"Oyster vs. travelcard" Oyster Cards / Travelcards Tip by Dabs

I'm guessing that the #1 question about London is "should I get an Oyster Card or a travelcard?" I've given it a lot of thought on my many visits to London and I almost always get a travelcard although I do have an Oyster Card that I've kept from a previous trip.

Reasons to get a travelcard:

-if you are going for more than 4 days, it may be cheaper to buy a 7 day travelcard which currently costs £30.40 (as of 1/1/13). The daily price cap on an Oyster is £7 off peak or £8.40 peak. At day 5 it becomes cheaper to have a travelcard with off peak travel (5x7=35)and at day 4 (8.40 x 4= 33.60) it becomes cheaper if using peak travel.

Peak Oyster time is from 06:30-09:30 and from 16.00-19-00 Monday to Friday (except public holidays). The travelcard has different peak and off peak than an Oyster, off Peak time for the travelcard is after 9:30am and on the weekends/holidays.

-if you plan on taking trains outside of London, you can show your travelcard and get a discounted train ticket

-2 for 1 offers on places like the Tower of London and Kensington Palace, only available if you have a train ticket OR travelcard with the Crow's Foot logo on it. Purchase the travelcard at a rail station, there is a new requirement to have a photocard with the 7 day travelcard.

-no need to worry about your balance as you do with an Oyster

-no deposit to get back at the end of your trip

Reasons to get an Oyster:

-if you are planning on going outside of London's central zone 1-2 often, examples of tourist sights outside of zone 1-2 are Wimbledon, Richmond, Kew, and Heathrow. Ultimately it should be cheaper with the Oyster although not necessarily so

-you don't plan on hitting the daily cap (somewhere between 4-5 tube rides) and are only in London for a couple of days

Mode: AROUND
Type: Subway/Metro
Website: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/