7 day travelcard with 2/1 discounts

Travel cards will change in 2011. Check with Transport for London before making plans.

Be careful, as said above. Check this web page:- http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14416.aspx That's not the easiest page to navigate, I warn you. Lots of changes throughout the UK because of the austerity budget. In any event, under the old rules, the answer would be either "yes" or "no". If the Travelcards were purchased from TfL, the Underground, they would NOT be valid for the 2 for 1 deal because that is underwritten by the railways. The paper card would only have the Underground Roundel logo on it. You must have a valid train ticket when you redeem the voucher at the attraction. If you purchase the Travelcard from a railway ticket window, then it will also have the National Rail "arrow" logo on it and , when the travelcard is valid it would also be valid for redeeming the voucher for entry that day. Other than the 2 for 1 voucher program, both types of paper travelcard have precisely the same use for travel. You must have a ticket for the full duration of your ticket; London is divided into 9 Underground Zones. Most common tourist attractions are in zones 1 and 2. Heathrow is in zone 6. If you buy a 7 day zone 1 and 2 travelcard you will not be able to use it travelling on the Tube from Heathrow. === Note: If you were not doing the 2 for 1 voucher program you would probably find using a pre-paid Pay-As-You-Go Oyster Card cheaper and easier. As long as you use it correctly the Oyster is guaranteed to give you the cheapest fare, you only touch the reader instead of feeding the card in, you can travel anywhere, nearly, in Greater London including Heathrow by Tube, and it will take the appropriate fare. ... more to come ....

... part 2 ... Locals very rarely use travelcards any longer. You can ride all day on Oyster and because it caps the daily cost at less than a Travelcard you are always ahead. And if you don't use it much or at all or only on buses one day you are not out the daily cost of the travelcard. And, if you are returning to London a few days or months or years leter, they don't expire. And if you're never coming back, or don't want it after you leave you can get any credit remaining and the deposit back. Confused yet, Miff?

I have one more concern I would like to raise. Folk on this Helpline sometimes advocate getting a zone 1 and 2 travelcard for the day or a 7 day one so as to get the discount. There are virtually no trains which can be used only with 1 and 2 yet it is the railways (through the Association of Train Operating Companies - ATOC) which pays for the 2 for 1 discount as a promotion to boost train travel. Yet folk here make sure to buy their London travel passes this way without using the trains which pay for the promotion. It is certainly legal to do so, and tourists usually need to save money. This, in some small way, allows tourists to see more for less money. But, and this is my question: is it morally right?

Thank you for that clear explanation. So, now I understand how it would have worked. And, I had given no thought to the notion that I would be cheating the rail companies, as we plan to take a couple of days out by rail. But, I couldn't feature a train journey on the same day as an "all day" sight - such as the zoo. Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.

Nigel, thanks for the heads up on the change in the travel cards. We leave on the Jan. 12 so I don't have enough time to order my Oyster card online but at least I won't have any surprises when I arrive.

A note about the paper travel cards... They can get demagnetized VERY easily, and they can't replace them for you at the tube stations... My card got demagnetized 3 or 4 days into my 9 day trip, which meant every time i got on or off the tube, I'd have to find a station guard to explain the situation to who would then buzz me in.

Aren't 7 day travel cards issued on an Oyster card, as opposed to paper?

"Aren't 7 day travel cards issued on an Oyster card, as opposed to paper?" You can have it put onto an Oyster card, true. You can also have it on a paper ticket. If its on paper, and bought at a National Rail outlet, and valid on the day, it can be used for the National Rail 2 for 1 promotion. If its not all of those (and certainly not if its on an Oyster card), it can't.