Oyster Card

Can somebody explain to me in simple terms what the Oyster card is and how to use it?  Perhaps it's aging, but the London Transport website explanation sounds a bit confusing to me.

You buy the card, you load it with X number of pounds and you pass it over some kind of automatic control device on your way in and out of the system, is that it?  Or do you have to have it in conjunction with some other type of pass?

Yep! At the tube stations there are turnstiles with flat, round, yellow card readers that you touch your Oyster card on as you go through. After you get to where you are going, you will touch your card to get back out of the tube station, and your fare will be deducted.

You can also use the card on most buses and you can load it with £s or passes. Before I bought my car, I had my monthly bus pass loaded on it and other people have yearly tube passes etc.

It's up to you how you use it. Passes make more sense financially if you are using the tube or bus everyday, but it's not required that you do it that way. Right now, I just use my card for individual trips into the city so I load it with £s only.

Okay, so if I get a weekly pass (I'll be there for 2 weeks here starting the 4th), I somehow load it onto the Oyster card?  I suppose I can purchase the pass and the oyster card at the same time.  Since I'm going to be going from Wimbledon (Zone 3) into the West End and City for job interviews and such on a daily basis, it makes sense to buy the weekly pass.

If you're only here for 2 weeks, you can just go up to the ticket counter and say I need a week pass (do the same the second week) and they will give it to you on an oyster card.  It stops working after the week is over.  If you just say you want an oyster card they charge you a 3 GBP deposit.

Nice to know, thank you.  I'll be in London for 2 weeks and then, all going well, be back permanently the 1st of November, at least if the Gods of Jobs hear me.

When I first moved over I couldn't get an Oyster without an address, but that doesn't seem to be the case now. I've helped two people get them recently and had a friend visit and he just asked for a card no prob... £3 deposit of course... so if you had £10 you would get £7 of credit.

Check out  http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/ and you can read all the latest.

The other option is that there is price cap for each day. It might pay to do a little math to see how many journeys you will be taking and whether a day travelcard, price cap or week travelcard is best.

Since I'll be popping all over the place daily for the two weeks, it seems that the weekly pass is the best value (I'm staying out in Wimbledon as well).  Thanks for all the help on this.

You don't need to register Oyster cards anymore (not up to monthly, anyway) so no address needed.

Be aware that Wimbledon Station is a pain.  There is only one window that has Oyster capability, it closes early evening, and the queues are huge for most of the day.

It is also worth noting that if you put pre-pay (ie cash) on the Oyster card, then make lots of tube journeys that day, it will be capped so that you never pay more than a price of a daily travelcard.


Vicky

I couldn't get my Oyster card without an address either and this was last year.  My husband's card died recently and we had to get him a new one at a ticket window and they still asked to see proof of address.  I think this is just a measure to prevent tourists from getting Oyster cards since fares are cheaper when  you use one.

June

There's no reason why a tourist can't get an Oyster card if they want one, as long as they are willing to pay the £3 deposit.  We just got one for my parents when they were visiting, no questions asked.  In fact, we've recently bought THREE of them due to losing two and the parents' visit.  Never had any problem about having an address here.

It must have changed then.

Maybe that station was just still using old rules or something! 

I wouldn't get an Oyster that was registered.  Until last year they were registered if you put a weekly travelcard on them, but not for prepay.  However, most stations hand out the form and say 'fill this in' so that you would only know you didn't need to if you were a paranoid girl like me and read the regs in advance...

I don't want Ken knowing my movements!!!

 

Vicky

But registering it has helped me a ton because we have lost now 3 cards - and thus we were able to get a refund for the cash that was left on them.  If we had not registered them, then we would have just been out of luck and lost that money.

Although Vicky I agree, I don't want my movements tracked either...

I too have registerd my card and have either broken or lost them a few times.  It made life much easier!  My movement is so boring I don't care who knows it...I go to work, I go home.  I go to hockey, I go home.  Woohoo!