My family will be traveling to London in June. We will be there for 8 days (4 days, tour out of London, then 3 more days). My kids are 8 and 10, I assume they travel w/ us for free. Any recommendations regarding the type of card we should get?
Posted by
Boulder, CO, USA
780 posts
You can get a 7 day travelcard on an oyster card then just top up with a bit more for the last day. Or you can get a 7 day paper travelcard at any National Rail station that gives discounts and 2 for 1 offers you dont get on the oyster card travelcard.
Kids fares are on this link:
http://www.timeout.com/london/kids/features/5351/Kids_fares_and_Oyster_cards_on_London_Transport.html
Posted by
Hendersonville, TN
98 posts
You would be better off with the Pay As You Go on the Oyster card since it is a split visit. Both or your children are free on bus, tube, trams & DLR as long as a paying adult is with them.
Posted by
OP
Billings, MT
16 posts
Thanks, we'll try out the oyster card.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
I have an alternative suggestion. Whether you and your wife use Oyster cards or travelcards, both of your children will ride free. Buy Oyster cards for yourself and your wife, load some pounds on them, and use them as pay-as-you-go cards. Do not load a 7-day travelcard on them. Then if you want to take advantage of any of the 2-for-1 admission offers provided by National Rail (see www.daysoutguide.co.uk), you can buy paper travelcards from a National Rail station (not travelcards from a Tube station). Buy one-day, zone 1-2 paper travelcards for each day you want to use a 2-for-1 voucher you've printed from the daysoutguide site. Don't use your Oyster cards on days you use the National Rail travelcards.
Posted by
Elmwood, IL, USA
368 posts
If you are planning on buying an oyster card at the airport, I bought them across the machines/tube windows at the visitors center, across the aisle from the madness. The attendent at the tube machines directed me there because I was using a credit card. There was only one person in line.
Posted by
RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk, England
6 posts
A word of warning if you use the Oyster Card!
When leaving the station you have to use your card to exit, well for some reason it was giving us trouble so the guy came over and used his card to let us out. The next time we went it said we didn't have any money left on our cards. When we checked with the so call Customer Service we were told that because we never used the card to exit we were charge the full amount and were now actually neg £4! When I tried to explain to the man what had happend he just said "Sorry that's not my problem" looked around us to the next person in line and yelled "Next"! I thought that kind of thing only happend on TV, I've never had anyone be so rude to me in person! There is no Customer Service when dealing with the London Tube!
So always make sure you use your card to get out!!!