Heading into London in a couple of weeks time with the wife and staying overnight. Last time I went we just brought a one day travel card for each day that we were there however the prices have vastly gone up now (£12 per day meaning £48 for the weekend just on underground prices).

From looking on the website it looks like we can just use a our contactless bank cards to use the underground for all journeys (they will all be in zone 1) and the most we will pay per day is £6.40 – have i understood this correct?

Cheers

Yes. Use a contactless card and you pay a max of £6.40 for any number of zone 1 journeys.

Yes. Separate contactless cards for each person (you can’t share) and make sure you each use the same one for every journey for the fare capping.

Try buses too though as you see so much more of the city when above ground 🙂

And make sure you tap out everywhere as well is in.

Does it matter if you use the same card two days in a row? Presumably the cut of period is midnight?

And make sure you tap out everywhere as well is in.

Not if he is using a bus!

According to TfL the Oyster day runs from 0430 to 0429 the following day

And there is no issue using the card 2 days in a row.

same card two days in a row is fine.

and don’t foget London Underground rules:

1. Do not look another passenger in the eye.
2. Where possible, sit two seats, rather than one, away from a fellow passenger
3. Wait at least three minutes before complaining about the tube service/looking at your watch/ pacing the platform
4. Never wait for the barriers to close after the previous passenger before slamming down your Oyster/contactless Card
5. Never try to make small talk with a stranger
6. Shower. Wear Deodorant. Please
7. Always offer a pregnant woman your seat. If you’re not sure if she’s pregnant, pretend you’ve seen something interesting in the distance and move in a “this seat isn’t necessarily for you but it can be if you’re pregnant” manner
8. Do not play your music too loudly. Or talk to your friend too loudly. Or tap your foot too loudly
9. Don’t get caught reading over somebody’s shoulder
10. If you’re going to eat smelly food, make sure it’s from Subway because there’s a pun in there somewhere

and don’t foget London Underground rules:

11. If you’re a bloke, sprawl at a bizarre angle such that your torso impinges on one of the adjacent seat backs, and always have your legs open to a minimum angle of 60 degrees.

Be very certain to touch in and out everywhere even if barrier is open. If you do not you will be charged a penalty fare.

Personaly I would just buy a 1 day zone 1 travel card (£9.00 it seems and Oyster Cap I just looked up is £8.40) and you cannot be penalty charged with a paper ticket.

If you rarely visit London don’t be talked into an Oyster card, you get charged £5 deposit for the card

Another vote for using the buses, best for shorter journeys particularly around the center/sights. Longer journeys tube is faster.

Zone 1?
Boris bikes, £2 per person per day.
Far better than the alternatives!

CFH not the greatest option for cold and wet January though is it ? Have to confess I’ve not been on once since early December.

Make sure you have proof of payment, has no proof of payment no insurance if involved in an accident.

No.5 LOL we aren’t all bad in London. Even though i am from the East End

Make sure you have a ticket or Oyster, has no proof of payment no insurance if involved in an accident.

Nonsense. The card payment is proof of payment.

Cold? Wet?

MTFU! 😉

If you’re going in by train and off peak, buy it combined with the train ticket – worked out a bit cheaper for me last time I took The Horde to the NHM.

i use oyster with automatic top up. forgot it today, bought a single from Euston to waterloo, four flippin eightey! shudders to think how much ive spent on it last few years!

Walking and cycling in London is way quicker.

grantway – Member

Make sure you have proof of payment, has no proof of payment no insurance if involved in an accident.

Good point. How does the ‘inspector’ thing work with Oyster cards? Can they ping the card and see when it was last used, to verify where you got on the train and what time it was?

And how does it work with contactless payment cards?
I pay with my HSBC card and an inspector gets on…..do I just wave my HSBC card at him and say I’ve swiped it? What is to stop me from just walking through an open gate and then if an inspector challenges me, just say I paid with my bank card?

Not that I would skip payment; think it’s a rubbish thing to do.

if you have a contactless card you don’t need an oyster card. don’t know if it does the daily cap though.

Personally I prefer using the Oyster card as a visitor and do manual top ups. I know it will do the daily cap and I know I can always get a train (I don’t let it run out and make sure there is at least £15 on it at the start of a day).

It is quite scary when you look at how much you go through though compared to other parts of the country. I like travelling round london as it’s easy compared to being out in the countryside but my word it gets expensive.

I complain about Bristol being a lot (£4.80 park and ride) as up in Edinburgh we must have had a 1hr bus journey out of the city for about £2/3.

Don’t stand on the left on the escalator.

Walking and cycling in London is way quicker.

Cycling definitely. From my limited experience of travelling around london it does seem to be the way to do if you live there.

I did see a police cyclist go after a woman who jumped a red light back in November. Was quite amusing to watch, just wish the bus could have kept up with them so we could see he definitely got her.

what chunky said, bastards!

Good point. How does the ‘inspector’ thing work with Oyster cards? Can they ping the card and see when it was last used, to verify where you got on the train and what time it was?

And how does it work with contactless payment cards?
I pay with my HSBC card and an inspector gets on…..do I just wave my HSBC card at him and say I’ve swiped it? What is to stop me from just walking through an open gate and then if an inspector challenges me, just say I paid with my bank card?

Yes, Oyster cards have a very limited amount of data on the card including when they were last touched in/out and balance, which is enough for an inspector to see if you’re being naughty or not.

TFL don’t get that sort of data from contactless so it’s all a bit awkward – inspectors can read a card and that data goes back to get reconciled at the end of the day (along with your journeys as they don’t know what to bill until the day is over). If you touched in, got checked, then touched out within a normal timeframe then all is well. If you hadn’t touched in then they take the penalty fare at the end of the day – if you do that twice then your card gets blocked.

It’s not really a problem as long as you know which card you’re using for travel and stick to it.

Don’t take selfies in the middle of Oxford St on a Saturday afternoon.
Don’t stand around in a group eating fish and chips takeaways

(If you are not Italian these comments may appear obvious)

i use oyster with automatic top up. forgot it today, bought a single from Euston to waterloo, four flippin eightey! shudders to think how much ive spent on it last few years!

@funky – its £2.30 if you pay by Oyster, the contactless should be the same. They only rip you off £4.80 if you pay by cash/card to buy a ticket

Boris bikes arent an option – the last time the wife got on a bike was in Hampshire and the most enjoyable part of it was going downhill to the Stationmasters Tea Rooms!

Cheers for the info – will doo some walking am sure but will also use the tube especially as we are staying near the tower and there is quite a bit she wants to visit across London

Be careful if you have several cards with RFID in the same wallet, like security pass, Oyster, contactless debit/credit card, because the different card radios can interfere with one another. I don’t have a contactless debit card, but I do have a security pass along with my Oyster Card, and had no issues, but some people have.