ONE DAY London TravelCard

Yes,

Paper one day Travelcards can be purchased at any ticket machine-

From the TfL website-

You can buy Day Travelcards (paper ticket):

From ticket machines at Tube, DLR, London Overground, Elizabeth line and National Rail stations
From ticket offices at London Overground, Elizabeth line and National Rail stations
At Visitor Centres
At the Tramlink Shop in Croydon

As an FYI, ApplePay does not require internet connection.

When you say we usually use the same card do you mean you only have one physical card or a card each linked to the same account? If the latter you can both use your cards with no issues. Add an ApplePay account and you have 3 payment methods - you don’t need a mobile signal for ApplePay to work. That is by some way the easiest way to pay.

Buying an Oyster Card sounds like a waste of money as you don't get it refunded until 6 months later.

What 6 months?

If the balance on the Oyster is £10 or less you can get a refund of the balance on the Oyster instantly at a ticket machine, but you never get the £7.00 purchase price per Oyster back.

Oh, Continental, for real?! Wow! So if we have Apple Pay set up on our phones and they all use the same credit card, would that be okay? I had no idea you did not need service for Apple Pay.

nigel, I read on the oyster / tfl website that in 6 months time, if you still have your oyster card, they give you the cost of the card back in the form of a credit. so that is what I am talking about :)

John, do you know if it counts as three separate payments even if all 3 apple pay accounts are using the same card?

Oh, also, I can't believe I only happened to find out about how much $$$ I save by buying our Heathrow Express tickets in advance.

Theresa - yes each person would have a separate charge, as you could take different journeys.

For example.the zones 1-2 cap is £8.10 a day. So, if you all did the same on the day there would be 3 separate charges of £8.10. But if one of you went back to the hotel early and didn’t reach the cap they would maybe be charged less.

I read on the oyster / tfl website that in 6 months time, if you still have your oyster card, they give you the cost of the card back in the form of a credit

I have never seen that, and if it were true there would be many people who hold on to their Oysters for a future trip who would be upset with a sudden credit and closing of the card. I know many people who travel to London every couple or 3 years with the same Oyster and just top it up, and it works fine.

I personally have 3 Oysters with credit on them that are used very occasionally and have never been refunded. If using the tube or buses I usually use a credit card tap but sometimes I would use the Oysters if I put a Disabled Railcard back on it.

Can you give a link where you saw the 6 month item?

"The deposit refund is only applicable to Oyster cards issued before February 2020. Cards issued after this date do not have a deposit and only the remaining credit will be refunded." (https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/refunds-and-replacements/oyster-pay-as-you-go-credit-no-longer-needed)

For cards issued from 23 February 2020 to 4 September 2022 the £5 fee would by now have been credited to the PAYG balance. From then on the £7 became a straight fee and doesn't get credited at all.

Buying single fares, even if we did contactless, will be more expensive than the 15 pound One Day London TravelCard.

Zone 1-6 daily cap for contactless is £14.90, 30p under the one day travelcard.

If your full day is beginning at Heathrow (not explicitly stated) then for convenience for once the ODT isn't a bad bet presuming you are coming before they are abolished, expected in January.

This assumes all your travel is off peak. If not the ODT becomes £21.50, the cap remains the same.