I have a couple of old oyster passes from 2 years ago that have balance remaining. If I'm not mistaken they were on zones 1-4. Is there any way to find out what the balance on the card is and to increase the zones to 1-9 while I'm in the States before I travel
Posted by
Preston UK
2030 posts
Oyster cards are not restricted to zones. You can use them in any zones.
You can find out the balance on the cards and top them up at any tfl station. There is no real need to do anything before you are back in London. They should work with no problems.
Posted by
Oxford, United Kingdom
5659 posts
You can check balance and load money (or travelcards) via the TfL Go app. Although this is geoblocked it may be defeatable with a suitable VPN.
Posted by
Virginia, USA
6772 posts
If I'm not mistaken they were on zones 1-4
Perhaps you previously had a zone 1-4 travelcard loaded on your Oyster. Regardless, as mentioned above, the Oyster itself can be used for all zones. The Oyster is just a vehicle to store travelcards and/or pay-as-you-go funds.
As also noted above, you can check the balance at a ticket machine when you arrive. You can then either add pay-as-you-go funds or a travelcard or both to the Oyster.