Originally Posted by
Badenoch
I'd amassed a collection too. You can with more recent cards get a refund from the machines if the balance is less than £10. I got rid of a couple on my last trip but the older Oyster although still working didn't qualify for a refund from a machine and the process to get the money back wasn't worth the bother.
I transferred everything from an older collection to my current one. I prefer Oystercard over contactless since it's easier to replace, less bothersome if someone finds a lost card and uses it and I can get a new one for free if I break it. FWIW I think the Oystercard is marginally quicker than contactless and often much quicker than Apple Pay (which sometimes see to take eternities when the person in front of me is using it). The contactless seems to be somewhat more reliable. With the Oystercard I get 1 or 2 "seek assistance" messages every 2-3 weeks despite having sufficient credit. Never had the issue with contactless cards.