Oyster or travelcard for 5 days?
Me and my family (two adults, one 14year old) are going to visit London for 5 days (Saturday to Wednesday). Our hotel is near Crystal Palace in zone 3, but it has only Overground connections. On Saturday, I will travel from Victoria to City airport, pick the rest of my family up, we are then going to the hotel to leave our luggage there. We plan to take a train to the city every morning (probably before 9:30), and return in the evening. On Wednesday evening, we need to go to Gatwick airport.
Since the fare system is in my opinion ridiculously complex, I need your help to find the cheapest fare? Which option is the cheapest for our plans? Oyster cards? Travelcards? 7-day travelcard? Which of them have child fares? We don't have contactless credit cards.
Best Answer
Do you have contactless bank cards? If so, they work like an Oyster card, with a daily and weekly cap.
If you do not have a contactless bank card I would go for an Oyster card, as you will never pay more than the daily cap, but will pay less if you travel less.
For adults there is not much difference between 'standard' and 'visitor' Oyster cards, there is a small price difference and there is a difference in where you can buy them.
Here is a link with information on where to buy the cards.
For the children you can buy Visitor Oyster cards, which will let them travel on age appropriate youth fare.
Standard Oyster cards do not let them travel on reduced fares.
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Is it cheaper to get an Oyster card or a Travelcard?
As a general rule a Travelcard is more expensive than an Oyster card or Contactless payment card. The exception is if you make 3 or more journeys for 6 days or more within a 7 day period. In this case a 7 day Travelcard works out cheaper than an Oyster or Contactless payment card.Is it cheaper to travel with Oyster?
The Oyster Card is a magnetic rechargeable plastic card valid for all of London's public transport. It not only simplifies the payment system, but it is also cheaper than paying for a single journey ticket every time you ride the Underground, bus, DLR or Overground.How much is Oyster card for a week?
If you stay in London for 6\u20137 days and use the underground, trains, and buses every day, the weekly Travelcard is the most cost-effective travel pass....Weekly Travelcards: 2022 prices.Weekly TravelcardsZones 1\u20136\xa370.30Zones 1\u20137\xa376.50Zones 1\u20138\xa390.30Zones 1\u20139\xa3100.204 more rowsIs it better to use contactless or Oyster?
Advantages of Contactless It's already on a card you own: if you already have a supported contactless credit card or smartphone, using this for your travel is more convenient than getting a separate Oyster card, which you have to pay a deposit on and keep topped up.Oyster Card vs Travelcard Price Comparison, Transport for London
More answers regarding oyster or travelcard for 5 days?
Answer 2
Oyster cards hold seven days and longer season ticket and on other hand travelcards, pay as you go pre-pay money (PAYG use has a daily cap for journeys taken; any made after you reach the cap fare are free of charge) this is good for those who may wish to travel beyond the paid for zones.
If you do not want to use the offers - most of which will be renewed this or next month - buy seven-day Travelcards loaded on Oyster cards.
A seven-day card, with no time of day constraints for zones 1 and 2 costs £30.40. Like PAYG on Oyster, you may use Travelcards on all forms of transport in the paid-for zones plus buses in zones 1 - 6.
Five days of off-peak PAYG use in zones 1 and 2 on Oyster will cost £7 each day and five one day off-peak Travelcards for those zones will cost £7.30 each.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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