Old Oyster Cards

Top up.....yes

Pin.....no

tap in only on bus.....yes

valid on all tube and buses.....yes (London buses not out of town buses.)

My Oyster Card is from 2016. Still works fine. I used it on Tuesday.

I had to dig out an ancient Oyster card the other day when my Visa debit expired and I didn't have my new one yet. The balance on it was -£1.40 when I went to top up! A relic from when I was really skint a few years ago :-)

Thank you !

I would say the one I used last week was from no later than 2012.

My Oyster is from 2006. Still works fine, it'll be being used a week on Tuesday on buses, tube and the Clipper, and was last used less than a month ago.
I have the national rail senior railcard attached to mine for the TfL off peak discount.

First generation cards which stopped being issued in 2010 are incompatible with the app but that doesn't affect normal use.

Still have and used my Oyster Card that has William and Kates images on it. Issued when they became engaged. Just in case I also have a newer one I got last year.

I’m one of those travelers who prefer using the Oyster ran than a tap CC or Debit card. Don’t use my Apple Wallet either.

First generation cards which stopped being issued in 2010 are incompatible with the app but that doesn't affect normal use.

I couldn't give a toss as to whether it is incompatible with the app. I can access my use history through the website and also journey plan through the website. I don't need an app. for anything to do with transport or navigation in London.

I'm glad my Oyster card works with the app. This way I can tell the balace on my card and whether or not I need to top up.

I've also found the Citymapper app to be amazing. Not only wll it work as a better journey planner than the TFL website but it alerts to immediate issues on the line and lets me know how long till the next train.

I was thinking of letting my Oyster card run out off money and switch to contactless but I've decided agaiinst it.

I couldn't give a toss as to whether it is incompatible with the app...

Other people might want to though and wonder why their old card won't work with it.

My reply was prompted by GerryM's phrase of "ancient Oyster" rather than your post which crossed with mine.

If anyone wants to "upgrade", when second generation cards were first issued it was possible to exchange first gen free of charge but that option is long gone. Balance can be transferred but a £7 charge can't be avoided. Contactless cards work fine with the app.

To add on to Marco's information....you can't access the TFL app outside the UK. You will receive an error message that looks like this:

Request blocked
Sorry, your request was blocked by our automated security systems.

However, using a UK VPN works.

My Oyster Card goes back to 2009, the only one I ever bought, works fine. When it runs low, I "top it" off and have more than enough for the next trip. I use this on buses and the Tube, don't use apps or contactless cards.

DW and I still have our cards from 2010. No problems checking the balance or topping them up when needed.