TFL off peak daily cap question

[John92]

A question that I am sure is easily answerable by someone more knowledgeable by me (have tried looking on TFL website and also this forum for answer but to no avail.... I have also asked a few TFL staff at stations in Zone 5/6 but they didnt know)

For a daily off peak fare cap, travelling after 9.30am, into Zone 1 - could you travel back from Zone 1, during peak hours, be charged a peak fare, but the daily cap would still be an off peak cap? i.e. so you would just hit the off peak faster if travelling back in peak hours?

Related, but different question - is the 5.75 bus cap included in any daily cap? And do the London buses travelled on need to be on the same zone as the daily cap zone area (e.g. if you hit the Zone 1-3 cap for travelling out to Zone, you couldnt (or could?) travel on buses in Zones 5/6 and it would still be covered by the daily cap?).

Hopefully that makes sense! If this has been answered elsewhere, please feel free to redirect me

 

[walkingsophie]

The bus cap is a completely separate system from all the other daily caps.

 

[Benjwri]

A question that I am sure is easily answerable by someone more knowledgeable by me (have tried looking on TFL website and also this forum for answer but to no avail.... I have also asked a few TFL staff at stations in Zone 5/6 but they didnt know)

For a daily off peak fare cap, travelling after 9.30am, into Zone 1 - could you travel back from Zone 1, during peak hours, be charged a peak fare, but the daily cap would still be an off peak cap? i.e. so you would just hit the off peak faster if travelling back in peak hours?

Any fares from travelling in the morning peak (06:30 - 09:30) only count towards the peak cap, however any fares from traveling in the afternoon peak (16:00 - 19:00) will count towards the off peak cap, so yes you would hit the off peak cap quicker compared to traveling in the off peak.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 8 Feb 2026 ==

Related, but different question - is the 5.75 bus cap included in any daily cap? And do the London buses travelled on need to be on the same zone as the daily cap zone area (e.g. if you hit the Zone 1-3 cap for travelling out to Zone, you couldnt (or could?) travel on buses in Zones 5/6 and it would still be covered by the daily cap?).

The bus cap is as mentioned separate, so if you don't meet another cap the buses will be capped at that level. However buses are also included in the other tube and rail caps, so if you hit the Zone 1-3 cap any buses will be included in that. Buses don't have a zone it doesn't matter what zones you have reached the cap in.

 

[John92]

Thank you (and also to Benjwri) for confirming & also replying so quick! - I thought so. The cap being combined is quite beneficial then if you have a "lower" value cap (e.g. Zones 1 or Zones 1-2), as I imagine thats fairly close to the bus daily cap (as you say 5.75, not 5.25 as I calculated wrong).

It would be good if TfL could make this clear on their website. Surprised that YouTube guy Geoff hasnt covered this as I have seen lots of his videos where he talks about lots of unique quirks of the fare system!

 

[EUC]

Thank you (and also to Benjwri) for confirming & also replying so quick! - I thought so. The cap being combined is quite beneficial then if you have a "lower" value cap (e.g. Zones 1 or Zones 1-2), as I imagine thats fairly close to the bus daily cap (as you say 5.75, not 5.25 as I calculated wrong).

It would be good if TfL could make this clear on their website. Surprised that YouTube guy Geoff hasnt covered this as I have seen lots of his videos where he talks about lots of unique quirks of the fare system!

Yes, so the daily cap for Zones 1-2 is £8.90, but you can also make any number of bus journeys on TfL buses wherever you are in London. Last week, for example, I took a local bus from what would be Zone 3 for tube and train to a station in Zone 2. I made 3 separate tube and train journeys (Z1-2, Z2-1, Z2), and caught the bus home. Total cost = £8.90.
The fact that buses are outside the zones nowadays is useful if you have a season travelcard, too. For example, a weekly Z2-3 travelcard costs £33.50. These also allow you to travel on any London bus without reference to the zone a nearby station is in.