekend, and we will all be meeting up in London. Now we were wondering what would be best to do in terms of tube tickets: can we get some travelcards for the entire weekend, or are Oyster cards an option? Or do you need to order Oyster cards way in advance or something? Basically we want the cheapest option, but I don't know yet how much we will be using the tube. We will be sticking to zone 1 and 2 I think, as the hotel is right at the edge of zone 2, near the Blackwall station (is that train or tube, and can we go on it to get to central London?). We will be needing tickets from Friday afternoon until about Sunday afternoon/evening. Though my family probably won't need tickets for Sunday as they can go into the city by their travel bus I guess. Anyway, it seems that a day off-peak travelcard might be the best option, but I am not sure about this. Can any Londoners help me out to see what the best option is? Not sure if it matters, but there will be 7 of us. =)
The Peeps Posted December 10, 2013 Posted December 10, 2013 I think you can buy oyster cards from any tube station? Travelcards are probably the best option though if it's just a weekend visit.
Emma Posted December 10, 2013 Posted December 10, 2013 For me, the travel card has always worked out cheaper if I'm being touristy and catching the tube loads in one day. I tried it once on an Oyster card and spent way more.
Rummy Posted December 11, 2013 Posted December 11, 2013 (edited) Oystercards, iirc, require a £3 £5 'deposit', too. Apparently it's refundable with the credit, though - http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14631.aspx. I've never known anyone who's tried or done it though, and for some reason I'm mildly wary of them being crap about it(completely baseless). If you forget to touch in/touch out properly with the Oyster it charges the maximum fare, too. As for Blackwall station, that appears to be DLR which counts as part of the Tube network in effect, and seems to be just within zone 2. According to this page the Oyster daily cap out for travel just within zones 1-2 is £7. If it's friday(post 09.30am) to Sunday it'll all be off peak. As you can see though, a day travelcard(non-oyster) is 30p more at £7.30. Iirc buses don't care about Zoning - that could be different these days but I'm sure they never used to. You can jump on the DLR at Blackwall, heading to Bank to get more into London. Tube map is handy seeing what's what travel wise. Should be able to pick up some mini ones at a Tube station somewhere too. There are some planned engineering works this weekend, but shouldn't affect you guys much(luckily just a few stops before Blackwall in the other direction). Edited December 11, 2013 by Rummy
Charlie Posted December 11, 2013 Posted December 11, 2013 I was down in London last month and used an Oyster card. Very easy to do, just top it up and make sure you scan in everywhere. It means you don't have to worry about which zone you're in or you're going to. I'd highly recommend them even for just a weekend. Easy enough to hand back too, go to any ticket office and just return it.
bob Posted December 11, 2013 Posted December 11, 2013 I was under the impression that if you use an oyster card, it made sure that you always got the cheapest fare possible each day (or maybe even 30p cheaper like Rummy said)
Mr-Paul Posted December 11, 2013 Posted December 11, 2013 Yeah, Oyster will never let you pay more than the cost of a day travel card, but I think this is only if you use the underground. If you then use a bus it will charge you on top of that(it has a separate daily cap). So once you've paid the initial cost of an Oyster, it is a much more convenient, and potentially money-saving way to travel around London. If you're guaranteed to be using both the tube and buses, and don't think you'll be coming to London again, a day travel card is probably for you.
Charlie Posted December 11, 2013 Posted December 11, 2013 Yeah, Oyster will never let you pay more than the cost of a day travel card, but I think this is only if you use the underground. If you then use a bus it will charge you on top of that(it has a separate daily cap). So once you've paid the initial cost of an Oyster, it is a much more convenient, and potentially money-saving way to travel around London. If you're guaranteed to be using both the tube and buses, and don't think you'll be coming to London again, a day travel card is probably for you. It's a £5 deposit rather than an up-front cost though. You get your money back.
Mr-Paul Posted December 11, 2013 Posted December 11, 2013 It's a £5 deposit rather than an up-front cost though. You get your money back. If you return the oyster card; I've never seen anyone returning one, then again I'm not a tourist!
Charlie Posted December 11, 2013 Posted December 11, 2013 If you return the oyster card; I've never seen anyone returning one, then again I'm not a tourist! How often do you watch what people are doing at ticket windows? I returned the one I got when I was down last month because I have another one but just forgot to bring it with me.
Eenuh Posted December 11, 2013 Author Posted December 11, 2013 Hmmm to be honest getting oyster cards for everyone seems like a lot of faffing about, especially with deposits and all that. Not sure that is going to work well, as my family will be leaving before me (so I can't get the deposit back to them). I think I will get travelcards, as it just seems to be a bit more convenient. Paying 30p more or however much it is, isn't an awful lot of money so I am sure my family will be fine with that. Plus if we can use it on the bus as well that will be nice. Thanks for the help all! =)
Ashley Posted December 11, 2013 Posted December 11, 2013 Yeah I think going for travelcards might be best. You may want to get an Oyster card in the future (I'm trying to get you to come to London more :p) but for the weekend they'll be fine. Plus its handy when travelling around with family to be able to hop on and off buses, even if its just to go down the road a bit!
Rummy Posted December 11, 2013 Posted December 11, 2013 Yeah, Oyster will never let you pay more than the cost of a day travel card, but I think this is only if you use the underground. If you then use a bus it will charge you on top of that(it has a separate daily cap). So once you've paid the initial cost of an Oyster, it is a much more convenient, and potentially money-saving way to travel around London. If you're guaranteed to be using both the tube and buses, and don't think you'll be coming to London again, a day travel card is probably for you. Daily cap includes the buses! Day travelcard covers that too. If it's 3 days though....30x7x3....THATS LIKE HUNDREDS OF PENNIES. I'd never known people do the Oyster deposit/trade in(thanks for the info @Charlie) so that could be a way to go IF you didn't think you'd actually get enough tubes/buses to cap out every single day. Aaaaanyway whatever you decide to do I hope you and your family have a lovely time in London @Eenuh!
Eenuh Posted December 11, 2013 Author Posted December 11, 2013 Thank you! I hope that we will have enough time to view all the things they want to see though, as they only have Saturday, then half a day on Friday and Sunday basically. Plus it is going to be buuuuuusy I imagine haha. But will be nice to show them around in London, they have never been apart from one of my sisters. =)
Mr-Paul Posted December 11, 2013 Posted December 11, 2013 Daily cap includes the buses! Day travelcard covers that too. If it's 3 days though....30x7x3....THATS LIKE HUNDREDS OF PENNIES. I'd never known people do the Oyster deposit/trade in(thanks for the info Charlie) so that could be a way to go IF you didn't think you'd actually get enough tubes/buses to cap out every single day. Aaaaanyway whatever you decide to do I hope you and your family have a lovely time in London Eenuh! There is definitely a different (lower) cap when using just buses, but I'm sure I've been charged to go on a bus before after reaching the tube price cap on Oyster! That or the system ripped me off, or it works differently because I have my railcard linked with my Oyster. Or I may have just been wrong and you should ignore everything I've said in this thread :p Anyway, Oysters are more fun to use than a travel card, but a travel card is a nice souvenir of your trip
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