London

Not necessary. TFL allows you to tap with a credit card. As long as you
use the same card for every tap, you will not be charged once you hit the
daily cap amount.

You can of course get Oyster cards, and some people prefer them because
if you lose an Oyster Card it's not as much of a hassle as losing a credit card.

There are three easy ways to pay for transportation in London:

1) Oyster Card

2) Contactless Credit Card

3) Mobile payments on your phone via Apple Pay or Google Pay.

I've used all three. I have reverted back to the Oyster Card--the same one I've had for years--because I don't want to take out my credit card or phone while using public transport.

Method 4 is a Travelcard- either in day or weekly versions. In the day version it is a paper ticket.

Personally I use contactless and have never lost my card. It's the way I pay for train/bus at home, so I just do the same thing in London.

As already stated these days you can use a tap credit card or debit card.

My personal preference is using an Oyster card.

Why? If I lost it no big deal. Loosing a credit or debit card would cause unlimited and unwanted angst.

So it’s your decision to make.

Been staying in London off and on for decades. Ride the tube and busses on each visit. I use an Oyster card. Easy peasy.

From my POV it’s about your comfort level. Besides that I found securing a holder for the card an enjoyable shopping experience and I’m not a shopper. Google Oyster Card holders and click on images. You can readily see a variety of options.

Got mine at the British Library gift shop.

Keep in mind that if you have any kind of Railcard discount card, like the Senior Discount, it must be loaded onto the Oyster card for usage. So you would have to use the Oyster card to get the discount.

I was in London for the first time last October and received help from staff in the tube buying my Oyster Card.

It is pretty. It was convenient. it seemed like I got some kind of special and it makes a good souvenir to put in your scrapbook or whatever.

I used my Apple Watch for contactless, which meant never fumbling for my wallet or phone.

Claudia, I too love my old Oyster Card and prefer that to not getting my contactless debit card out of my purse. I don't know why I never thought of a holder for it. I bet my cruise lanyard with card holder would do the job. I'm running to my travel closet now to check. Well maybe a leisurely stroll, not running.

Laurie Beth I adore my Oyster Card holder. It’s the Mad Hatter Tea Party from Alice in Wonderland. The art from the original book.

OP, you can easily purchase Oyster card holders in any museum gift shop.

Keep in mind that if you have any kind of Railcard discount card, like the Senior Discount, it must be loaded onto the Oyster card for usage. So you would have to use the Oyster card to get the discount.

I'm assuming you mean that for Railcards that offer London Underground discounts. Just to clarify, that's not true for all Railcard discounts. We used Oyster cards on the Underground in London and had our Two Together railcards loaded into our Railcard app on our phones. Two Together offers no discount on the London Underground.

If you do use your own credit card to tap in, each person must have their own credit or bank card.
Meaning that you can only obtain one ticket for your tap at the time.
It’s the same for most tap in with your own card systems.
I’m with Claudia …I’d rather use an Oyster Card than get out my own credit card each time and possibly lose it!

I'm assuming you mean that for Railcards that offer London Underground discounts. Just to clarify, that's not true for all Railcard
discounts. We used Oyster cards on the Underground in London and had our Two Together railcards loaded into our Railcard app on our phones. Two Together offers no discount on the London Underground.

To further clarify that for qualifying railcards you need to get them registered against your Oyster Card by any staff member using the staff functions on a ticket machine. It isn't just given automatically.
Two Together does not qualify for discounts on Oyster Pay as you Go fares, but does qualify for discounts on off peak Day or Weekly Travelcards. If I use a day all zones Travelcard in London with railcard that saves me £5. If using National Rail in London in the afternoon peak period the travelcard is cheaper than using either Oyster or CC tap and go.
For the discount on Travelcards, although the weekly version has to be loaded on to an Oyster, the Oyster does NOT have to be registered as above. You just buy the discounted travelcard as you would any other rail ticket.

It seems to me paying with Apple Pay on iPhone (or Google Pay on Android phone) is the way to go. Simply tap in & tap out for train and tap in (only) for bus and tram; once reaching daily cap you will be riding free afterward (i.e. a daily pass). No setting up of anything to use iPhone Apple Pay to pay for TFL ticket, and no physical card to carry around. Also a new Oyster card would have cost you £7.

Edit (9/9/2024):
There is no ticket price difference between the Oyster card and contactless card (credit card, Apple Pay, ...); i.e. TfL does not charge additional fee for using contactless card payment. One just has to make sure their contactless credit card payment has no foreign transaction fee.