Oyster vs Rail Travel Card Questions

Generally speaking if you are going to be using the 'card' for 4 or more days, and will use some 2-4-1 discounts, it pays to get the paper travel card. I don't know if you can get the travel card for advance start dates- check the Transport for London Days Out site- or private message Nigel if he doesn't pop in here to answer your question. He works for one of the rail companies in England and lives not too far from London. If you want to use the Rail ticket option to get the 2-4-1s then you must have arrival and departure (we call them round trip, the Brits call them return tickets) that cover the day you use the 2-4-1s It could be arrive Tues. morning and depart Tues. night and use it on Tuesday or arrive Monday and depart Friday and use them Mon., Tuesday, .... Friday. But you must show the ticket(s). I believe it is possible to pay an extra fee to cover additional zone travel at the time you do that travel- again ask Nigel.

DO NOT get the Visitor Oyster card. NO advantage to it. If you decide to use Oyster, just buy one when you arrive from Paris. Load a travel card and some Pay As You Go (PAYGO) cash on the card. It will do all the calculations for you. If you need additional PAYGO cash, you can top up your card at any station. If you have any left over (try to watch it and keep to less than 10 GBP), you can get a refund at your last station before departure.

Hope I've helped to clear this always murky water. LOL!

At the end of the 5 days in London, what are you doing next? Are you returning to Paris, or flying home from London, or going elsewhere in the UK or Europe? It matters to your ticket and how you will qualify for the 2 for 1 scheme.

Yes, you can use Oyster to Hampton Court.

We plan to turn in our car at Heathrow and take a train in to London for a week, then return to fly out of Heathrow. But I just saw on another website that the rail tickets between Heathrow and London can not be used for the 2-4-1 promotions. Is this true?

iris9 a couple of things. First, poor etiqutte to hitchhike on another poster's question. Best to post your own question to get proper responses. Secondly, are you referring to taking the Heathrow Express or Connect trains into London? Or are you referring to taking the tube into London?

Nigel, after our 5 days in London, we fly back to Paris on Sunday following the Trooping the Colours for our return flight to Florida. So, unless we buy a train ticket on Sunday morning from Victoria to Heathrow (vs using the Oyster card), our last valid train ticket would be the prior Tuesday return trip to London from the Cottswold...
1) Would a Sunday morning train ticket from Victoria to Heathrow qualify for valid Rail TravelCard 2-4-1 discounts?

2) Would the expired Great Western train ticket used the prior Tuesday to return to London allow us to qualify for the Wednesday- Saturday 2-4-1 discounts?
...Regards & Thank You...Jerry T...

http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/ticket-types.aspx shows what tickets are valid, and which aren't.

There are no valid trains to Heathrow. There are no trains between Victoria and Heathrow. The tube doesn't count.

From http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/faq#13 :

Single tickets - These are valid only on the day of validity. A days
Travelcard must be purchased from a train station and feature the
National Rail Logo.

Return Train Tickets - You will be able to use
your return train tickets with the vouchers at any time between the
outward and return journey - if you came on Thursday and returned on
Sunday, you could use the vouchers on Thursday, Friday, Saturday &
Sunday. In order to do this please ensure that you retain the outward
portion of your ticket as you will need to show both tickets at the
attraction - just ask the staff at the ticket barrier to let you
through which they will be happy to do.

Unfortunately, I believe that your tickets are to leave London and return, not to travel to London and leave again, so it is unlikely that they will be accepted.

I just got back from London and wrote up notes about this topic that may help you. See here: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/london-transport-and-days-out-guide-2-for-1-tips