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.
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Oyster cardsYou can pay as you go to travel on bus, Tube, tram, DLR, London Overground, most Elizabeth line, IFS Cloud Cable Car and Thames Clippers River Bus services. You can also travel on most National Rail services in London and some outside London.
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.
Oystercards & Travelcards are for travel within London. Neither Cambridge nor Epsom are within London, so you'll have pay for travel to/from London separately.
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). Find prices for daily capping and Day Travelcards. Use your card and save money at restaurants, shops, galleries and entertainment venues.
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.
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).
You can add money to an Oyster card or use contactless (card or device) straight away. You only pay for the journeys you make and it's cheaper than buying a paper single or return ticket (train companies may offer special deals on some journeys).
Can I travel with an Oyster card to Heathrow Airport? You can now use your Visitor Oyster card to pay for Heathrow Express, Elizabeth Line or TfL Rail journeys simply by touching in and out using the card readers on newly installed ticket gates at London Paddington and Heathrow Airport.
The Oyster card was a trailblazer in leading contactless travel in central London and beyond. However, just like they made buying tickets with cash redundant, they themselves are being phased out as more travellers turn to other contactless payment methods.
Never expires: You can stash your Oyster card for your next trip and, even if it is many years later, it will still work. All you need to do is top up when you're there and you're ready to go!
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!
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.
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.
If you want unlimited travel you can buy an Oyster Travelcard Season Ticket. This will let you travel as much as you like on any National Rail, London Overground, London Underground, buses, Docklands Light Railway and Tramlink service within London Zones 1 - 9 (depending on the zones you purchase).
In most cases, paying by card is more convenient than cash, though we do recommend carrying a small amount of cash for parking, taxis, small purchases and tips. Ideally, take a Wise Mastercard and a Visa debit or credit card with you – plus a small amount of cash.
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. You can also buy them in a few newsagents, which will clearly display a sign in their window.
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.
These can be used instead of buying tickets with cash or using an Oyster card. If you have an Apple Pay or Google pay enabled smartphone, you can also use this as a contactless payment option.