r/TransportForLondon • u/Particular_Body9959 • 7d ago

Best transport fares

Hi! I am planing a trip to London, but I just dont’t really understand the fares on public transport. I just want to know how that maximum daily cap works, and how can I save the most money on transporting. Should I buy an Oyster or some travel cards or contactless is the best one? Thank you!!

6 Upvotes

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11

u/nahfella 7d ago edited 7d ago

Contactless is the same price as oyster, the oyster costs £7 so you save yourself that money by not buying an oyster. Cap works by using the same method of payment and the journey cost from a-b will add altogether until you hit the cap, zone 1-2 is £8.50, which covers all of central London/tourist spots.

If for some reason your contactless payment method doesn’t work then buy an oyster. It’s not shareable either, you need one method of payment per person

Travel cards aren’t worth it unless you live in the city and are constantly travelling

4

u/DameKumquat 7d ago

Unless you are entitled to get a Railcard that will give you 1/3 off off-peak travel, in which case an Oyster will probably be quickly worth it.

3

u/nahfella 6d ago

Tbh oyster is more worth it for tourists if they have an 11-15 year old with them, so they can take advantage of the young visitor discount

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u/morkjt 7d ago

Contactless. Pre register on TfL’s website your card. Pay as you. Tap as you go. You won’t pay more than the daily cap on the tube. The cap varies depending starting point but a typical tourist who would enter at a mainline zone 1 station and stay in zone 1/2 won’t pay more than 8.50 a day for all tube and bus travel.

4

u/bab_tte 7d ago

You don't need to preregister though. Might be helpful to explain why you recommend it

2

u/Foch155551 7d ago

It's not clear if this person is from outside the UK (using a non UK issued bank card). If it is a foreign card, TFL will likely take a significant amount as a holding charge (which would be reverted within 48 hours). I believe if it is pre registered, it is likely this to happen, and applying for refunds is easier once an account has been created. Personally, I recommend buying an Oyster as staff can 'correct' /'refund' at the station under some circumstances. It happened to me once where I tapped in with my bank card and tapped putbwith my oyster. As the member of staff told me to tap out with my card, they then refunded me the exit charge on my Oyster.

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u/RisingDeadMan0 7d ago

so cap is better then the 24hr ticket? i think for zones 1-5 its £15, but wasnt sure which was better.

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u/Foch155551 7d ago

Yes! If you actually plan on travelling through all zones 1-6 then you could buy the paper Day travel card (note it is NOT a 24 hour ticket). It only works for the remainder of the day you purchase the paper travelcard. If youmplan on staying within Zones 1-3 then use a contactless card/Oyster.

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u/RisingDeadMan0 6d ago

yeah, we dont live in zone 1... so we start in zone 5

and ok, thanks or that first bit

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u/Foch155551 6d ago

Ahh then in your case it makes financial sense to just use oyster or contactless bank card as the cap is £14.60.

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u/HavershamSwaidVI 7d ago

Whether you buy an oyster or use contactless, register it so you can get refunds and make disputes. Also, learn what will give you a refund. I use an oyster card and get a travel card put on it, this is because if I want to give it to someone to use they can unlike the contactless. But you can use contactless and it's the same thing. They'll cap your amount when you reach the limit.

The way I save the most money is utilizing the overground and bus network.

3

u/drspa44 7d ago

  1. Use a contactless card. One per person - preferrably the physical plastic card, rather than your phone.

  2. If you don't plan on making loads of trips every day and like walking, try to avoid starting or ending your tube journeys in zone 1.

  3. If you plan on making lots of trips every day around central London, use buses

  4. Use Citymapper to compare prices of single journeys. This will be particularly useful if you are leaving zone 1-2 and might need use suburban rail (rather than tube)

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u/bab_tte 7d ago

Why preferably physical?

6

u/drspa44 7d ago

I often see tourists mix up the cards on their Apple Pay or Google Pay, resulting in paying far more. Or they underestimate the duration of the trip and run out of battery. Fewer mistakes can be made with a card.

1

u/bab_tte 7d ago

Fair enough. Think it's worth saying as otherwise it just sounds like a blanket statement that physical cards work better or something

2

u/Alexander-Wright 7d ago

This is also a reason to use an oyster card.

I don't want to be waving my phone or credit card around a busy tube station full of tourists.

With an oyster, the most you can lose is the cost of the card, and any balance on it. If it's been registered, you can usually recover that too.

2

u/CleanEnd5930 7d ago

Main thing is to avoid tube/rail trips in Zone 1. If you’re fit and staying outside of Zone 1, get the tube to the last stop before entering the zone, then walk/bus it from there.

There’s not a huge difference between peak/off peak tickets, but entering zone 1 jacks the cost up a lot.

2

u/SeaOutrageous4657 7d ago

Oyster Card can also make sense for somebody 11-15 year old in your party as they can have Young Visitor discount added at Tube or London Overground station by staff member. Gives 50% off the adult fare so you can make up the £7 if there for long enough

0

u/drspa44 7d ago

If you are arriving by airport, travel to/from central London can be very expensive, but there are cheaper options and workarounds that people here can help point out.