Oyster PAYG v Travelcards

[SuperOwl86]

Just looking for some advice.

On Sep 5th I am heading to London for a a few days to go and watch some football.

My main problem is deciding if getting an oyster card would be worth while.

I will be arriving into Kings Cross at around 14.00 the plan is to drop my bag off and then maybe head off out for a couple of hours, then around 18.30 looking at heading from London Bridge to Charlton.

On the tuesday will be going along to a couple of museums before heading upto Wembley for the England Wales game.

So with all that just thinking what would be the best option for me.

maybe also worth a mention that I have a Disabled railcard along with a national bus pass.

Any help would be great thank.

 

[island]

Getting an Oyster card is almost always worthwhile. (Main exceptions are when you have a railcard and only want to travel between 1600 and 1900 in the evening on National Rail, or when you are making a very long journey or combination of journeys.)

Make sure you get a London Underground office to load your disabled railcard onto your Oyster card so you get discounted off-peak travel.

 

[MikeWh]

Definitely get an oyster. Your itinerary above suggests that you won't be going outside zone 4 so you'll benefit from the reduced zone 1-4 cap (£4.80) which is cheaper than the paper alternative which would be zone 1-6 (£5.30). You will need to pay a £5 deposit, but that is refundable at the end of the trip, or just keep the card for the next time you visit London. You can purchase the card at Kings Cross/St Pancras underground station and get them to add the railcard discount at the same time. If you want to surrender the Oyster at the end then you can do that at Kings Cross/St Pancras before you leave, but allow a bit of extra time to sort that out.

 

[island]

You will also probably need to fill in a form in order to register the Oyster card prior to getting the railcard discount added. Strictly speaking this doesn't need to be done, but most of the clerks will require it.

 

[All Line Rover]

Definitely get an oyster. Your itinerary above suggests that you won't be going outside zone 4 so you'll benefit from the reduced zone 1-4 cap (£4.80) which is cheaper than the paper alternative which would be zone 1-6 (£5.30). You will need to pay a £5 deposit, but that is refundable at the end of the trip, or just keep the card for the next time you visit London. You can purchase the card at Kings Cross/St Pancras underground station and get them to add the railcard discount at the same time. If you want to surrender the Oyster at the end then you can do that at Kings Cross/St Pancras before you leave, but allow a bit of extra time to sort that out.

*See post by MikeWh below*

Whether the OP believes it is worth the hassle of getting an Oyster card (which involves queuing up to get one, and queuing up to get the deposit back) to save a grand total of 50p per day is really a matter of opinion!

Personally I am not a great supporter of the Oyster system - it is far, far too complicated for most people to understand (including myself). The only reason why I use it is because I think £1.30 a day for unlimited travel in Zones 1-6 with my Zip card is great value! (After reading the TfL website, I am now slightly worried that I will be charged the Peak fare when travelling from London Victoria/London Bridge to East Croydon between 16:00 and 19:00 when using my Zip card. Am I correct about this?)

 

[MikeWh]

The TfL website says here (http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14414.aspx) and here (http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/tickets/national-rail-map.pdf) that the Peak price cap would apply between 16:00 and 19:00 on this route if the OP was travelling on a Railcard-discounted Oyster card. (The website says that the Off-Peak price cap would apply if the OP was travelling on a Railcard-discounted Travelcard.) I hope I've got this correct.

No you haven't, I'm afraid. The off-peak price cap applies all day after 0930 until 0429 the next day. You might get charged peak single fares, but they'll still be capped at the reduced off-peak cap.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

(After reading the TfL website, I am now slightly worried that I will be charged the Peak fare when travelling from London Victoria/London Bridge to East Croydon between 16:00 and 19:00 when using my Zip card. Am I correct about this?)

You will be charged the peak fare, capped at the off-peak cap. If you have already capped then you will be charged nothing.

 

[All Line Rover]

No you haven't, I'm afraid. The off-peak price cap applies all day after 0930 until 0429 the next day. You might get charged peak single fares, but they'll still be capped at the reduced off-peak cap.

Well I would to give a BIG thank you to TfL for making that ever so clear on their website! :roll: Where on earth does it say this!?

Thank you for answering my question. I am still annoyed with TfL! It's as if they are trying to confuse us so as to rip us off!

 

[MikeWh]

Well I would to give a BIG thank you to TfL for making that ever so clear on their website! :roll: Where on earth does it say this!?

Thank you for answering my question. I am still annoyed with TfL! It's as if they are trying to confuse us so as to rip us off!

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14837.aspx

Or you could look at the Peak or Off Peak page on my site.

 

[Paul Kelly]

The web page All Line Rover referred to says "Between 16:00 and 19:00 Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays) it may be cheaper to buy a paper ticket." That is rather confusing IMHO as it could be taken to imply that the off-peak cap doesn't apply between those times. island's description is better; this sentence should instead start with "If you only wish to travel...". As MikeWh says, the off-peak cap applies all day, even in the evening peak, as long as you haven't touched in before 9:30am.

 

[MikeWh]

Personally I am not a great supporter of the Oyster system - it is far, far too complicated for most people to understand

Yet you love the routeing guide!

 

[All Line Rover]

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14837.aspx

Or you could look at the Peak or Off Peak page on my site.

That (well hidden) webpage completely contradicts the information in the "Fares Tables" on the TfL website: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14414.aspx. Just hover your mouse over the question mark next to "Off-Peak Single" and see what it says! :roll:

 

[bnm]

You are confusing the information supplied about Oyster Off Peak Singles with that supplied for the Off Peak Price Cap.

 

[island]

The web page All Line Rover referred to says "Between 16:00 and 19:00 Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays) it may be cheaper to buy a paper ticket." That is rather confusing IMHO as it could be taken to imply that the off-peak cap doesn't apply between those times. island's description is better; this sentence should instead start with "If you only wish to travel...". As MikeWh says, the off-peak cap applies all day, even in the evening peak, as long as you haven't touched in before 9:30am.

To be honest, it's a bit more complex than that. If, for example, you are making an NR return journey with one leg in the evening peak and the other leg off-peak, you will generally want a paper single for the peak journey and Oyster for the other, but only if you're not going to hit the cap for the day with your other travel.

 

[SuperOwl86]

for the info I have posted should i be worried about the peak and off peak times for what i want to do?

eg jumping on a tube at say 7 or 8 to go and grab some breakfast and same for heading to Wembley say around 5.30?

 

[snail]

Whether the OP believes it is worth the hassle of getting an Oyster card (which involves queuing up to get one, and queuing up to get the deposit back) to save a grand total of 50p per day is really a matter of opinion!

Some central London LUL stations have vending machines. Not sure about Kings Cross but there is is definitely one at Russell Square.

 

[island]

for the info I have posted should i be worried about the peak and off peak times for what i want to do?

eg jumping on a tube at say 7 or 8 to go and grab some breakfast and same for heading to Wembley say around 5.30?

Well, you will pay peak fares at both of those times, although the evening fare will count towards your off-peak price cap. If you're using National Rail to get to Wembley, a paper ticket with your DSB discount is likely to be cheaper.

 

[All Line Rover]

You are confusing the information supplied about Oyster Off Peak Singles with that supplied for the Off Peak Price Cap.

Aha! Many thanks for that!

I still find this page particularly confusing: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14414.aspx#tkt-tab-panel-4.

Scroll down to "11-15 National Rail through journeys" (where price caps are mentioned). Zones 1-6 in the "Peak Single" column costs £2.60. Hover over the "Peak Single" question mark and it says: "Peak Oyster single fares apply from 06:30-09:30 and from 16.00-19-00 Monday to Friday (except public holidays)."

However, the "Off-Peak price cap" is £1.30! :roll: Hover over the "Off-Peak price cap" question mark and it says: "Monday-Friday between 09:30 - 04:30 (the following day)."

The amount of contradictory information the TfL website contains is ridiculous! If I, a person who takes an interest in this subject, cannot work out what does or does not apply when using Oyster, how can the average Joe work it out! :roll: (Although "Joe" is probably not the best name to use on this particular forum. )

I based my post on the TfL website because it is "supposed" to be the "authoritative" source of information regarding Oyster. I agree that MikeWh's website is far better. TfL should simply shut down the Oyster section of their website and re-direct everyone to Mike's site!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Yet you love the routeing guide!

Well yes, of course. The thing with Oyster is that it's far too boring! The Routeing Guide is much more fun!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Here is a little summary directed to the OP.

You have two options.

OPTION 1: Buy a Zones 1-6 Off-Peak Travelcard

This will cost £5.30 with your Disabled Railcard discount. You will have to purchase a new one each day from a ticket machine or a ticket office. This will allow unlimited travel throughout Zones 1-6 after 09:30am.

OPTION 2: Get an Oyster card - use it with a Zones 1-4 Off-Peak Price Cap

This will cost £4.80 each day. This will allow unlimited travel throughout Zones 1-4 (which includes Wembley) after 09:30am.

You will have to purchase an Oyster card from a ticket office when you arrive in London. A £5 deposit will be payable. You will also have to load your Disabled-Railcard onto the card (I don't know how complicated this would be) as well as loading some credit. When you have finished with the Oyster card, you can return it and get your £5 deposit refunded, as well as any remaining credit (I think).

Neither option will allow travel before 09:30am. This would cost significantly more.

I don't know how often you visit London, but if you were there for say, 3 days, you would save £1.50 overall by using Oyster.

 

[SuperOwl86]

That makes more sense to me i think.

really would be just 2 days train back is at 10. i guess to save cost i could use my Bus pass to get around before 9.30am then be fine to use zone 1-4 for both days, i am guessing this would not affect which train or tube i got to Charlton and Wembley time wise?

 

[tony_mac]

and take a pen to fill in the registration form if you want to do the railcard on Oyster.

It's taken me about a year to get mine loaded; I've either not had a pen with me or been unable to find a convenient, open, ticket office without a large queue.
It took about 5 minutes, which I think is quite long for a busy station with one window open.....

 

[philjo]

If you are arriving in kings cross the northern ticket hall is the best place to go to as the queues tend to be much shorter than the other lu ticket windows-avoid the ones in the old ticket hall or near the circle line as these are always busy.
Or the FCC office in st pancras is often quick when I have used it.

 

[SuperOwl86]

Would it be much quicker to get the card online and pop to the the ticket office on arrival to add my railcard?

Also how long do oyster cards last before they expire?

 

[Mojo]

There is at least one ticket machine at all LU managed stations, except Gunnersbury, Roding Valley and Queens Park & North of, which can issue Oyster.

You still have to queue up for an office the first time you want your Railcard discount applied.

 

[snail]

Also how long do oyster cards last before they expire?

They don't. If you visit London often it can be worth setting up auto top-up then you never have to bother queuing, just arrive and go. Your railcard discount will be valid until it expires*, you visit a ticket office when you get a new one to re-register it.

* Do DSBs expire?

 

[bnm]

* Do DSBs expire?

Yep. Valid for 1 or 3 years.

 

[LondonJohn]

The queues at Kings Cross Underground are horrendous as you have foreign Eurostar arrivals as well as 2 mainline station arrivals. There are a couple of newsagents across the road from the station that are Oyster Stops who will sell an oyster card but not load the railcard discount. Railcard discount will most definitely save money if you are not going to travel much or for the convenience pay £1 more in total and get 2 x paper tickets.

 

[All Line Rover]

It is possible to buy a paper travelcard from a ticket machine.

Just type in "Zones 1-6", select your disabled railcard discount, and purchase the £5.30 ticket that comes up

 

[dzug2]

You can do all your travel for nothing on buses using your bus pass. It does of course take a lot longer

 

[SuperOwl86]

Thanks for all the help guys will order my card in a mo from the website and add the railcard when i arrive into London.

 

[SS4]

If I recall correctly Oyster cards ordered online are automatically registered which will save you a lot of time filling in the form and registering it. The clerk at Euston Square managed to load my Y-P railcard which was bought online virtually instantly.

Depending on where you're going you may find it easier to get a free bus to Euston Square, Great Portland Street or Warren Street to load your railcard onto since they're likelier to be quieter than Kings Cross (unsure about Warren Street)

 

[SuperOwl86]

Dont think it will be that bad around 2pm but will take advice on board.