Please sign in to post.

Name of weekly Tube pass

Hi, a few years ago when I went to London with a friend we purchased a weekly pass that you needed a picture( passport size) for, and as I recall it was good for Tube or buses. It was very handy, but I cannot recall what it was called as friend knew all about it and I just handed over my money!

Does such a pass still exist and how much does it cost if it is still available?

Also, on another visit I stayed with friends outside London, on deciding to do a daytrip to Brighton my friend helped me purchase a special ticket, he said it was cheaper for him to do it as he was a resident,, so I guess we were being bits of cheaters , me not being a resident. Does such a ticket still exist? I think it was because of some sort of discount he was entitled to, I really did not pay much attention.
I have no interest in using such a device again, just wondering if there really are cheaper tickets for locals then tourists normally?

thanks

Posted by
291 posts

Things have moved on since your last visit. You probably had a Travelcard which still exists. You require a 7 Day Travelcard. You no longer need photographs. How much it costs depends on how many zones you want to travel. The price goes up too on Friday, Jan 2nd. A Zone 1/2 7 Day Travelcard from then costs 25.80 GBP. Zones 1/2 cover all the main sights and central hotels. Confusingly the 7 Day Travelcard comes physically on an Oyster Card, a smartcard that can be used on the other main pass scheme. If you are in London 5 or more days the Travelcard works out cheaper than Oyster normally.
More details: www.londontoolkit.com/briefing/travelcard.htm

To my knowledge there are no tourist/local differentiation on fares. Having said that a lot of the discount schemes like railcards only make financial sense if you are in the UK several months and children's photocards for free/discounted travel
take 3 weeks to process in London which obviously works against the visitor. The only direct discrimination are for seniors over 60, UK residents over 60 get free bus travel, non residents do not.

Posted by
11507 posts

thanks Bob, thats great for the UK seniors, we don't offer anything so good over here for ours. I would bet the buses are filled with seniors!

Posted by
643 posts

My wife and I bought the one-week travelcard attached to the Oyster Card as soon as we arrived at Paddington Station from Heathrow Airport. Worked like a charm and we didn't need to worry about transit for one week. We used it on the bus and on the tube for seamless travel. We still have them here at home, each has around 5 pounds on it which we'll use when we return to London hopefully soon!

Posted by
3580 posts

Rail prices in Britain have been simplified recently. It is still cheaper to buy tix in advance compared to same-day purchases. The last two years I've bought the "London Plus Pass" thru ETBD which can be an economical way to ride the rails in the southern part of England. The pass came with two passes for train travel between London and the airports. Seniors in the UK can buy a pass that gives discounts on most rail travel over the period of a year. The London + Pass is good for London-Bath travel, which is really a good deal. Check out Rick's RAILPASSES section on this website. In London I used my OYSTER CARD and rode buses at 90p, which is a lot cheaper than the Tube and much more scenic!

Posted by
780 posts

I was in London for a week this month, and I too bought the 7 day travelcard on an oyster card. It cost me 26 pounds, but was worth every pence since I used it at least 4 times a day and got my moneys worth after the third day!

Posted by
17 posts

Hi Bob hope you don't mind the question again. I read that page and it does seem a little confusing. Or maybe it's just me! I am not concerned about a small difference between the cards but I guess getting either card will be a savings compared to buying daily tube tickets? Correct? We are 50yo couples x2 and will be in London about 4 days and arriving at Heathrow.Did I read that you can only buy the passes at certain stations? Just bought Travelodge 19 pound rooms for London so hope its ok! Thanks for your help. cheers Steve

Posted by
356 posts

The Transport for London site (which is the official site) has a list of prices and also a list of retailers on the site: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/default.aspx

A lot of newsagents shops also sell travelcards and Oystercards. I prefer getting mine in a newsagents as the queues are not as bad as in a station.