Oyster card in London

Yes indeed. The tube is easy to navigate and compared to my home area, they’re SO frequent! That said, we also enjoy seeing the city on foot.

You can also use contactless card if you prefer.

You can also use contactless card if you prefer.

Do all American issued contactless credit cards work when paying for tube rides? My understanding is not all do. Contact your bank or credit union and ask if your card is accepted when paying for rides.

My Canadian credit card worked for tapping on the tube and trains in May.

Our cc worked fine when we set up an account and used it for 2 weeks in London this summer. You want a contactless card that has no foreign transaction fees. You need a separate, registered card for each rider. https://contactless.tfl.gov.uk/

You can also use contactless card if you prefer.

Before doing so you might want to reflect on the advisability of waving your credit card around in a crowded public place and the potential consequences of having it lost or stolen while you are abroad. Me, I'd rather risk losing an Oyster card. Others may have a higher risk tolerance.

@John I have a low risk tolerance so we each chose a cc that had no other bill pay items attached, was an extra card and I kept both of them in a little zippered, teathered, rfid pouch in a zippered compartment in my cross body Baggallini bag. I took extra precautions and it worked out well for us.

We are currently in London and using Oyster cards. I would only use a credit card if I did something such as Mona describes. If I lose an Oyster card it’s not big deal. A credit card is a different story.

Do you have a smartphone or smart watch? I put my Apple Watch on Express Transit mode and place my wrist near the pad and keep on walking. Couldn’t be easier. If you have both a smart watch and smart smartphone, be consistent in using the same device for any given day. If I didn’t have a smartphone or smartwatch, then I would likely go back to using an oyster card vs. pulling my CC out.

Thanks for your comments and suggestions. Can I buy an Oyster card when I arrive at Heathrow airport? Is a visitor or regular oyster card or cc better?

You can read about the differences in Oyster vs. Visitor Oyster on various sites, such as the official Transport for London site:

https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/visitor-oyster-card

https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/how-to-pay-and-where-to-buy-tickets-and-oyster/buying-tickets-and-oyster

Basically, the Visitor Oyster costs £5 and must be purchased in advance (or at a few places outside of London, such as the Gatwick Express office). You cannot buy it in London.

The regular Oyster costs £7 and can be purchased at most tube stations (including at Heathrow) and at other locations around London. Make sure you understand the process for claiming a refund for unused credit on the card. You don’t get the deposit fee back but you can keep the card and use it again the next time you visit London.

As for using a U.S. credit card for contactless payment, this is our recent experience in London (we just returned a week ago). We have Oyster cards from a previous visit, but decided to see how well our credit cards worked so we could use those instead of adding £££ to our Oysters. Turns out my husband’s Visa from Bank of America did NOT work for contactless payment on London buses. He had been using the card successfully for contactless payment in Italy for 3 weeks (restaurants, grocery stores, etc.) so it was not a problem with the bank. My American Express card, OTOH, was accepted, as expected.

It was convenient to use the contactless credit card, as we did not have to calculate an amount to add to the Oyster card for our planned travel. But since we have only one card that works on London transport, and are regular visitors to London, we will probably just stick with the Oyster cards on future visits.

Thanks so much! Another benefit to the Oyster seems to be the savings on travel compared to using a cc.

The cost of a ride is the same for contactless and an Oyster card tap. The Oyster card has an added, one time cost to purchase. Both methods of tapping and riding have daily caps and cost the same.

My reason for using an Oyster over a tap CC/debit card. If I lost it I’d be fine. Easily replaced. If I lost the CC/debit it would be MORE THAN annoying.

I’d rather travel without angst…

Buy it when you get to London.

London underground is great except for commuter times, just like public transport everywhere.

Download TFL app and London Underground map to your phone.

Can I buy an Oyster card when I arrive at Heathrow airport?

Yep. Follow the signs to the Underground station. When we were there this summer they had uniformed agents there to assist if needed, although the machines that issue the card and top up credit are no harder to use than an ATM.

There are some destinations in further out areas where contactless payment is accepted but Oyster is not. The most common of these for tourists to come across probably is Windsor & Eton Central. There is usually a warning message played over the PA at the previous station to the boundary that Oyster cards are not accepted after that point. Arrive though and it is the same as not having paid for a ticket.

In London I only travel using the Oyster card, super convenient for the buses and the Tube. If you travel after 09:30, the rate is cheaper. Still am using the first one I bought in 2009. What is remaining at the end of the trip, I save for the next time in London.

I still have my Oyster card, ready for my next visit to or through London. I bought mine online from the US, with starter amount (great for arrival after long flight) and received additional discounts to some major sites. It was worth it even if I didn’t use them (I eventually did use one). The card - for others’ stated reasons as well, we’ll worth it.

Fred - when was the last time you used your Oyster card? I have one from 2012 (sadly my last trip there) and when I went to look up if I could add money to it before my trip next year, it said it was a 'first generation' card and would have to be replaced. I'd love to just be able to use that one again.

@ Kristi....The last time in London for me was in the summer of 2018. Obviously, I used the Oyster Card to get around on buses and the Tube.....absolutely no problems. When it runs low, I add on to the amount using cash or the credit card at machines.

Our Oyster cards are from 2016, and we had no issues adding money and using them when we were in London in September.

@ Fred, thanks! I realized after I posted that while my last trip there was in 2012, I actually got the card from a friend visiting me from London in early 2009. I'm not sure how long she'd had it, so it could be from 2008 or earlier (we made a trade - she gave me the Oyster Card, I gave her a DC Smartrip card from the inauguration, which she'd come to watch. win-win!). The card I actually did buy in 2012 in London was for my husband, ahd he lost it at Wesley's Chapel on our last full day there (in a card holder we'd gotten from Parliament the day before too, darn it!).