Looking at using the tube and possibly bus during our stay. Travelcard vs Oyster card? Anyone purchase Travelcard at a National Rail Station (with their logo) and then receive 2x1 discount at many attractions?
We will take Elizabeth line to Paddington from LHR. Thinking of buying Oyster at Heathrow to get into city then adding Travelcard……….
Thank you
I don’t know that you can get a 7-day paper Travelcard any more; it may be only on Oyster. Hopefully someone knows if this is not correct.
But with that much time in London, surely you will be doing daytrips out of the city? There is a way to get the 2-4-1 offers that way. I will explain more later—dinner guests arriving soon!
Mentioning transportation in you title might have attracted more useful answers.
Here's a previous post that might help some.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/oyster-or-contactless-and-exception-for-15-yr-old
Just to be clear: the term "contactless" means credit card or bank card for them. It gets pretty much the cheapest fares. Of course, you can set up your phone with Apple Pay or Google Pay to make it easier than bringing your card out every time. But a hint: put your credit cards in the anti-magnetic sleeves, so you know which ones your are actually tapping.
I don’t know that you can get a 7-day paper Travelcard any more; it may be only on Oyster. Hopefully someone knows if this is not correct.
Correct, they went off sale last summer. In theory you might be able to get a 7-day travelcard on a train operator's own Smartcard (not Oyster) but I don't remember anyone yet saying they were able to do that.
Thanks, Marco. I was unable to find any definite information on the paper Travelcards.
Diana, since you will be in London for 11 days ( lucky you) there is another option. Regular (paper) train tickets into and out of London will qualify for the 2-4-1 offers for the entire period between the journeys. So, if you are planning on some short excursions out of London by train (Bletchley Park, Windsor, Richmond/Kew, etc.) you can put one near the beginning of your stay, and the other at the end. Use the return ticket (into London) from your first trip and the outbound ticket for your later trip as your tickets to show for proof of travel. You must hold onto the first ticket—don’t put it in the regular turnstile when you exit the station, go through the manned gate and tell the agent you need to keep the ticket). And buy your tickets for the later trip early so you can show those as well.
https://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/travel-by-train/is-my-ticket-valid-for-2for1-and-other-offers
This may sound complicated but it does work.
For your trip from Heathrow into London Paddington, it would be simpler and less expensive to buy online tickets for the Heathrow Express 90+days ahead of your trip ( so buy them in May). Those tickets are £5.50 each, instead the £12.50 fare for the Elizabeth line. It is also faster— 15-20 minutes on the HEx, depending on your start terminal,mversus 40 minutes for the Elizabeth line.
https://www.heathrowexpress.com/tickets-and-offers/book-early-to-save-money#/
https://www.heathrow.com/transport-and-directions/by-rail-or-train/elizabeth-line
Note that the Heathrow Express tickets do not qualify as “travel into London” for the 2-4-1 offers.
Since you mentioned using the bus, here is a schematic map of the bus routes that serve the main sites of interest to visitors:
https://content.tfl.gov.uk/bus-route-maps/key-bus-routes-in-central-london.pdf
We love using the buses in London—riding upstairs on the double-decker you get a great view. Plus it is much less expensive than the Tube. And you stay above ground, always a good thing in my opinion. You can pay with either an Oyster card or your own credit card if it is enabled for contactless payment.
September is our favorite time to be in London,thanks to the month-long Thamesfest, a celebration of the river and it history. There are all kinds of events, many of them free, from art installations to lectures to performances to walking tours. Most will not be on the schedule yet, but keep an eye on the website:
We just use the Oyster cards we’ve had for years. Since there is a daily cap it’s easy to determine the maximum amount we’ll need for any particular trip to London. Any funds remaining on the card will just get used on the next trip.
We used the tube this past September and an occasional bus and were happy with using an oyster card and a credit card. We would have used the credit card for both of us, but you can't tap one gate and then another going in. You have to "tap out" first... or at least that's what happened with us.
We did some calculations and unless we weren't going to walk much at all, an oyster card made more sense than a travel card and we're happy we did it that way overall. Nothing to compare it to of course.
And yes, you'll get an oyster card at LHR if you are going to use public transport to get to your place. Wouldn't make sense not to.
To put the Elizabeth line vs Heathrow Express into context, the 12.5 GBP fare will count towards a daily or weekly cap. Heathrow express fare won't count towards the cap.
https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/find-fares/tube-and-rail-fares/pay-as-you-go-caps
A daily cap for zone 1 to 6 is GBP 14.1.
If you intend to travel more within London (no further than zone 6), you'd pay no more than GBP 14.1.
Heathrow express only calls at Paddington. If your destination is not Paddington, you'd still have to get on the Elizabeth line train again or any other lines at Paddington.
There is a way to avoid the hefty fare from Heathrow. If you take a bus from Heathrow to Hayes & Harlington or West Drayton, the bus fare will count towards the zone 1 to 2 cap, the fare from Hayes and Harlington/ West Drayton to other destinations in London is less steep.
https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/find-fares/tube-and-rail-fares/single-fare-finder
