I'm taking my family to london this summer and was trying to determine which
card was better - Travel Card or Oyster Card. We'll be traveling within
Zones 1 & 2 mainly.

Thanks for the help!

On Feb 18, 4:13 pm, "John L." wrote:
I'm taking my family to london this summer and was trying to determine which
card was better - Travel Card or Oyster Card. We'll be traveling within
Zones 1 & 2 mainly.

Thanks for the help!

3 Oyster cards are better at least because it is hard for people
sitting down to destroy them.

On 18 Feb, 16:40, Offramp wrote:
On Feb 18, 4:13 pm, "John L." wrote:

I'm taking my family to london this summer and was trying to determine which
card was better - Travel Card or Oyster Card. We'll be traveling within
Zones 1 & *2 mainly.

Thanks for the help!

3 Oyster cards are better at least because it is hard for people
sitting down to destroy them.

But it depends entirely on whether you'll be using National Rail
within those zones and whether you will make enough individual trips
to reach the Oyster capping limit. The day travelcard costs a few p
more than the Oyster capping limit for whichever zones you need, but
gives total flexibility, while Pay As You Go (which you probably mean
by Oyster) isn't valid on most NR. Also, if you haven't already got
Oyster cards, you'll have to pay a £3 deposit for each one. I'd think
that a day travelcard is almost certainly the best bet for occasional
day visitors to London in nearly all circumstances.

You can get a day return combined with travelcard which saves a bit by
not charging you for arriving in London through those zones in the
first place.

And remember that you can travel on buses in any zone with a
travelcard, eg if you use Underground and trains within zones 1 and 2
and a bus to go further out, you would only need a zone 1 and 2
travelcard.

On 18 Feb, 16:40, Offramp wrote:
On Feb 18, 4:13 pm, "John L." wrote:

I'm taking my family to london this summer and was trying to determine which
card was better - Travel Card or Oyster Card. We'll be traveling within
Zones 1 & 2 mainly.

Thanks for the help!

3 Oyster cards are better at least because it is hard for people
sitting down to destroy them.


I wouldn't be so sure of that. I'm pretty sure that I managed to break
three Oyster cards because I kept them in my back trouser pocket all
the time - force of habit meant that's where I had kept my tickets all
the years. I might have had my suspicions after the second, but was
only sure of this after the third! AIUI basically what happens is that
the tiny antennae in the card break when the card gets bent enough -
and that's exactly what I was subjecting mine to day after day after
day!

And yes, I now keep my Oyster card elsewhere about my person, and
haven't had a problem at all. Don't get me wrong - I think they're
pretty rugged, just don't keep them in your back pockets!

Paper Day Travelcards are fairly resilient in my experience, as long
as you don't perform origami with them.

Anyway, I definitely don't think the OP should choose his ticket
according to any such criteria!

On Feb 18, 6:42*pm, Mizter T wrote:
On 18 Feb, 16:40, Offramp wrote:

On Feb 18, 4:13 pm, "John L." wrote:

I'm taking my family to london this summer and was trying to determine which
card was better - Travel Card or Oyster Card. We'll be traveling within
Zones 1 & *2 mainly.

Thanks for the help!

3 Oyster cards are better at least because it is hard for people
sitting down to destroy them.

I wouldn't be so sure of that. I'm pretty sure that I managed to break
three Oyster cards because I kept them in my back trouser pocket all
the time - force of habit meant that's where I had kept my tickets all
the years. I might have had my suspicions after the second, but was
only sure of this after the third! AIUI basically what happens is that
the tiny antennae in the card break when the card gets bent enough -
and that's exactly what I was subjecting mine to day after day after
day!

And yes, I now keep my Oyster card elsewhere about my person, and
haven't had a problem at all. Don't get me wrong - I think they're
pretty rugged, just don't keep them in your back pockets!

Paper Day Travelcards are fairly resilient in my experience, as long
as you don't perform origami with them.

Anyway, I definitely don't think the OP should choose his ticket
according to any such criteria!

Years ago I left an annual travelcard (from NR/BR, ie all paper, as
opposed to the paper-coated plastic ones LU did) overnight in what
became a puddle from a leaking kettle so it was completely soaked
through.

After it dried out it continued to work the barriers, and even
continued to to so when the paper layers started to come apart,
although eventually I had to get a duplicate.

Mizter T wrote:


I wouldn't be so sure of that. I'm pretty sure that I managed to break
three Oyster cards because I kept them in my back trouser pocket all
the time - force of habit meant that's where I had kept my tickets all
the years. I might have had my suspicions after the second, but was
only sure of this after the third! AIUI basically what happens is that
the tiny antennae in the card break when the card gets bent enough -
and that's exactly what I was subjecting mine to day after day after
day!


I think something similar must've happened to my Oyster Card when I had
one. It just stopped working for no obvious reason.

I decided to give up and stick with proper tickets untuil the technology
gets more reliable. IMHO it's worth paying the little bit extra for the
reassurance.

On 19 Feb, 11:26, "solar penguin"
wrote:
Mizter T wrote:

I wouldn't be so sure of that. I'm pretty sure that I managed to break
three Oyster cards because I kept them in my back trouser pocket all
the time - force of habit meant that's where I had kept my tickets all
the years. I might have had my suspicions after the second, but was
only sure of this after the third! AIUI basically what happens is that
the tiny antennae in the card break when the card gets bent enough -
and that's exactly what I was subjecting mine to day after day after
day!

I think something similar must've happened to my Oyster Card when I had
one. It just stopped working for no obvious reason.

I decided to give up and stick with proper tickets until the technology
gets more reliable. IMHO it's worth paying the little bit extra for the
reassurance.


I think the technology is pretty reliable - I know people who are
still using their original Oyster card that they got back in 2003,
having been using it on a near daily basis ever since.

I certainly ain't going to start paying £3 or £4 for a single
Underground journey, or pay £2 for a bus fare just for the sake of
'reassurance', because I don't think anyone really needs to worry
about that. If I did buy paper tickets I'd end up paying well over the
odds all the time, buying Day Travelcards for a few journeys around
town which I would have paid significantly less for using Oyster -
quite often I never reaching any daily cap anyway. If I have a season
Travelcard on Oyster then again I'll save in comparison to having it
on paper when it comes to getting ticket extensions for journeys
outside my zones (at least on the Underground and DLR).

No doubt I'm sure incremental improvements are possible to the system
and any such improvements are of course most welcome (whether it be to
the cards themselves or to the validator equipment) - indeed perhaps
more recent Oyster cards have already been improved in comparison to
the first generation ones, though I've no idea if that has happened at
all yet. Plus there is always the possibility of a dodgy batch of
cards, though maybe that was more likely in the early years.

I was annoyed when my card broke, and yet more annoyed when it
happened again - it was a fuss going to get them replaced, especially
as this happened early on and not all the Tube ticket office staff
were that clued up as to the proceedure for replacements. However I
understand that things have improved very significantly in that
department as staff have become familiar with the system.

But since I figured out that keeping my Oyster card in my back pocket
was a bad idea and stopped doing so I've had no problems at all. So
that's my basic bit of advice - by all means get and use an Oyster
card, just don't sit on it.

On Feb 19, 12:25*pm, Mizter T wrote:
On 19 Feb, 11:26, "solar *penguin"
wrote:





Mizter T wrote:

I wouldn't be so sure of that. I'm pretty sure that I managed to break
three Oyster cards because I kept them in my back trouser pocket all
the time - force of habit meant that's where I had kept my tickets all
the years. I might have had my suspicions after the second, but was
only sure of this after the third! AIUI basically what happens is that
the tiny antennae in the card break when the card gets bent enough -
and that's exactly what I was subjecting mine to day after day after
day!

I think something similar must've happened to my Oyster Card when I had
one. *It just stopped working for no obvious reason.

I decided to give up and stick with proper tickets until the technology
gets more reliable. *IMHO it's worth paying the little bit extra for the
reassurance.

I think the technology is pretty reliable - I know people who are
still using their original Oyster card that they got back in 2003,
having been using it on a near daily basis ever since.

I certainly ain't going to start paying £3 or £4 for a single
Underground journey, or pay £2 for a bus fare just for the sake of
'reassurance', because I don't think anyone really needs to worry
about that. If I did buy paper tickets I'd end up paying well over the
odds all the time, buying Day Travelcards for a few journeys around
town which I would have paid significantly less for using Oyster -
quite often I never reaching any daily cap anyway. If I have a season
Travelcard on Oyster then again I'll save in comparison to having it
on paper when it comes to getting ticket extensions for journeys
outside my zones (at least on the Underground and DLR).

No doubt I'm sure incremental improvements are possible to the system
and any such improvements are of course most welcome (whether it be to
the cards themselves or to the validator equipment) - indeed perhaps
more recent Oyster cards have already been improved in comparison to
the first generation ones, though I've no idea if that has happened at
all yet. Plus there is always the possibility of a dodgy batch of
cards, though maybe that was more likely in the early years.

I was annoyed when my card broke, and yet more annoyed when it
happened again - it was a fuss going to get them replaced, especially
as this happened early on and not all the Tube ticket office staff
were that clued up as to the proceedure for replacements. However I
understand that things have improved very significantly in that
department as staff have become familiar with the system.

But since I figured out that keeping my Oyster card in my back pocket
was a bad idea and stopped doing so I've had no problems at all. So
that's my basic bit of advice - by all means get and use an Oyster
card, just don't sit on it

A question that springs to mind: if your balance/travelcard expiry
could be ascertained from quoting the ID of the card (perhaps
unregistered), did you have to get a new Oyster and register it and
make a journey via a specified station before you could be reimbursed/
valid again?

It occurs to me that there are issues with transferring balances
between different cards, particularly if you can't prove that you are
the same person. Can't get my head round what they all are for the
minute ...

Mizter T wrote:

But since I figured out that keeping my Oyster card in my back pocket
was a bad idea and stopped doing so I've had no problems at all. So
that's my basic bit of advice - by all means get and use an Oyster
card, just don't sit on it.

For what it's worth, I've had mine in my back pocket (and there's been
an awful lot of sitting on floors, sitting down, etc), since I first got
it in 2003.

Mizter T wrote:

On 19 Feb, 11:26, "solar penguin"
wrote:

I decided to give up and stick with proper tickets until the
technology gets more reliable. IMHO it's worth paying the little
bit extra for the reassurance.


I think the technology is pretty reliable - I know people who are
still using their original Oyster card that they got back in 2003,
having been using it on a near daily basis ever since.

I certainly ain't going to start paying £3 or £4 for a single
Underground journey, or pay £2 for a bus fare just for the sake of
'reassurance', because I don't think anyone really needs to worry
about that. If I did buy paper tickets I'd end up paying well over the
odds all the time, buying Day Travelcards for a few journeys around
town which I would have paid significantly less for using Oyster -
quite often I never reaching any daily cap anyway.

I live in South London, and most of my journeys involve trains, so I
have to get Day Travelcards anyway. I only ever needed to use Oyster
once or twice a year. (In fact I thought it was the lack of use that
caused the card to seize up!)

I was annoyed when my card broke, and yet more annoyed when it
happened again - it was a fuss going to get them replaced, especially
as this happened early on and not all the Tube ticket office staff
were that clued up as to the proceedure for replacements. However I
understand that things have improved very significantly in that
department as staff have become familiar with the system.


I'm nowhere near a tube ticket office, but woman in the newsagents was
certain that the broken card couldn't be replaced if it was my fault
that I'd broken it. I'd have to buy a new one. And there was no chance
of getting back the money stored on the old card, because if she
couldn't even read it in the first place, there was no way she could
know how much money there was.

Are you saying that she was wrong? Or that tube station staff have
better facilities for dealing with faulty cards?

But since I figured out that keeping my Oyster card in my back pocket
was a bad idea and stopped doing so I've had no problems at all. So
that's my basic bit of advice - by all means get and use an Oyster
card, just don't sit on it.

Maybe I'll think about it if PAYG ever gets inflicted on the stations
round here. But until then, I'll stick with what's most reliable, even
if it does mean paying a quid or two more each year.