Hi everybody,

I'm from Holland and my english is not so good as it should be....apologise.

In January I will visit London with my two children (age 14 and 16). We will
walk much as we can, but sometimes we have to take the metro (or subway,
tube, underground how do you call this).
We will stay 3 days from 6th to 8th January. What is smart for us to buy? 10
tickets each for the metro or a Travelcard or ...?

I've heard that there's a reduction for children. Can somebody tell me
what's the cheapest solution for us?
I don't like links to sites, but I prefer a personal answer.

Thank you in advance,

Best regards,
Jos Welling
The Netherlands

***Jos*** wrote:
Hi everybody,

I'm from Holland and my english is not so good as it should
be....apologise.
In January I will visit London with my two children (age 14 and 16).
We will walk much as we can, but sometimes we have to take the metro
(or subway, tube, underground how do you call this).
We will stay 3 days from 6th to 8th January. What is smart for us to
buy? 10 tickets each for the metro or a Travelcard or ...?

I've heard that there's a reduction for children. Can somebody tell me
what's the cheapest solution for us?
I don't like links to sites, but I prefer a personal answer.

Thank you in advance,


There are too many variations and possibilities to give a "personal answer"
but here the site with all the info you need.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/

"Brimstone" wrote:

There are too many variations and possibilities to give a "personal answer"
but here the site with all the info you need.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/


Shame really, it used to be quite simple. Tourists bought 1 day, zone 1 only
travel cards if they were going to be in London for just a day or two, or a
weekly zone 1 card if they were going to be there for 3 or more days. Could go
anywhere they wanted on the tube or bus as long as they stayed off during the
early morning rush.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/

I know that site already, but it's very confusing for me.
For example: what is an Oyster card??

Jos

I'm from Holland and my english is not so good as it should be....apologise.

In January I will visit London with my two children (age 14 and 16). We will walk much as we can,
but sometimes we have to take the metro (or subway, tube, underground how do you call this).
We will stay 3 days from 6th to 8th January. What is smart for us to buy? 10 tickets each for the
metro or a Travelcard or ...?

I've heard that there's a reduction for children. Can somebody tell me what's the cheapest
solution for us?
I don't like links to sites, but I prefer a personal answer.

If you buy a 3-day travelcard for yourself you will be able to buy daily childrens
travelcards at £1 per day for your 14 year old child. 16 year olds are counted as
adults so will need an adult ticket also. A 3-day travelcard costs £18.90.

£18.90 + £18.90 + £3 = £40.80

This works out cheaper for you than using 10 single tickets each or Oyster card.

"***Jos***" wrote:

For example: what is an Oyster card??

An Oyster card is a prepaid, stored value, RFID card. The idea is that you pay
in advance for what you think will be your transportation costs for a period of
time and the value of your payment is stored on your card. As you enter and exit
either the Underground or a Bus, you wave your card over a reader. As you exit
the system, the appropriate fare is deducted from your card.

You can buy them anonymously, or you can register your name and address. The
advantage to registering is that any value on the card when lost can be
transfered to a replacement card.

£18.90 + £18.90 + £3 = £40.80

This works out cheaper for you than using 10 single tickets each or Oyster
card.



Thank you very much!
That's the answer where I was waiting for.

Jos

Clark W. Griswold, Jr. wrote:
You can buy them anonymously, or you can register your name and address. The
advantage to registering is that any value on the card when lost can be
transfered to a replacement card.

That being true, it's funny how it doesn't happen. The TfL Oyster
replacement forms have a box asking for an estimate of how much your Pre
Pay balance was. Despite my having registered my card and, indeed,
having it with me (I'd sat on it rather than lost it) the station staff
were unable to check the balance on it and just transfer it. Maybe this
was just incompetence, though. I certainly can't think why it would be
necessary if the system was designed well.

--
Alex Watson s/deadspam/froup/ to reply
http://www.zen24203.zen.co.uk/

In message , ***Jos***
writes

£18.90 + £18.90 + £3 = £40.80

This works out cheaper for you than using 10 single tickets each or Oyster
card.

Thank you very much!
That's the answer where I was waiting for.

It is actually a bit more complicated than that.

This option (a 3-day off-peak travel card) cannot be used before 09.30
on Mondays to Fridays. However, it covers a wide area of London.

There is a cheaper option which can be used at any time (3-day peak-time
travel card) which can be used at any time, but it covers only zones 1
and 2 - that includes most places in Central London that tourists visit,
but not those further out (such as Greenwich or Kew). It costs £15.40.

But it can work out cheaper still to buy daily travelcards. If you only
need zones 1 and 2, and not in peak time, then 3 daily travelcards will
cost £14.70.

In all cases, a travelcard covers underground railways and surface rail
(including the Docklands Light Railway) in the specified zones, plus
buses anywhere in London - and it offers a discount on scheduled
river-boat services.
--
Paul Terry

On Fri, 30 Dec 2005 21:24:59 +0000, Alex Watson
wrote:

Clark W. Griswold, Jr. wrote:
You can buy them anonymously, or you can register your name and address. The
advantage to registering is that any value on the card when lost can be
transfered to a replacement card.

That being true, it's funny how it doesn't happen. The TfL Oyster
replacement forms have a box asking for an estimate of how much your Pre
Pay balance was. Despite my having registered my card and, indeed,
having it with me (I'd sat on it rather than lost it) the station staff
were unable to check the balance on it and just transfer it. Maybe this
was just incompetence, though. I certainly can't think why it would be
necessary if the system was designed well.

If it's any consolation I have just returned from Hong Kong and have
happily used my Octopus card on lots of trips. Unfortunately on my
penultimate journey the card failed completely and would not let me out
of the station. The station assistant readily let me out of the paid
area but trying to get my cash balance back was somewhat amusing. I had
to estimate my balance, net of deposit, and was told that I would get my
money back in 7 days.

As I was leaving the place in about 5 hours that was not entirely
practical so much more faffing around ensued with phone calls and the
station manager being called. More forms, passport checks and then I
got $120HK back - $70 cash and $50 deposit and my card has been
surrendered. Fair play to the MTR for being customer focused and bending
what I assume are the rules that require a time delay while all the
transactions across the various modes are sent into the central clearing
computer and the balance fully ratified. A great shame that the card
failed but even in a more sophisticated and complex set up than Oyster
presently has you still need people and forms and customers being asked
to be truthful.
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!