1day travel card loaded on oyster -

One day paper travel cards for £12 are for zones 1-4.
The £6.40 cap is for zones 1-2 when using Oyster PAYG or a contactless card.

The TfL price changes for 2015 were to continue to drive people away from paper tickets and onto Oyster or using their contactless debit or credit cards directly.

Yes, they really used to be quite close in price. There is now a clear effort to drive people off paper travelcards. The zone 1-2 Travelcard was removed, and the first travelcard is now the zone 1-4 version.

The people choosing the one-day Travel Card should be those who really don't need any more travel than one day. The Oyster Card has a set up fee and minimum £10 investment, but is cheaper for two or more travel days. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payments/ticket-types

OK, this thread seems so similar to my confusion and need, that I'll give my situation here as an example and question. I start the RS London tour on late Monday afternoon May 25, when I will get some kind of transport pass for the week. My first time in the UK. I will arrive Heathrow early Sunday morning, May 24, and am spending that first night at the Premier Waterloo. I will first go from Heathrow to Paddington Station to Waterloo. Then I plan to spend Sunday and Monday til early afternoon on the South Bank, including Globe Theater and Tate Modern, etc. and hopefully to go to Greenwich and/or Hampton Court, depending on time, weather and how I feel after a long flight. Although a generally experienced traveller, I am confused by Oyster and Travel Card and London Pass and Zone 1, 2, 3, 4 and up. So, what should I buy for that first Sunday/Monday and when and where should I buy it? Thanks so much!

Just use Oyster pay as you go, bought at Heathrow. There may be ways of shaving bits off with a precise itinerary, but why complicate matters for a couple of days.

If you have a contactless credit card you may be able to use that directly. Amex appear to be the most reliable US card in that regard.

Heathrow Express or Connect (which you appear to be taking) has little time advantage going to Waterloo, and have their own ticketing. 285 Bus to Feltham and then train to Waterloo is one (old fashioned) option; the underground is another (change at Hammersmith and Westminster to avoid stairs).

A Travelcard is a 'paper ticket' that allows unlimited travel for a fixed price within the zones that you purchase. There are zones 1-9. What most tourists will be interested in is Central London, typically zones 1-2. You can buy a Travelcard for any consecutive zones you like, e.g. zones 2-5, or 1-3. The more zones you have, the more it costs. Zone 1 costs the most by far.

An Oyster Card is like a Travelcard you can 'top up', rather than buying a paper ticket and throwing it away at the end of the day, and because of the electronic / reusable nature of the Oyster Card, you get a discount on the fares purchased with it.

You can 'top up' your Oyster Card with PAYG credit (pay as you go), and add weekly / monthly / yearly travel cards to it at Tube stations or online.

Using PAYG credit, if staying within zones 1-2, the most you can be charged in a day is £6.40. If you go outside zones 1-2, the daily cap is higher.

So if you do a tube ride for £4, a bus trip for £1, another tube ride for £4 and another bus ride for £1 (fictional fares!) you would be charged £4, then £1, then £1.40, then £0... and any subsequent travel (within zones 1-2) on that day would effectively be free.

The London Pass is a different thing, they do offer it in combination with an Oyster Card, but I've heard it is better to manage them separately, though have never used the London Pass myself.