Hi, I will be in London for a week in July, Saturday to Saturday. Flying into Heathrow and out of London city. We are renting a flat near the High Street Kensington Tube stop. We are a family of 5, 2 adults with a 16, 14 and 10 year old. We most likely will go to Windsor Castle for a day and maybe Bath. What is the best option oyster Card or Travelcard? I also read that there are some discounts if you buy the travelcard.
thanks!
Posted by
NC, United States
970 posts
Sarah, feel free to research this in as much depth as you like. However, if you are anything like me it will just hurt your head. The cost differences between the different schemes, for a family making a short visit, are not really significant, compared to the other trip expenses. However, the crazy complexity of all the discount schemes is well known. Oyster Cards are dead simple to use on the Tube, where you will spend most of your transport time. Get pay-as-you-go cards (you can add money if you use it up). Put 20-30 pounds on each, depending on how often you'll think you'll be moving around. Google "Transport for London" for the definitive stuff about the Tube, buses, etc. It will be the first result returned. One or more of your kids may get to use the Tube free. Worth checking out.
Posted by
Scottsdale, Arizona, United States
124 posts
Sarah, My best research shows that: 1. If you want to use the 2FOR1 discounts you need a travelcard (or a rail ticket valid for that day). The travelcard must be bought at a rail station. You can put a travelcard on an Oyster but that won't be elgible for the 2FOR1 tickets. 2. In my view the 7 day travel card works best since it allows for unlmited travel on the subways/buses in Zones 1&2. It costs only 27.6GBP for the week per adult. I'm not sure how it works with children. 3. The Oyster card requires a deposit which you can get back later. It also requires you to add money to it or possibly link it to a credit card. Personally I just like the fact I know what my cost is ahead of time with the travel card and will definitely be using some of the 2FOR1 discounts. The Oyster called has a daily cap (the most you will pay for travel in zones 1-2) of either 6.6GBP (off peak travel) or 8 GBP (peak). I view that as saying 7 days * 6.6 GBP = 46.2 which is way more than the cost of a 7 day travelcard. Maybe someone more experience will point out the flaws in my thinking.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
32745 posts
Richard - There are no flaws to your thinking. You are correct.
Posted by
OP
boston
20 posts
Thanks! That seems to make a lot of scenes to me. I just need to figure out if it is worth trying to get the children's cards that you need to do in advance for the 14 and 16 year old.
Posted by
London
291 posts
If you thought adults were complicated then if you've got kids that will blow your mind. First of all the easy bit. Your 10 year old travels free on Underground and Buses. 11-15 years old to get child prices on Travelcard and Oyster you need an Oyster ID card. As it takes 3 weeks to process you need to apply on-line and pick the id cards at the visitor centre at Heathrow. These cost 10 GBP each. (If you're using Terminals 4 & 5 its also a pain as the visitor centre requires a free train to get to). Once you've got an ID card you can buy your kids a Travelcard or Oyster at half price. If you don't get an id card your kids opytons are to pay for an individual ticket every journey at child fare, pay full adult fare for Oyster/Travelcard or probably best buy a 1 day child Travelcard each day which strangely doesn't need a photocard. Going back to whats best for adults. Odds are that you require a 7 day Travelcard for zones 1/2 only. Its not worth buying one for zones 1/6 just to cover a couple of trips to Heathrow.
You cannot use Oyster or Travelcard to Bath or Windsor and you cannot buy Travelcards valid for 2 for 1 at Heathrow.