Oyster Card

I was in London last month. First time.

I bought an Oyster Card at the machine in Heathrow befoire taking the Elizabeth Line to Paddington. There was staff to help and I needed help.

You pay a certain amount to purchase the Oyster Card and then you put money on it. It makes travel convenient because you have money on the card. You tap in and then tap out. Once the money is used up, you can add to the card.

It is a pretty souvenir but do not put so much money on it that you will not be able to use the money because I do not believe there is a refund.

An oyster card works fine, but if you have a tap credit card you do not need one. When we were in London in August we just each used our own credit card and tapped in and tapped out on the tube. If you use the same card each time, it caps the amount each day and works very well.

Tap & go works fine. I was in London a year ago. Just follow organizer8’s directions above. Less hassle than buying an Oyster card. Here’s a thread from a few months ago
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/oyster-card-vs-us-tap-enabled-credit-card-for-tube-and-trainsin-london

The balance is refundable from an Oyster Card but not the £7 fee for cards purchased these days. Easiest is if £10 or less, as this can be done at a machine.

My recommendation would be not to bother with a Oyster card and just use a regular contactless payment method, providing you don't run into incompatibility problems as can be the case with some USA issued cards.

I vote on the side of tap and go with your CC or phone. On my last trip I used up the remaining balance I had on the Oyster and then just put it away and tapped my way across London for the rest of my trip, lol.

It is also a conundrum as to how much to put on the Oyster - like the old commercial for prunes....6 too many, 3 too few? If you put too small an amount will you have to top up again before you leave? If you don't put on enough will you have to head over to a machine and add some for your ride?

If you (or anyone reading this) decide to use an Oyster Card and want to set up an account, the trick to get it to work from outside the UK is a VPN.

I turned on the McAfee VPN on my laptop:
From the McAfee app, select "Secure VPN"
Turn it on, if it isn't
In the "Virtual Location" section, click "Change"
Set the location to United Kingdom
(You may wish to turn off or reset the location of your VPN after you finish.)

This allowed me to get past the security on the TFL website to access the account I set up for Oyster Cards I bought years and years ago and which are still in my account waiting for me to add funds to use them. Lonely old cards, maybe I will for nostalgia. But contactless sounds ever so much simpler.

When I initially set up my TFL account, I used a friend's postcode in the UK; others have said the TFL suggests using their address.

After years and years........and years of using the same Oyster Card, I decided to give payment via Google Pay on my phone a try. It worked fine.

I think I'll use up my Oyster Card balance and stick to the phone. Or payment by my Samsung Watch.

CWSocial - I have oyster cards from 2018? that I know have some money left on them. I tried to set up an online account and got the security error. I haven't tried a VPN yet, and haven't ever used one for another reason. I'm fairly tech competent, so I'll give that a try. Is it also fairly easy just to scan the oyster card at ticket machines to find out how much money is left? If I set up an account, I have a family member's UK address I could use.

CWSocial, that's a great idea - I didn't think of that. I get a free VPN from Google One, since I pay for storage each month, so I will try that as I would like to set up an account before I leave.

I have to get an Oyster card as I have disability card that gives me a discount (hearing loss), and you can only access it with the Oyster card in London.

ETA: Plus I will be coming back to England next year so it would be good to have one.

Another question - after reading the link to a previous post about Oyster cards vs US issued tap credit cards, I'm a little nervous about our credit cards having a problem. We have Visa cards issued from Bank of America (no foreign transaction fees) which we've used in other countries without issue. Does anyone have any experience with Bank of America issued tap enabled credit cards on the Tube?

"Is it also fairly easy just to scan the oyster card at ticket machines to find out how much money is left?"

@sanomh: Yes, it's extremely easy. You just walk over to a machine and put it on the pad and I would just not even worry about how much it has on it at this point. Just wait until you get there. I used my AMEX card to tap and go and yes, I was surprised they accepted AMEX. I do not think I used my VISA but it's a Chase card not your kind so probably not helpful.

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?intcmp=55539#on-this-page-1

AND the Oyster I used in May was from 2018....

And I'm also seeing the £0 balance on my Oyster Card in my TFL account.

I see I can add a TravelCard to my OysterCard via my online TFL account. I'll be in London for 7 days so I may do that and leave my credit card in its secure spot.

I got an Oyster card on a business trip years ago, so I just use it. I go to London pretty much every year. For 4 days, and if you’re not returning, just use your CC to tap and go.

As to how much money to put on an Oyster, I use the number of days I’ll be in London X the daily cap, plus the amount needed to get back to the airport. As long as I have that amount, I’m fine. Any remaining balance will get used on a future trip.

I have to get an Oyster card as I have disability card that gives me a discount (hearing loss), and you can only access it with the Oyster card in London.

Mardee, You'll need to register your railcard onto your Oyster at a tube station- ask any member of gateline staff, who will access a special screen on a ticket machine to do so. I have a 3 year 1 week senior railcard (something which isn't meant to exist- 3 years exactly being the official maximum), and had to re register that back onto my Oyster on Thursday at Waterloo in the evening peak as last year the machines couldn't register a railcard in excess of exactly 3 years. No one was bothered at doing it at such a time. You may have to choose a password on first registration, not that I needed it this year.

The discount worked an hour later when I had to take an unplanned tube ride an hour later, when the off peak started at exactly 7pm. It had taken me that long to walk to Trafalgar Square and back and wait for the mysterious cancelled #29 bus route. But that saved me £2.10 from 2 tube rides out to Zone 4 and back.

We have Visa cards issued from Bank of America (no foreign transaction fees) which we've used in other countries without issue.

I use a contactless BAC Preferred CC for everyday travel transactions. No problems with tap & go. I added the card to Apple Wallet. Instead of pulling out my CC for each transaction, I use Apple Wallet. No problems on the London Tube or elsewhere. Since my phone is on a lanyard hooked to my purse or around my neck, I figured I'm have less chance of losing it instead of my card.
I also have a BAC Travel Rewards CC as backup and a Fidelity CC as a back-up to the back-up in case BAC doesn't like Europe. But in three trips I have not had a problem and didn't need to use the back-ups.

My ATM card is tied to a separate small Fidelity savings account. No problems getting money when I needed cash.
None of the cards have foreign transaction fees.

@ Mardee. I did not have any luck at the Heathrow tube/train station getting my Oyster Card linked to my rail pass. Don't even try there. I did have good success when I asked at the Kew station and a very kind gentlemen came over to the machine and made registering the card and linking the Oyster Card to the Pass possible.

Stuart, thanks for the info. I will try it at Heathrow and see what happens. Guess I'll find out!

Carol NR, I sent you a PM.

With a registered railcard on your Oyster the daily capping is much less- off peak it is £9.80 Zones 1 to 6, rather than £14.90.

Also if you take the Elizabeth line from Heathrow with a registered railcard Oyster you pay £8.70, rather than £13.30 off peak, the tube fare LHR to central London off peak becomes £3.65 rather than £5.60.

Twickenham to Waterloo becomes £2.60 rather than £4 single on Oyster- if you buy a paper ticket the £4 fare is £7.70

Hampton Court becomes £3.15 rather than £4.80 single, or £8.60 on a paper ticket. On a paper ticket a day return is £10 with railcard or £6.30 on Oyster.

So it is well worth it.

Within Zones 1 and 2 the daily cap for a railcard Oyster off peak is £5.10, so 3 x £1.75 tube fares.

At Heathrow you need to register the railcard with the TfL gateline staff at the Tube machines on the Tube barriers. Not at the Elizabeth Line/Hex barriers/staff as that is National Rail. Last year I first tried to register at Bond Street (Elizabeth Line) and was sent round the corner to Bond Street (Underground). No matter how technically Bond Street is two stations, two separate adjacent entrances.
This applies even if your first train is the Elizabeth Line. If a TfL staff member says they can't do it, then be politely stubborn.

A few Elizabeth line ticket halls have recently started adding Railcard discounts to Oyster cards but this doesn't include any at Heathrow. These have such limited hours though (eg 10:00-15:00 weekdays) it seemingly isn't offered by the operator with much enthusiasm.

As to 'registering the rail card', please clarify, that's for adding any rail card to the oyster card? And the purpose is to get a discount on daily capping? We won't be using our Oyster cards until we arrive in London via train back from our stay in Bath. We have the two together rail cards. Once in London, we aren't likely to need the rail card discount until our last day, heading back to Heathrow on the Elizabeth line. So, can we plan to register the rail card to our oyster cards at any time during our stay? And does that work if you haven't set up an account for they oyster card?

At Heathrow you need to register the railcard with the TfL gateline staff at the Tube machines on the Tube barriers. Not at the Elizabeth Line/Hex barriers/staff as that is National Rail.

Stuart, thanks - hopefully that will work, and since I plan on taking the tube in anyway, it will be convenient.

@sanomh - no the discounted pay as you go travel only applies for senior and disabled (I still hate that word, with a vengeance) railcards, also railcards for those under 30.
For 2T railcards, on the Elizabeth line, just buy normal 2T discounted tickets, the same way as you will from Bath to London.
With a 2T the only discount is 1/3 off an off peak travelcard, and you don't have to register your card for that. Just choose the railcard option on ticket machines to get those travelcards.

Thank you, that makes perfect sense.

I’m so happy they still take Oyster cards. The last time I was In London was 5 years ago and on my next to last day there I had a major brain fart and loaded £30 on my Oyster card! I have been waiting to use it up so my May 2024 5 day stay should take care of the balance then I can tuck my Oyster card away in my to be scrapbooked pile.