Can you buy an Oyster card at Heathrow?

The most convenient places to buy an Oyster card are Underground stations across London, including Heathrow airport. You can buy one using either cash or your credit/debit card. Although there are a few manned ticket offices in London, the likelihood is that you will buy an Oyster card from a ticket machine.



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You can't buy a Visitor Oyster card in London. Go to the Visitor Shop website to buy your card before you leave home and it will be delivered to your home address.

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Although you can use Oyster for the Heathrow Express, the fare charged is not included in the daily cap. This means you cannot expect free travel around the rest of London zones 1-6 on the day you use your Oyster card for the Heathrow Express. You will need to reach the cap through your additional journeys.

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The London Underground (aka 'the Tube') gets you from Heathrow to central London in under an hour, with trains running every 10 minutes. Heathrow has three underground stations, at Terminal 2/3 and at Terminal 4 and 5. Prices start from £5.50, making it one of the cheapest travel routes to London from Heathrow.

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As part of the London Underground network, you can pay for your journey to or from Heathrow on the Elizabeth Line with a single-use paper ticket, an Oyster Card, or a contactless debit/credit card. It's ALWAYS cheaper to use an Oyster Card or your contactless card than it is to buy a paper ticket.

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Non-UK residents can buy Visitor Oyster cards* before arriving in London, and they are ready to use immediately, so you save time. Standard Oyster cards cost £5 (refundable) and can be purchased on arrival and loaded with credit.

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Unlike Standard Oyster cards, Visitor Oyster cards are disposable and cannot be topped up. Another difference between the two cards is that Visitor Oyster cards come with a daily price cap, which means that you will only pay a certain amount per day, regardless of how many journeys you make.

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You can get an Oyster card:
  1. Online with a contactless and Oyster account, if you live in the UK.
  2. At Oyster Ticket Stops in many newsagents in London.
  3. At all Tube, most London Overground and most Elizabeth line stations.
  4. Some DLR stations.
  5. At Visitor Centres.
  6. At the Tramlink Shop in Croydon.


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Travelling from Heathrow Airport and continuing your day in central London? A £20 Visitor Oyster card will cover the full day of your travel from the airport to central London by tube or TfL Rail (doesn't apply on the Heathrow Express).

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However, Heathrow Airport is in Zone 6, and the daily cap for travel between Zones 1-6 is £14.10. Simply put, get yourself an Oyster Card upon arrival at Heathrow Airport.

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Is it cheaper to use Oyster or contactless? As both cards use the same Pay As You Go system and are compatible with the TfL Oyster & Contactless app, the costs are comparable.

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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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If you only have pay as you go credit on your Oyster card, you can lend it to someone else. Two people can't use the same contactless or Oyster card for a journey. If you have a Travelcard, Bus & Tram Pass or discount added to your Oyster card, you can't lend it to someone else.

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You do not need a ticket for free travel, just the ID Card. You cannot get a standard child rate Oyster card without an Oyster ID Card.

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Heathrow Airport is in Zone 6 of London's zoned transport system. To understand the zone system which is the basis for all fares on the London Underground, read our using the London Underground page. London's tube system is called the London Underground and not Metro London, as is common in some other Major cities.

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The fares on the central section of the Elizabeth line (Paddington to Liverpool Street) are the same as the fares on London Underground in Zone 1. So travelling from Paddington to Liverpool Street would cost you £2.80 – the same as the Tube.

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Travel free on bus, tram, Tube, DLR, London Overground and Elizabeth line. You can travel free on TfL services with your Older Person's Freedom Pass from 09:00 weekdays and anytime at weekends and on bank holidays.

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