Do you touch off on buses in London?

Touch in at the start of your journey and touch out at the end on yellow card readers using contactless (card or device). Only touch in on buses and trams. Find out more about touching in and out.



No, you do not touch out (touch off) on London buses. The London bus system operates on a "Flat Fare" model, meaning the price is the same regardless of how far you travel. You only need to "Touch In" on the yellow card reader with your Oyster card, contactless bank card, or mobile device (Apple Pay/Google Pay) when you board. If you attempt to touch out at the end of your journey, you may accidentally be charged for a second journey or "incomplete" fare. In 2026, the "Hopper Fare" remains a high-value feature: after you touch in on your first bus, you can make unlimited bus or tram transfers for free within 60 minutes. This rule is different from the London Underground (Tube) or the Elizabeth Line, where you must touch out at the gates to ensure you are charged the correct zone-based fare and to avoid a "Maximum Fare" penalty.

People Also Ask

You do not need to tap out on London buses or trams, as it is a fixed fare. If you try, the system will either just ignore it (The correct response) or charge you another fare.

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Touch in at the start of your journey and touch out at the end on yellow card readers using contactless (card or device). Only touch in on buses and trams. Find out more about touching in and out. You can pay for someone else's travel with your contactless card or device if they're travelling with you.

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Unspoken etiquette To score extra brownie points with the locals, always, always, always let people off the bus first. Then, let elderly passengers and those who arrived before you filter onto the bus ahead of you. If no seats are available, make sure not to block the aisle, so people can leave easily.

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London buses are card only, so you cannot buy a ticket with cash. Use a Visitor Oyster card*, an Oyster card, a Travelcard or a contactless payment card to pay your fare. Unlike the Tube zone fare system, a single London bus journey costs £1.75 no matter how far you go.

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The bus is on a route that doesn't include stopping there. The bus is going out of service and is not picking up more passengers. The bus is completely full and no-one is getting off at that stop, so no-one will be able to get on and there is no point in stopping.

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Missed Tap Off Cost If you don't have a default set on your card and you forget to tap off at the end of your trip, you'll be charged the fare to the last stop on the train line or bus route and with your fare type and any applicable loyalty discounts applied.

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How to travel cheap in London
  • Get an Oyster card. ...
  • Go contactless. ...
  • Know where you're travelling to. ...
  • Avoid travelling during peak hours. ...
  • Take the bus for long distances. ...
  • Take advantage of the Hopper fare. ...
  • Rent a bike when it's sunny. ...
  • Walk wherever possible.


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London is famous for its frostiness – so much so that lots of people feel silly saying 'hello' and 'thank you' to bus drivers in the capital. But it turns out that we should be greeting our dedicated drivers, with a new survey revealing they're happier when passengers are nicer to them.

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What is the Hopper? Any second bus or tram journey made within one hour of the start of your first journey will be free, if you're using contactless or Oyster pay-as-you-go.

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Why do people in England thank the bus driver when they get off? They do this in the rest of the UK too, and in Ireland - not sure about the rest of Europe. It's just a cultural convention around politeness and etiquette; thanking someone for a service provided (including a paid service) is very customary in the UK.

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Advantages of Contactless Doesn't need to be charged up: One of the main problems with Oyster is that it's a preload system, so you need to have credit on the card in order to use it. You can set it up to automatically reload itself, but if you're a visitor to London this extra hassle might not be worth it.

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There is no price difference between the Oyster card and contactless card. What is this? Every time you travel on London's public transport, your contactless payment card is charged the same fare as your Oyster, including cap prices (the maximum amount you'll pay daily and weekly to travel throughout London).

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How much does an Oyster card cost? The Oyster card costs £7. You then add money to the card to pay for your travel. The £7 fee is not a deposit.

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