Are Oyster cards cheaper?

It's more than 50% cheaper than buying a paper Travelcard or single tickets with cash. Oyster cards have a daily price cap – once you reach this limit, you won't pay for any additional journeys (excluding Thames Clippers River Bus where there is no capping).



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A Visitor Oyster card* is one of the cheapest ways to pay for single journeys on the bus, Tube, DLR, tram, Uber Boat by Thames Clippers river bus service, London Overground, TfL Rail and most National Rail services in London.

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What discounts can I get with an 18+ Oyster card? If you have an 18+ Student Oyster photocard, you can get 30% off the price of adult-rate Travelcards and Bus & Tram Pass season tickets. A Travelcard season ticket gives you unlimited travel for a week, a month or a year.

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Great value. Pay as you go fares are cheaper than buying a paper single ticket or Day Travelcard. Your Visitor Oyster card offers daily capping. This means you can travel as much as you like in a single day and the amount you pay for your travel is limited (or capped).

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Cons: A £7 cost applies when you get a standard or visitor card. You'll need to top it up in advance of travel. You can't use an Oyster card at any station between Reading and Iver.

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If you plan to stay in London for a couple of days and make two to four journeys a day, or want to travel to the outskirts of the city, then a Visitor Oyster card* may be the cheapest option. It is delivered to your home by post before you arrive in London, saving you time when you arrive.

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About a quarter of contactless payments are now made using either Apple or Google Pay, a figure that is ticking up all the time. In contrast, only 5.7m of the tens of millions of Oyster cards in circulation are still active. And as for paper tickets, in the past month just 1.7% of passengers bought them.

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In conclusion, the main difference between Standard and Visitor Oyster cards is that Standard Oyster cards are reusable, while Visitor Oyster cards are disposable. In addition, standard Oyster cards do not come with a daily price cap, while Visitor Oyster cards do.

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Get an 18+ Student Oyster photocard You can save 30% on Travelcards and Bus & Tram Passes with our 18+ Student Oyster photocard. You can also use this Oyster card to pay as you go but you won't receive the 30% discount. Find the cost of Travelcards and Bus & Tram Passes.

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Pay as you go You don't have to work out the cost of your journey in advance. You can pay as you go using contactless (card or device), an Oyster card or a Visitor Oyster card. It also offers great value as pay as you go is cheaper than buying single tickets and you get daily and weekly capping.

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Oyster Cards are reusable so you can load and reload your card as many times as you need to while you're here. Visitors can even take their Oyster Cards back home with them and either keep them as souvenirs or hold onto them until their next trip to London!

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If you're visiting London for 3 days or less, the best option is to get the Oyster Card, as it's the most cost-effective system. For stays of over 4 days, we recommend getting the 7-day Travelcard, since it's cheaper than getting 7 x 24-hour travelcards.

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As a general rule a Travelcard is more expensive than an Oyster card or Contactless payment card. The exception is if you make 3 or more journeys for 6 days or more within a 7 day period.

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If you are a non-UK resident , then you choose to either buy a Visitor Oyster card online before you leave home or you can choose to buy one at the TFL visitor centres and Oyster ticket shops in London upon your arrival. The Tramlink Shop, Croydon, is another location where one can be purchased.

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At Oyster Ticket Stops in many newsagents in London (7 Day and Monthly Travelcards) At ticket machines at Tube, London Overground, most Elizabeth line and National Rail stations (7 Day and Monthly Travelcards) At Visitor Centres (All Visitor Centres sell 7 Day and Monthly Travelcards.

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All orders of Travelcards and Visitor Oyster cards are dispatched within 24 hours of being placed, Monday to Friday. Our fulfillment warehouse is closed at the weekends. Any order placed after 08:30 (GMT) on a Friday will be dispatched the following Monday (excluding public holidays).

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60+ London Oyster photocard This allows you to travel for free on most public transport in London. You can apply from two weeks before your 60th birthday.

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