TFL contactless payment still has issues from last week’s hack?

Apple Pay or Google Wallet provide an excellent solution to this problem.

Yes they are still having problems. It’s been in the news here. Some students and school children are not able to get their discount rate Oyster passes and it’s making travel very expensive for them. I would not do anything now and wait until closer to your travel date. You always have the option of using contactless payment if you don’t want to give your details to TfL.

The time tentatively suggested for online payments to get fully restored is early next year. The website (not the app) should still work but that might only be with payment cards already registered.

You can still charge Oyster cards in stations.

Yeah, personally I wouldn't bother updating my card details with TfL right now. Just use your credit / debit card at the gateline or on the bus or top up like Marco says at stations. Most convenience stores (with a "PayPoint" terminal) will top up an Oyster too.

I will be going to London for the first time in early December, just a couple of weeks from today. My online search tells me that "TFL" is "Transport for London". I use Apple Pay Goldman Sachs Master Card in the US and France. I have not loaded my Paris metro Navigo Easy card trips onto my iPhone. I use a physical "Navigo card" when in Paris. I have no physical Apple Master Card. I use my iPhone to hold near "point of sale" reader machines to complete purchases. I was planning to get an Oyster card for London Tube transportation. I also have a physical Visa card as backup but have not needed it. Any tips about purchasing an Oyster card would be appreciated.
And now I see several new postings in the last minutes that answer my concerns. Thank you!

PJ, any reason you want to buy an Oyster card when you can just use contacless to pay, either your phone or physical card? That will be easier.

Good question Simon. I've been researching London "3-star" attractions via Rick Steves', Fodors' etc to create my wish list... Westminster, St. Pauls, British Museum, theatre and dining options... I have yet to get myself informed about the Oyster card. Sounds like you are saying that I can load Tube trips onto my iPhone... no need to purchase an Oyster. I need to "get cracking" on infoming myself on using the Tube.

If your trip is not until May, I wouldn't mess with this now.

Kim - pj is coming in early December, not May.
Pj - you can use your iPhone to pay for tube and bus fares in London. No need to buy an Oyster card at all.

I was just there and had no issues with using tap to pay on the Tube, there are daily and weekly caps

Thank you Johnew52. Good to know. I have now read the section on using the Tube in my Rick Steves' London travel guide book. I will be travelling in two weeks (early December) with 2 family members. So I agree that the OP-Mona would do well to read the latest updates for payment methods for the Tube closer to her trip in May. I am a single senior and plan to either use my iPhone that has my Apple Master Card loaded on it or use a physical Visa credit card. I need to test my Apple Watch to make a purchase here in the US as that would be an even easier/safer method to get through the Tube turnstiles. I will avoid the extra cost and hassle of purchasing an Oyster card in advance of my departure. In another thread I read that my 2 travel companions (husband & wife) cannot use the same credit card when passing/entering the turnstile.

I am aware, I was responding to the OP, who is not coming until May.

this is what happens when a new question is asked in the middle of a current thread - it is difficult to separate the questions and answers...

usually better to start a new thread if the question isn't identical

Mona (OP) - Have you considered just using a contactless credit card? Avoid using an Oystercard? Until today I thought an Oystercard was required to use public transportation in London. And my other shocker from my searching today is the high price of a trip on the Tube.

A zone 1-2 daily cap on the network is £8.10 - that will cover all travel in central London. If you think that’s a high price then you’re going to have a lot more surprises about costs in London.

It's all relative - we pay about SGD1 (60p) for a trip on the Singapore MRT, so it's does seem pricey (albeit we don't have a daily cap).

London is expensive but it’s like nowhere else so you have to decide if it’s worth the expense for you.

PJ i have no oyster card anymore. I use my cc as my contactless payment but the cc was replaced with a new one since my August use in London. TfL has informed me that I need to update my cc in their system but right now I, and it seems like a LOT of other contactless users with expired cc’s aren’t able to do this because of the security breach. I will wait until much closer to my next trip to try to update my cc information under my profile in their system.

You don’t need to update anything if you’re not using Oyster. You simply tap your phone or card and pay. No pre registration is necessary.

pj -- You need a payment method for TfL and you have a choice, that payment method may be your contactless bank card, NFC/mobile payment, or an Oyster Card. If you're comfortable with using your contactless bank card or mobile device you're good to go. If you'd rather have an Oyster Card, or you need Oyster Cards to insure that each individual traveling in your party has their own payment method, they can be purchased once you arrive.

If you've not found your way to TfL's site use this link to learn about Oyster, contactless or mobile payment with TfL
https://oyster.tfl.gov.uk/oyster/link/0003.do

Mona - if you are registered with TfL you can I think log details on there. But there is absolutely no need to. You can just turn up and use your contactless card or phone or smart watch to pay.

I have been using the system for years and have never bothered to register.

We registered our cc with TfL. It has come in handy to have an account linked to our cards when we initiate a refund when there was a fare dispute. I will wait until closer to May and see if I’m able to update my card’s numbers in their system or just start tapping in on day of arrival with an unlinked card. I’m so sorry they’ve had this crime to deal with.

I appreciate Mona's explanation for needing TFL registration of a CC in order to dispute a charge. I had never considered that. Yes Mona, the crime is causing ongoing inconvenience, anxiety and uncertainty. My only experience has been using the métro and RER transit in Paris with no issues or fare disputes. I also went back to the TFL site and now see that I misunderstood the chart. It was my Rick Steves' London guide book statement that prompted my initial search... "London has one of the most expensive public transit systems in the world." "Peak time one ride cost L3.40" (=$4.30). In contrast, last month in Paris I reloaded my "Easy" card from a prior trip with 10 rides for 17.35Euros = $1.82 per ride, at any time of day. Thank you all, and especially Mona, for the input. I hope this gets straightened out before your trip in May.

"Peak time one ride cost L3.40" (=$4.30)

If that is in the book then it is not correct. A Zone 1 (all of Central London) Peak Fare paid by Oyster or Contactless is £2.80 or £2.70 Off Peak. Paid by cash which no sensible person would it is £6.70.

But that is before daily or weekly capping.

£3.40 Peak Single is Zones 1 to 3, well outside Visitor London.

The cap for zones 1-2, which will cover pretty much anywhere a tourist will want to go in the centre of London, is £8.10. So 3 tube trips or 2 tube and 2 bus rides and you will be pretty much at the daily limit and every other trip that day will be free. Zone 2 stretches out to Hammersmith for anyone staying out west and to Stratford and Greenwich for example.

There is no online correction yet posted in Rick Steves London Guidebook Updates for page 30 (latest edition now available) "all tourist sights within Zones 1 and 2...one ride between Zones 1 and 2 during peak time costs L3.4.... never pay more than L8.1". I typically take one ride out from my hotel and then one ride back in a given day. I have also read in various travel guides that while Paris is compact, London is sprawling. I may need to make more daily transit trips than I am used to. These posts are so helpful for a first-time London visitor.

pj - some examples of the distances you might find. 3 popular places to stay are around South Kensington, Paddington and the Tower of London. The first 2 are about 5 miles away from the third. The first and third will also be popular locations to travel to from anyone's base. You can obviously stay in areas at some middle point between those 3 but you will still often need to be bouncing around the city by some form of transport and the tube will almost always be the quickest.

If you plan to just stay in the city, you can work on the basis of needing to spend the zone 1-2 cap of £8.10 a day. It may be that some days you will spend less though. Of course your arrival and departure days to airports will cost more, be that LHR or LGW. As will trips to the Harry Potter Studio Tour, Windsor, Kew Gardens or Hampton Palace. But not Greenwich.

The daily cap is a generous cost savings since it is now clear to me that we will be making a few transit trips daily. We are staying near the South Kensington Station. Our list includes Westminister and Churchill War Rooms in one day, the British Museum, the National Gallery, St. Martin's Theater for an evening play, afternoon tea location to be determined, and Harrods just to see the holiday display. Our transport from and back to the airport is pre-arranged and paid. The RS travel forum is such a valuable tool for trip planning. Thank you all.