Travelcards are a flat rate pass where you have unlimited rides for the time period purchased. Oyster / Contactless payment cards are charged on a per journey basis but has a daily maximum you can be charged.
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If you purchase a standard Oyster card, you can add travelcards to your Oyster card if you would like to pre-pay for your travels. The most common reason a visitor would use this option is to add a 7 Day Travelcard.
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).
If you stay in London for 6–7 days and use the underground, trains, and buses every day, the weekly Travelcard is the most cost-effective travel pass. The one-week pass including central London (zones 1-2) is £40.70. It's valid for travel at anytime; there is no peak or off-peak rate.
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. In this case a 7 day Travelcard works out cheaper than an Oyster or Contactless payment card.
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).
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.
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.
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.
Pay as you goYou 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.
A Travelcard (in the zones it's valid for) gives you unlimited travel at any time on bus, Tube, Tram, DLR, London Overground, Elizabeth line and National Rail services in London. You can use it on all buses, and if valid in zones 3, 4, 5 or 6, on all trams.
You can't use Oyster on the following rail services on any journey starting or finishing outside the Pay as you go area: East Midlands Trains, Grand Central, Hull Trains, Virgin Trains, or London North Eastern Railway services.
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. As a tourist in London, it can be worth getting an Oyster Card as part of the London Pass.
Oyster fares and caps are the same whether you use a standard Oyster or a Visitor Oyster, a common misconception. Visitor Oyster cards you pay an activation fee (£5 in 2023) which is non-refundable. If you buy a standard Oyster card in London or online after 4 September 2022 you now have to pay £7 for the card.
If you haven't enough money left before you board a bus, you can make one more journey on this bus (but not change buses).This will create a negative balance on your card, and the card will be blocked for travel until you load money again.
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).
60+ London Oyster photocardThis allows you to travel for free on most public transport in London. You can apply from two weeks before your 60th birthday.