London Tube--fare payment?

Very simple. Nothing to set up. Just use your tap credit card.

https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/how-to-pay-and-where-to-buy-tickets-and-oyster/pay-as-you-go/contactless-and-mobile-pay-as-you-go

It has to be contactless, can be a debit or credit card. Tap on and off the tube and the system takes care of the rest to ensure you don't pay more than the daily cap. You need a card per person, but they can be linked to the same account.

One can still buy, and use, an Oyster card. If you’ve still got the card from the previous trip, it can still be used - top it up at a machine inside the Tube station if it needs a higher balance for taking rides.

If your credit card is contactless-enabled (is there a symbol on it that looks like three nested semicircles?), then there’s nothing needed to set it up - just hover it above the sensor at the gate, and the gate will open, both when you are going to a train, and again when you’re leaving a station after your ride. Hopefully, if it’s not a British credit card, your card doesn’t charge extra for foreign transactions.

People with a smartphone or smartwatch can set it up for contactless Tube payment.

Just make sure your credit card is “tap enabled” (has the little symbol, not just a chip). And even if it is, some US Visa cards do not work. TFL warns about this on the website section about payment. My husband’s B of A Visa did not work on the Tube or bus, although it functioned fine for tap and go payment elsewhere in London. AmEx cards all work.

If you happen to still have your old Oyster cards you can add cash value and use those as well.

Oyster cards still are sold and still work. You can buy one at the tube station at the airport; last time we were there they had uniformed staffers who could help although it is pretty easy at the machines. Also if you still have that Oyster card it may still work and be able to be topped-up (eg. funds added)

Even though you can use a credit card I'd rather lose an Oyster card than my credit card while traveling. My credit card stays safely in my travel wallet.

You can pay via:

-Oyster Card

-Contactless Credit Card

-Smartphone with Google Pay/Apple Pay

-Smartwatch with Google Pay/Apple Pay

Nothing you have to set up for Tube payments. It's very similar to Omny.

Here's more than you probably wanted to know:

https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/how-to-pay-and-where-to-buy-tickets-and-oyster/pay-as-you-go/contactless-and-mobile-pay-as-you-go

the difference between now and then if years ago is then, is that Oyster Cards cost £3 and you then added value (money) at machine where you tapped your card and fed the machine a credit card or cash and then tapped the card again and then went on your trips. At the end you could hold onto the card forever and use it on following holidays. Or you could cash out the card (sometimes a bit tricksy) and get both the value plus the deposit as it then was.

These days an Oyster card costs £7 and that is purely a purchase, and you never see that money again and can't travel on it. Then you go through the same rigamarole using a card to top up the value, many machines no longer take cash, especially the narrow convenient ones, and you need to keep an eye on the balance.

If you use a contactless credit or debit card, the amount is only put through after all your journeys at the end of the day, taking into account the same caps as on the Oyster, you don't have to pay to activate the process, nor do you have to top up. You can use a phone, watch, or card. Just use the same one to benefit from the capping. Slight bit of organization on your part, spend less.

I still use my years old Oyster Card.

Oyster Card or contactless; it’s a personal preference.

Don't forget, no matter if you are using a contactless method or an Oyster card, on the Tube you must tap in at your origin and tap out at your destination, but not when changing lines (special rules apply if using DLR). If using buses you need to tap in every time you board a bus but you do NOT tap out on buses. If you do you will be double charged. All buses within an hour count as one.

My England trip (London itinerary) our tour guide gave us an Oyster Card with £10.00 fare added. Wound up with 2 cards given to me from other tour members since I was staying extra days in London. Easy to add/check funds left on card at the fare machines.

Used my Apple Watch to pay when funds ran out with the cards.

Thank you for all the replies! Looks like I have plenty of options. Thank you.
Karen

Just a note for the Brits on here: to us, contactless means absolutely nothing. Credit cards and debit cards that allow tapping - that is, don't require a keypad and PIN, is what you mean.