Oyster card question

For me mailing to Seattle it usually takes about 9 days for mail to get there, and is usually a day or so faster coming the other way- that is calendar day not working days.

Leaving aside the awfully vexed question of oyster vs contactless payment there is zero need to have an Oyster mailed to you- wherever in London you land they can be easily purchased on arrival.

So no need to pay the mailing costs.

Ahhh, thank you. Then I guess we should just purchase our oyster cards upon arrival at Heathrow. ( and not Visitor cards in mail)

Yes. It's very simple and shouldn't take more than a few minutes. There are people around to help if you need it.

Easy to do at Heathrow. No need to purchase the Visitor’s Oyster Card in advance.

Here is a short (and light-hearted) video that shows how easy it is to purchase a card from a machine.
https://youtu.be/LlZ_xDx2Zl0

Thanks all! Good info! You've saved me lots of worries.

There is also an argument for not getting the card at all, if you can pay with your phone or a contactless credit card.

London tourists, stop using Oyster Cards

Contactless credit card is so much easier. If you are concerned about losing the CC, ApplePay still beats Oyster in my experience.

YMMV - to each, his own

Ok so one more question. If we use our contactless charge cards, do we swipe getting ON the bus or train AND ALSO getting OFF?

For bus you only swipe on as fare is fixed. For Tube, etc., you must swipe on and off as zones are involved. In fact, you need to swipe to ope; the gate to leave (except, e.g., DLR, where yo7 have to find exit kiosks as there may be no gate.

Bus- on only as it is a flat fare bus system (£1.75 no matter how long the journey). On the train on and off at the turnstiles/gates. Also on and off the Thames Clippers waterbus system if you use those- on the waterbus only when directed by the boat crew.

Thanks again! Very helpful!

Besides the above good advice, for contactless cards each person needs their own card to swipe in/out. You can't share. If you only have one between you, purchase an Oyster card at the airport for the second person. I used contactless Visa on a trip last year and it worked great.

When I was in NYC last month, I shared a CC to get on the subway with my niece. I would touch the contactless circle with my CC, wait for the green go, then hand the card to her to use. Good to know I can't do that in London with this niece.

or any other niece

Even in NYC if you share a card the extra people don't count towards the weekly cap, and will always be charged at full fare.

Sharing fare cards etc was never a feature used in London so there was no need to replicate it with contactless methods.

We arrived at LHR yesterday and took the Piccadilly line to Green Park station.

Very simple process. One of us tapped a credit card and the other used Apple Pay (linked to the same credit card).

This morning, looking at the credit card app, I can see that it cost $7.09 USD for each of us. Our credit card does not charge foreign currency fees.

We expect to use the Tube quite a bit during our stay, and now we know how to pay for it. :)

With the current exchange rate at 1.26 $ to the £1 that feels all but right on a £5.60 fare.