To register your Oyster Card on TfL- do you need a UK address?

I once read in a Frommers guidebook to use your hotel's address. It also playfully suggested using the address for Buckingham Palace.

Your plan sounds fine. You don’t need to add a credit card to your oyster account. You can just top off your Oyster at a ticket machine in a tube station when you need to add more funds.

When I added a senior railcard to my Oyster, I did so by seeing a member of staff at one of the stations. I did not have my oyster registered at the time. I am pretty sure the TFL staff person just entered the address of the tube station when I told him I didn’t live in the UK.

Hi, derek. Okay, first you cannot create a Tfl account until you get to the UK.

Once you get to Heathrow, you will go through passport control and security then head to the Underground entrance to buy your Oyster Card. After you buy the Oyster card, In order to add your National Rail card to it, you must find one of the Tfl gateline staff members at the tube ticket machines near the barriers. Just grab one of them, tell them what you want to do, and they will add the railcard to your Oyster card.

It's very easy and quick—I did it last year and it took no time at all. You do not attach a credit card to it. Instead, you will have to top it off at a tube station when it gets low, and just use your credit card then. Any Visa or MC will work.

I used my hotel's address for my UK address.

You can set it up ahead of time. If you try to access the TFL website from outside the UK, you will be blocked. It only accepts UK IP addresses.

However, if you have a VPN that can connect through the UK, it should work. This gives you a UK IP address to use and the TFL site thinks you are in the UK.

Adding a credit card can be a pain. I just top up at a machine in any tube station.

I have an existing TFL account and similarly must use my VPN and set my virtual location to United Kingdom to login to my account. So, you should be able to set up the account before you leave home.

Any address - any address you like - along with any valid UK post code will suffice.

I had a TFL worker help me register at a ticket machine and an UK address was not required (2023)

For clarity the discount is off tube fares only, not bus fares, and then not in the morning and afternoon Monday to Friday peak periods - 0630 to 0930 and 1600 to 1900.
On National Rail in Greater London and the South East (including the Overground and the Elizabeth Line) the afternoon peak doesn't apply but the morning peak is 0430 to 0930 for Senior railcards.
If I am going beyond Zone 1 and 2 in the afternoon peak then I find that a day off peak Travel Card with senior railcard discount is often (not always) the best value as that has no afternoon restrictions.

Somewhat confusingly registering on the TfL website / app isn't the same as registering the card which is what the staff do for you at the station. The latter needs no address. They generally ask you for your post code as part of the registration details but you can use anything.

Marco, that must have been what they did for me. When the member of staff asked me for my post code and I said I lived in the US, he said he’d use the station’s code.

I must have had an Oyster card for about 20 years, have had my Senior Railcard linked to it for 12 years since eligible and have never had a TFL account. Just get an Oyster when you arrive and ask a member of staff to add the Railcard discount on. You don't need to attach a credit card to the Oyster either. You can top the Oyster card up as and when needed by using any card or cash.

I must have had an Oyster card for about 20 years, have had my Senior Railcard linked to it for 12 years since eligible and have never had a TFL account.

Johnnew52 is correct. You don't need an account, but it can be handy if you want to check the balance on your Oyster card online. However, it's super easy to just check the balance at any tube station—just go over to the ticket machines and you'll see the option there. Plus since you're only there for 3 weeks, it's probably not worth the aggravation.

How much is the senior discount for London Tube? Is it worthwhile to add fund to a new oyster card( I assume that there is a fee for a physical Oyster card) and find a staff member to add our senior rail card or just use credit card to pay Tube fare for each trip? We will be in London for 3 days later this month. Thanks for any suggestions.

How much is the senior discount for London Tube? Is it worthwhile to add fund to a new oyster card( I assume that there is a fee for a physical Oyster card) and find a staff member to add our senior rail card or just use credit card to pay Tube fare for each trip? We will be in London for 3 days later this month. Thanks for any suggestions.

You save 1/3 on offpeak fares. An Oyster card costs 7 GBP. With only 3 days, it is probably not worth buying an Oyster.

The real question is, how does this compare to just tap to pay? Which is also capped yes?

The real question is, how does this compare to just tap to pay? Which is also capped yes?

The cap on an oyster card with the senior discount added to it is ⅓ off the regular daily or weekly cap

@pinehmh1- as you are there for 3 days you only have to save £2.35 a day to make the Oyster card worth it - which shouldn't be difficult. Bear in mind the savings you have made on the rest of your UK travel the potential savings in London are just the icing on the cake.

Does the senior rail card discount applied to an Oyster Card expire after a year? This is the first year I've had the discount on my very old Visitor Oyster Card.

If you have a 3 year Senior Railcard (cheaper than 3 x 1 year) it can be applied for the full 3 years, otherwise the discount has to be re-added every time you get a new railcard- the staff input the unique 15 character alpha numeric number of the railcard.

@pinehmh1- as you are there for 3 days you only have to save £2.35 a day to make the Oyster card worth it - which shouldn't be difficult.

Speaking for myself, I probably would save at most a pound or two if I were only there 3 days. But to pinehmh1, do the math and see if it is worth it to you.

Most tourist trips are within zone 1 and 2. The fares are:
Peak: 2.90 (not discounted)
Off-peak: 2.80 GBP
Off-peak with senior rail card: 1.85 GBP

Therefore, you’d save .95 GBP for each off-peak trip so you need to take 8 off-peak trips before you have recouped the cost of your Oyster card. I typically take 3 to 5 tube rides a day and some of those are during peak times. If you plan to take more trips or travel beyond zone 2, it may save you more. Keep in mind that if you have excess funds in pay-as-you-go funds on your oyster, they can either be saved for a future trip or you can get the funds back at a ticket machine if less than 10 GBP. https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/refunds-and-replacements/oyster-pay-as-you-go-credit-no-longer-needed

Thank you for all who gave advice. I finally got an email answer to the same question from the TfL.
Here's what they wrote:

Thank you for your email form of 5 June about registering your Oyster
card and getting a discount applied.

For security reasons, TFL online accounts can only be registered in
the UK, or using a VPN. You may use the address of the hotel for
setting up an online account in order to access your journey history
and charges applied. Please note that we may ask you to confirm these
details for security reasons, should you require online or telephone
assistance.

You must get the discount set at a Tube, London Overground or TfL Rail
station and at some National Rail stations. To get the discount set at
a Tube station, ask a member of staff to set it for you.

It doesn't look like I have to register the card to get the discount applied. I was able to set up an account from the US using a VPN. I used my zip code in the postal code box and it accepted it.