London Pass Travel Card or Oyster Card

There is no correct answer that can be given without knowing blow by blow account of your itinerary (which no doubt will change when you are in London) Broadly speaking, few people can make the London Pass make financial sense. It is handy though having a facility to 'skip the queues'. London's transport system is done on zones. All the hotels and main central sights are in zone s 1 and 2. Heathrow Airport and Hampton Court are out in zone 5/6 and Windsor is not covered by Travelcard/Oyster. Broadly speaking if you are making a minimum 2 or 3 underground/bus journeys a day its cheaper to buy a 7 day Travelcard if you are doing this for 5 or more days out of the 7. Otherwise get a Pay As You Go Oyster Card (but this isn't valid for 2 for 1 promotion below) I suspect the cheapest option will be to buy a 7 day Travelcard from a mainline railway station in Central London for zones 1& 2 only. Buying from a mainline railway station means you qualify for the 2 for 1 admissiion promotion to places like the London Zoo and Windsor Castle http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/ For places like Hampton Court you can buy an extention fare for individual journeys outside zone 1/2 . A 7 day Travelcard for all zones is 20 GBP more expensive than one for zones 1 & 2. Its not worth paying for this for just a few journeys outside the centre. At the end of the day you just have to sit down with a sheet of paper and an intended itinerary and work it yourself. Read this web page as background and reference
http://www.londontoolkit.com/briefing/travelcard_oyster.htm

Bob - A follow up question regarding Oyster vs London Pass. From what I have gathered, Oyster makes more financial sense from a pure transportation perspective but London Pass can be better because of the the 2-1 discounts on admission. Here is my question, do both people need a London Pass to get the 2-1 discount or do you just need one London Pass. Here is what I was thinking 1 person buy a London Pass the other an Oyster if I only need on London Travel Pass to get the 2-1.

No need for the London Pass if you want the 2-for-1 discount. Buy a paper travel card at a national rail station. It must have the national rail logo (looks like a squashed tic-tac-toe board) to quailfy. Then get an oyster card with some pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) money loaded on it if you need it. The London Pass does not work economically for most tourists.
And yes- you BOTH have to have either the London Pass or the paper travel cards (or vaild rail travel cards for the day/time period) to get the 2-4-1.

The London Pass is not connected to the 2 for 1 promotion at all - 2 for 1 is totally separate and run by the railways. You have to have a vaildid railways ticket or a Travelcard issued by the railways to qualify for 2 for 1. The London Pass is a flat fee pass where its the same price however many attractions you visit. Personally I'm not at all impressed with the London Pass. It encourages you to visit the places covered by the London Pass, not the places ideally suited to you and to get your moneys worth you have to visit several in a day, for my taste far too rushed. Some of the places like the museums and galleries that are covered by the pass they don't exactly go out of their way to point out they are free admission!, the London Pass just allows an audio guide here, cut price admission to a special exhibition there. As said before, I think the best thing to do is research a little and write down the places and things you want to experience in the timeframe you want to go. Then work out which options fit your need. If you follow the tourist trail unless you have a keen interest in history or architecture you'll soon get tired of visting cathedrals, palaces and classical art. To my minf mix it up a with a few unique experiences only London can provide. e.g. Watch a murder trial at the Old Bailey (free) Heckle at Speakers corner (free) Afternoon Tea at Harrods or similar Fish & Chips from a proper take way fish and chip shop Portobello Road and Camden Lock Markets Brick Lane Walk the south bank of the Thames from the London Eye to Tower Bridge.
Outdoor theatre at Regents Park ...

I really appreciate the replies. A lot of excellent information. What I will do is tally up the admission costs of the sites/attractions we want to see and then deal with it, plus purchase an Oyster card. I visited London in 2007 and was able to see the Tower of London, the Changing of the Guard, and other wonderful excursions; however, this is Part 2 and we want to make the best of our budget and time. I believe the Original Bus Tour company is the best one to do the HOHO tour upon our arrival. Happy Spring!

Ok, let me see if I understand this. We have: 1. Oyster Card 2. London Pass
3. London Travel Card - Which is referred to as the TravelCard in this forum but at http://www.raileurope.com/activities/london-travel-card/index.html it is called the London Travelcard. The Oyster card is a magnetic type card that you swipe as you enter buses and the tube(subway). You can either link it to a credit card or put money on it. The London Pass is a card you pay for and you get free entry to a variety of attractions (probably similar to the Salzburg card). The London Travelcard is a paper item (?) that allows you free use of all buses and tubes in either Zones 1/2 or Zones 1-6 depending on which one you purchase for up to 7 days. Apparently it also gives you access to some 2 for 1 deals. I guess my question is how do you use the TravelCard? Do you just show it to the bus driver and any conductor/security person on the tube? It isn't swipable is it? The TravelCard is issued by the Rail system but does it allow you to ride the train system? For free? For a discount? I'm heading to London for a 8 night trip in May so I'm trying to understand this. Thanks.

@Richard- a "travel card" can be loaded on an Oyster card (along with Pay-as-you-go money). OR you can purchase a paper travel card from a national rail station that allows you to access the 2-for-1 deals the rail companies offer in conjunction with many major tourist sites( if you have a vaild rail ticket that also allows you to use the 2-4-2 offers). The paper card is ed into a "reader" at the turnstiles and is spit back out to you. Oyster cards are "swiped" across a yellow "knob" type reader. The London Pass is a "discount" admission scheme to some tourist sites that also has an option to purchase a travel card". Most people find a travel card (either loaded onto the Oyster or the paper one) much more economical than the London pass in any form.

I understand that Oxford will soon offer a degree program in deciphering London transport ticketing schemes. A doctorate in quantum mechanics will be a prerequisite.

Travelcard comes in 1, 7 day, 1 Month or annual passes and is a flat fee, ride as much as you like pass. The 1 day Travelcard comes as a card. If you buy from a railway station all the other Travelcards come on a card too, buy from anywhere else and it comes on an Oyster Card. The Oyster Card is a magnetic electronic wallet and you can also use it on a Pay As Tou Go basis as well as pass/Travelcard. On Pay As You Go you get a discounted rate on every journey which is charged to your wallet which you deposit an amount of your choosing onto. The crucial point is that there is a daily cap on Pay As You Go (identical to the 1 day Travelcard price) so if you hit that cap you pay no more on that day for further journeys that day. Broadly speaking if you are travelling 5 days or more in a 7 day period its cheaper to get a 7 day Travelcard, less than that an Oyster Card on a pay as you go basis. On the Underground you swipe the Oyster Cards across a special reader attrached to the entrance barrier and again at the end of your journey when exiting the station. On buses you just swipe the Oyster once on boarding (its a flat fare per journey) Travelcards (in card format) you put into a reader in the entrance barrier.
On buses you do nothing with Travelcard, you just board and if challenged by an inspector show your Travelcard. You cannot buy tickets on the buses so the driver is not interested in passengers ticketing. Easy really, its the children's fares thats gets a bit complicated in comparison!

Thank you for the info. It has been years (15?) since I've been in London and back then it was a brief visit so I would simply buy an all day ticket on the tube.

Bob, this is not quite on topic but is a transportation question. Thanks to you I've got the travelcard worked out with hopes for the 2-for-1s still in effect in August. Now I'm working on how to get directly from London to Southampton. I've found a site that shows the train taking about 2 hours for about 34 pounds and the bus at 3 hours for 12 pounds. We're staying very close to Victoria Station. Is there a way to use our 7-day travelcard for any part of this travel, or do we have to pick either the train or the bus? Thanks for being our source for all things London!

Bob and everyone, thank you for the excellent information. This is what I plan to do and please correct me if I still don't have it down pat. I agree with j.c. about possibly needing a degree in deciphering London transport ticketing schemes. But since I understand American footbal quite well, I think I may have a strategy. For Hampton Court, I can go to a railway station such as Waterloo since I am staying in that area and purchase a way one extension fare on the train as I plan to return by boat and qualify for the 2 for 1 admission to Hampton Court. For Windsor, I believe I can purchase a paper travel card at Waterloo and qualify for the 2 for 1 admission as well. For the rest of my stay in London, I would be travelling by tube or bus in Zones 1 and 2 and my Oyster card will be just fine. The tube is such great fun and easy to get around London. I am planning to purchase tickets ahead of time for the Globe, and using Rick Steves book for a discount on the Original Bus Tour.
Otherwise, I will be mixing up my visit by enjoying Hyde Park, walking tours (Beatles!), walking the South Bank, and hopefully coming across a pub or two or three frequented by locals (on the South Bank).

Kare, wouldn't your 7 day travelcard you purchase at the rail station with the National Rail logo work for all your tube travel? Then you wouldn't need the Oyster card. At least it's my understanding that this travelcard works for all your tube and bus travel for the zones you purchase it for, plus two of you having the card in hand gets you the 2 for 1 if it hasn't expired. I'm doing some of the same things in August, including the train to Hampton Court and boat back, and believe we can use our travelcard for part of the journey, then buy the extension as you say for the rest of the trip. I found online that by having the travelcard in hand we can also get a third off the boat fare back to London (10 pounds per person instead of 15). I looked at the London Pass also but don't think the expense is justified, especially if the 2 for 1 is in effect for enough of the things we plan to do.

Kare If the only 2-4-1 you are doing is Windsor Castle you don't need a Travelcard from Waterloo. A simple off peak day return will be what will get you on the train (after the morning rush or your fare is much higher for an anytime ticket) and because you have a rail ticket to your destination in Windsor you qualify for the 2-4-1. The Travelcard is simply a way to have a rail issued ticket which qualifies for the 2-4-1.

You cannot use Travelcard for journeys or part journeys to Southampton. Probably the cheapest and only direct option for you are the Greyhound and National Express coaches that go head to head to Southampton from Victoria. Its a bit of a price war at the moment with Greyhound the 'new kids on the block' and National Express the dominant carrier in the UK. (Yes, its ultimately the same Greyhound as the US who are owned by a British Company). Online you can get tickets for as low as 2 GBP at the moment. If you are going to Southampton for a cruise watch the luggage allowance. National Express have a limit of 2 cases neither of which should weigh more than 20 kg (44lbs) plus small hand luggage like handbags/laptops. By rail there is a direct train to Southampton from Victoria which goes the long way to Southampton. The cheapest option is on-line by train in advance on Megatrain, you can get tickets as low 5 GBP, probably from London Waterloo. The trains are the same trains as the full price tickets. North Americans sometimes have problems with getting their cards to work on this site. The direct train line is South West trains from London Waterloo to Southampton, (South West own megatrain). From Victoria, nearly every train stops at Clapham Junction where you can change to the Waterloo trains, though be ready for dragging your luggage up and down stairs when changing platforms.
If your destination is a cruise, there are 4 cruise terminals. Youi'll pay 6-9 GBP for a taxi from the bus/rail station to the cruise terminal.

Thanks, Bob! I had found the South West trains, but the cheaper buses were looking like the best choice and don't take significantly more time since we'll plan for plenty of time to travel that day. We've learned to travel well with one 21" bag each plus a backpack, so luggage won't be a problem. I had seen references to Greyhound but didn't realize that they were new to the scene. Depending on the cost and location for Greyhound we would probably consider National as the first choice since we will be staying right by the Victoria Coach Station; but if GH is significantly cheaper it would be worth going to where it is. We are meeting a cruise and had seen that we might need to take a taxi from the drop-off point to the ship. I love figuring out some of this but really appreciate the opportunity to see if I'm on the right track and pick up information and details I didn't know. I'm planning for our group of four so want to know what I'm doing!

Bob and Dellinda, upon reflection once I arrived in London, I'll go to the Waterloo Station and purchase 7 day travel card. It seems to be the best way to go for bus, tube, and rail travel plus the additional 2 for 1 admission benefits. Thank you again.

Unless I'm just missing it (which I hope is the case) - the 2-4-1 doesn't appear to include Windsor Castle. Warwick, yes. But I don't see Windsor.