Oyster vs Travel

[bs1313]

SO I have been doing some research and i am curious as to which card should I get while I am in London. Should I get the Oyster Card or the Travel card...I will be in London for 5 days and plan to see a lot of the famous sights so I will most likely need to use the London Underground a good amount. Thanks

Bret

[madamtrashheap]

Bret, if you take one of the hop-on-hop-off sightseeing busses you can also get on and off at the sights you want whilst getting a commentary along the way. Their passes are valid on their busses for 24hrs, but they may work out to be more expensive depending on what exactly you plan to see. Check it out though.

As far as Oyster card vs paper Travelcard - 6 of one half a dozen of the other. The Mayor has pushed the use of Oyster cards (even for tourists) for the past 3 or so years now and they do have their advantages as they are cheaper than single journey tickets or 1 day paper travelcards. You can ask to put a 1 day travelcard on your Oyster each day that you need it, or you can buy a weekly travelcard on your Oyster if that will work out cheaper for you (all depends on use and places you want to travel). You can simply ask at any Tube station ticket office (or TFL outlet) what your best choice is for the time you're there and they'll help you out. A little note, if you plan to travel on overland trains while you're in London, you can't use your 1 day pass on Oyster cards as these only work on the Tube and Busses - you'll need a Weekly Travelcard on your Oyster instead, in which case I'd suggest simply buying a paper ticket for those journeys as I can't imagine you'll have very many of them.

[pointofnoreturn]

I'd recommend the 7-day travel card which is loaded on an Oyster. You'd get more value out of it especially if you're travelling with someone else because the card's good for 2-for-1 entries at expensive sights like the Tower of London and other places.

If I was in London for 4-7 days and planned to use a lot of the transport network, I'd get a 7-day card. If less than 4-day, it'd be day cards or a 3-day card depending on the cost differences.

[Eagle]

Bret,

As MTH indicated, it's a bit of a "toss-up". However, since you're going to be there at least five days, my preference would be the PAYG Oyster Card. I used one on my trip last September, and still have some credit left on it, which I'll use on my next visit. From what I recall, it can also be used on Buses and the Docklands Light Railway.

You can buy these at any Tube station. Try to make an estimate of how many trips you'll be making, so you'll have some idea on how much to put on the card. You'll have to pay a £3.00 deposit for the card, but this will be refunded (along with any funds on the card) if you return it when you leave London.

Happy travels!

[bs1313]

I don't understand how the Pay As You Go Oyster Card works exactly...Wouldn't it be cheaper to get unlimited rides???