Has the London Oyster card been phased out yet?

It hasn't happened yet. It sounds like it is still in the planning stages with no actual dates set. If you google "oyster card elimination" there is an article from The Guardian detailing what they are planning, but it doesn't have any specific dates. Maybe they need to get through this strike stuff first. They do refer to a contactless credit card - wonder if that translates to debit card?
Patty

Transport for London say, oyster will be avaliable for tourists even after the full move to alternate system in June 2015.
New UK debit and credit cards allow contactless payment.

One date that has been set is stopping taking cash on the bus. This is from 6 July, when it will be Oyster, contactless debit/credit card (currently UK only) and travelcards only.

The step of allowing contactless cards to pay on the underground, combined with daily/weekly capping and acceptability of non-UK cards is supposed to be the middle of the year too, but no precise date yet.

Oyster as such is already somewhat of a legacy system, expensive to run and not flexible enough to meet easily various demands today and for new services.

Thanks, all!

So what happens to the Oyster card that still has money on it that I bought last year and was told that it would "always be good"?

It looks like they will keep a form of the oyster card for tourists. If you check the tfl website it explains what they have planned for tourists. Maybe because there are so many of us out there who bought it because it was supposed to be good forever?

We just got ours in the mail yesterday! So not for at least the next month or so..:)!

Apparently the direct use of debit / credit cards for the underground is currently being tested by volunteers using cards provided by TfL so that can't be that far away from being introduced.

There is supposed to be an ITSO-compliant replacement for Oyster, but existing cards are supposed to work for some time after that, for years I guess. This card will sort out some of the problems people have with present Oyster cards, such as refunds. Part of the difficulty of processing these comes from the value being stored on the card itself.

TfL has over £100M in its bank from the balance and deposit on dormant Oyster cards.

Just got back from London on May 15, 2014, had no problem getting our 5 pounds back from turning in our Oyster card at Heathrow, (downstairs from central bus area, near teminal 1, where tube goes) plus we got a refund for the remaining balance on the card. The tourist info could only give a cash refund, but there was another line by the tube, where you could get the refund put back on your credit card.

Can you use the same oyster card for three people? I have an 8 hour layover in London and planned to get out for 4-5 hours. We would probably use the tube 3 times. I don't know if you can specify how much cash you want on the oyster card.

Emma thanks for the reply. I am thinking about the West End/Westminster and walking around the House of Parliament/Westminster Abbey, then heading across St. James park to Buckingham palace. I am mostly thinking about stretching our legs and showing the girls some of the major sites. I thought about St. Paul's cathedral also, but probably wouldn't have time. If we took the tube to Westminster station, spent some time at Westmister Abbey, then walked to Buckingham palace through the park and palace Gardens, then went back to Heathrow from the Victoria station, we would only need two tube passes. Three 5 pound oyster cards should do it!

Buying one day paper travel cards instead would be slightly more expensive (40p each), but would have the advantage of not having to reclaim a deposit, thus saving you time. This is the case if you have no morning peak travel. If you are that early then the difference is more.

I bought the card using my credit card and they said I couldn't get a refund for returning the card because I used a credit card. This was in 2012 of may

Note that if you want to put a 7-day transit pass (say, zones 1-2) onto a card, you can't use a Tourist Oyster. They sell a different, Travelcard at the same windows, also with a deposit-sort-of fee that can carry both cash and the transit pass. Even if you stay only 4 days, this can be a good value.