Originally Posted by
stifle
The London Pass travel price for 2 days is higher than the cost of two days off-peak Travelcards. The others are only slightly lower, and you probably won't find yourself in zones 5 or 6 other than when you are going to Heathrow. Just buy an Oyster card. Don't bother with the London Pass travel option.
You can register Oyster cards irrespective of where you're from
, but you can only top them up online if your billing address is in the UK, which I have to say is rather silly.
American cards (and non-chip cards in general) are not always accepted in vending machines, but there is absolutely no problem using them at staffed ticket windows. Almost all Tube stations are staffed from first to last train.
Oyster card credit does not expire. If you have under £5 left on your card, you can have the credit and the £5 deposit refunded at any Tube station. If you have more than that, they can't always process it on the spot.
Visitor Oyster cards are silly. They cost actual money which isn't refunded, can't be topped up online, can't be registered, can't have longer than 7 day Travelcards loaded, and lots of other restrictions.
Please feel free to ask me about Tube or train ticketing, as I am reasonably accomplished on it
Originally Posted by
Raynz
Just to clarify, while stations are almost always staffed, the ticket offices can have limited opening times.
I think you would have to have significantly more than £5 on it for it to be a problem. I've refunded half a dozen cards (not at once) with more than £5 on them, and they've never cared.
Agreed! Visitor cards are just another tourist tax.
Thank you for chiming in. I feared that I was losing my mind on this thread...
1) Thanks both for the comments about the visitor cards. They are often a poor value (not just in London), aimed at tourists who haven't done their homework and prefer convenience over value. I tend to discourage people from using them unless they have done a lot of price comparison, and unless they have fixed plans in mind. Often people overestimate how much they think that they can achieve on holiday, and change their plans last minute, which makes those type of cards less valuable.
2) Thanks for confirming about topping up if one doesn't have a UK billing address. I was curious about that as some had suggested it on this thread for the American/Canadian posters.
I was hoping that you would post on this thread,
stifle.