Adding railcard to Oyster

[The_Van]

I've got my senior railcard through and understand it needs to be added to my Oyster card

I'll be at Liverpool Street tomorrow, is this done at the TFL ticket machines by the staff or can I go to the visitor kiosk in the ticket hall? Presumably I can't go to the National Rail ticket office

Tia

 

[alholmes]

Correct, either by staff in the TfL ticket hall, or at the TfL visitor centre.

 

[ClivePage]

But allow plenty of time. I got a new Railcard the other day and had to add it to my Oyster Card. At St.Pancras, which is not a small unimportant station, I had to visit *three* different TfL gatelines and try several members of TfL staff at each one before I could finally get the attention of one who was qualified to do it. Total time maybe 15 minutes.

 

[The_Van]

Thanks both, I'll try the visitor centre at LLS first

 

[signed]

At St.Pancras, which is not a small unimportant station

The Visitor Centre at KGX/STP underground can do it, took 5min with the time to buy the card included

 

[DelW]

Having renewed my senior card in August, I've still failed to get it added to my Oyster after three tries, at Marylebone and at Waterloo. TfL staff were either unable to do it (twice) or too busy (once). I'm usually making cross-London connections without a Maltese Cross ticket, so have limited time to hang around. I hadn't thought of trying a visitor centre, though I'm not sure any would have been convenient anyway.

 

[MrJeeves]

Having renewed my senior card in August, I've still failed to get it added to my Oyster after three tries, at Marylebone and at Waterloo.

Quite annoying, since I have had great success at Marylebone, with one member of staff actually seeming excited at the opportunity to do it!

 

[Hadders]

I normally get my railcard discount added to my Oyster card at Kings Cross St Pancras (tube ticket hall). Only once has a staff ember claimed it couldn't be done but they were swiftly corrected!

 

[The_Van]

Took 2 minutes to do it at the TFL kiosk.at Liverpool St this morning and no queue either

 

[OscarH]

I've had good success at Farringdon and Victoria (Cardinal Place). Kings Cross St Pancras has done it for me, but has made me try at least 3 different machine banks to find someone who could, not a fast option

 

[mb]

I bought a £10 Network Railcard via O2 this week and I'm so confused as to whether I can use it on the tubes and buses. I know I can't add it to my Contactless, but I found an old first-gen Oyster card.

A very unhelpful (as usual) staff member at Hillingdon yesterday told me it's for rail only, but the TfL website says you can use it on tubes and buses as long as it's Oyster.

Anyone know what's possible and what I should be asking? I'm not surprised it is dependent on getting the right person to add it though.

I am at Euston next week so might try my luck there.

 

[danm14]

A Network Railcard cannot be added to Oyster.

You can buy paper Travelcards using it at a discount, and these are valid on Buses, Trams and the Underground just like any other Travelcard.

 

[Haywain]

I bought a £10 Network Railcard via O2 this week and I'm so confused as to whether I can use it on the tubes and buses.

You can use it on tube and bus as long as you are using paper tickets, such as a discounted Day Travelcard (subject to minimum fare and time restrictions on weekdays). It cannot be added to Oyster.

 

[Watershed]

I bought a £10 Network Railcard via O2 this week and I'm so confused as to whether I can use it on the tubes and buses. I know I can't add it to my Contactless, but I found an old first-gen Oyster card.

A very unhelpful (as usual) staff member at Hillingdon yesterday told me it's for rail only, but the TfL website says you can use it on tubes and buses as long as it's Oyster.

Anyone know what's possible and what I should be asking? I'm not surprised it is dependent on getting the right person to add it though.

I am at Euston next week so might try my luck there.

In short, it's complicated.

An Oyster card can be used to PAYG on all rail, Tube, DLR and tram services in the London Zones, and at a few stations beyond the zones on specific routes. It can also be used on all TfL buses (whether inside the Zones or not).

A Network Railcard can't be applied to an Oyster card. This is predominantly because it has a minimum fare of £13 on weekdays, and of course most Oyster PAYG fares are far less than this. Some of the caps are above £13 but you still don't get any discount on these.

You can use your Network Railcard to buy discounted paper/smartcard Day Travelcards after 10am on weekdays, but in most cases these tend to cost more than the equivalent Oyster cap. There are some exceptions, of course - notably on weekends, where neither the £13 minimum fare nor the 10am restriction applies.

If you want to get a discount on Oyster PAYG travel, you can buy a season ticket that qualifies for an Annual Gold Card (the cheapest one is around £200/year) and apply the Gold Card to your Oyster card. You will then get a 1/3 discount on off-peak PAYG rail fares (whether Tube/DLR or National Rail) and off-peak daily caps (which buses count towards, even though the individual bus fares aren't discounted by a Railcard).

The Network Railcard can also be used to buy discounted PlusBus tickets for towns/cities outside of London.

 

[mb]

In short, it's complicated.

An Oyster card can be used to PAYG on all rail, Tube, DLR and tram services in the London Zones, and at a few stations beyond the zones on specific routes. It can also be used on all TfL buses (whether inside the Zones or not).

A Network Railcard can't be applied to an Oyster card. This is predominantly because it has a minimum fare of £13 on weekdays, and of course most Oyster PAYG fares are far less than this. Some of the caps are above £13 but you still don't get any discount on these.

You can use your Network Railcard to buy discounted paper/smartcard Day Travelcards after 10am on weekdays, but in most cases these tend to cost more than the equivalent Oyster cap. There are some exceptions, of course - notably on weekends, where neither the £13 minimum fare nor the 10am restriction applies.

If you want to get a discount on Oyster PAYG travel, you can buy a season ticket that qualifies for an Annual Gold Card (the cheapest one is around £200/year) and apply the Gold Card to your Oyster card. You will then get a 1/3 discount on off-peak PAYG rail fares (whether Tube/DLR or National Rail) and off-peak daily caps (which buses count towards, even though the individual bus fares aren't discounted by a Railcard).

The Network Railcard can also be used to buy discounted PlusBus tickets for towns/cities outside of London.

Thank you for this excellent, detailed reply. I know now where I have been misunderstanding it.

You're spot on that it is complicated!