U.K. and Ireland - Need Help understanding London Tube fares

Hello friends.

I need some help trying to decide what the best deal for getting around London. Me and my wife leave Saturday, get into LHR noon on Sunday, and leave about noon on Friday from LHR.

So, 5 days (6 calendar days).

I am a public transport sort of guy, so the plan is no cabs.

I think I would be 95% tube, 5% bus.

It looks like (2) 7 day travelcard might be the best deal, but home many zones do I need. We will be in central London the whole time, except for the airport trips on both ends, and one trip to Windsor Castle.

Any help would be appreciated. and whatever option you suggest, I am going to assume I can buy it at the tube station at LHR, unless you tell me otherwise.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Mike

Was there last year for 3 days. 3 of us. We bought a card from a shop at the tube station at lhr, topped it up with 15 pounds, and on the way back, returned it and got the 5 pound deposit back, though you lose any leftover credit. Was not a tourist card but more like the regular card for city residents. I think it was cheaper that way for me than buying any tourist pass.

Pay cash for Heathrow to central London & back, buy 7 day zone 1-2 Travelcards from a train station ticket office in central London to allow you to use the 2-4-1 offers on daysoutguide.com (note London Eye is not available in the summer & other offers do change). Zone 1-2 will cover 95% of what you might want to see with the exception of Hampton Court & Kew Gardens.

http://www.londontoolkit.com/blog/transport/2-for-1-london-pass-with-travelcards-train-tickets/

If you want to save a bit of money on going to Windsor then travel from Waterloo where you can buy a combined train / castle ticket for a discount

Alternatively save Windsor for your last afternoon & evening and stay there overnight before the short taxi ride to Heathrow.

Thanks for the help.

Alan, I love your idea, but I already bought two of those London Cards (all the attractions pre-paid), I had a discount code for it, and it seemed like a great deal.... we did do a 3 day London Card.

Madame Tussauds is one place my wife wants to see, but is not included on our London Card ....so I might try that trick with a one day travelcard bought at one of those central train stations.

Here is my big question,

Do I want to buy a 7 day travelcard, for just zones 1 and 2, or is would an oystercard with money on it make more sense? (and can a tourist get an Oystercard at LHR)?

And is the card shahadil mentioned, is that a oystercard? and if so, where exactly does a person get one at LHR?

One more question, if I have an oystercard ..... can i swipe it twice for me and my wife, or do we both need our own cards?

One more question, if I have an oystercard ..... can i swipe it twice for me and my wife, or do we both need our own cards?

No you cannot do this. It will not let the second swipe through. So you need one card each.

If I was you, I'd buy 2 oyster cards at heathrow, put a zone 1/2 weekly passes on them, and also some extra credit. Then use them to travel to London. That way your only paying the single fare to the zone 2 boundary. When you leave, return it for the £5 deposit and the left over credit on them (Shahahdil you do get left over credit when you return it)

returned it and got the 5 pound deposit back, though you lose any leftover credit.

No, you don't. You either remembered wrong or got scammed. However, they may have to post a cheque to you if the remaining balance is more than £10 or something, or you used a credit card. Not sure of the exact criteria but google will tell you.

Madame Tussauds is one place my wife wants to see, but is not included on our London Card ....so I might try that trick with a one day travelcard bought at one of those central train stations.

Here is my big question,

Do I want to buy a 7 day travelcard, for just zones 1 and 2, or is would an oystercard with money on it make more sense? (and can a tourist get an Oystercard at LHR)?

An oyster has 2 functions - it can store money for pay as you go, AND up to 3 travelcards.

You can buy them at the tube station in LHR, which involves a bit of a walk from the airport itself (signposted). You do not need to go into central London to get a Z1-2 travelcard. You and your wife need separate cards.

Go to the ticket office and ask for a one-week Z1-2 travelcard on oysters. This will cost £29.20 + £5 deposit each. Then top up both cards with £2.80 cash at a self-service machine (or £5 at the ticket window if you have no coins, as you'll get it back anyway if you pay cash).

The self-service machines will also let you buy travelcards on the oyster, and I believe you can also buy the oyster directly from the machine now (previously there was a separate machine which dispensed new oysters).

The reason you need to top up by at least £2.80 is to cover the £1.40 Z3-6 fare excess that gets you from LHR to Zone 3. When the train enters zone 2, the travelcard will kick in. You do not need to get off the train or do anything, just touch in at LHR and touch out when you get to your hotel station. Note that the fare is £2.60 one way between 0630-0930 and 1600-1900 on weekdays, so on your way back to LHR, enter the station after 9.30.

When you get to the station, bring both cards to the ticket office window and ask for your money back.

If you want to know more about public transport or oysters, railforums.co.uk (Fares, Tickets & Routeing) is the place to ask.

Yes it was the oyster card. My memory is becoming weak. You are right maybe I don't remember, or it was just about 1.5 pounds left that I did not bother. And we all had individual cards. We did lhr and back, and 2 days of local travelling in tube and bus, stayed near the O2 arena, and about 13 pounds was enough for us. This was over the weekend though. Didn't take any add on over the basic card.

As you have already bought the London Pass (God knows why as it's rarely if ever appropriate for anyone even with a discount) each get an Oystercard, load it with a 7 day zone 1-2 Travelcard and add £10-15 cash for travel outside zones 1-2 (eg to/from Heathrow, Hampton Court, Kew Gardens).

Pay cash for Heathrow to central London & back, buy 7 day zone 1-2 Travelcards from a train station ticket office in central London to allow you to use the 2-4-1 offers on daysoutguide.com (note London Eye is not available in the summer & other offers do change).

This is a lot less straightforward than it used to be because you must now have a National Rail Photocard to do this, which can be quite a faff.