baghag
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NY Times article about budget travel for London
October 22, 2006
Q & A
A Budget-Minded Strategy for Getting Around London
By ROGER COLLIS
I will be in London from Dec. 31 to Jan. 9. I know that prices on the Underground have risen considerably. Could you explain the ins and outs of getting an Oyster card as opposed to buying a three- or seven-day Travelcard?— Kathleen Janoski, Pittsburgh
You can have the best of both cards covering London public transportation by loading a Travelcard (priced according to duration, time of day and Underground zone) onto an Oyster card (the cheapest and most convenient way to pay for a single trip).
The Oyster card — which you load with cash and pay as you go on the Underground (Tube), buses and trams, Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and some National Rail services in London — can offer significant savings on getting around by automatically calculating the best fare for every journey you make. You simply “touch” the card on the yellow reader at the turnstiles. The Travelcard can be the cheapest alternative, but you have to buy it for a specific period and for specific zones. If you have a Travelcard on your Oyster card and travel outside the zone on your Travelcard, the Oyster will kick in automatically at the turnstile, calculating the cheapest single fare.
On its Web site (www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/fares-tickets/2006/one-day/) Transport for London states, “If you make several journeys on the same day using Oyster single fares to pay as you go in Zones 1-6 on the Tube, you will never pay more than the equivalent Day Travelcard price.” For example, in central London (Zones 1 and 2), the trip would cost you only £1.50, or half the price of a one-way fare paid in cash.
If you are staying in London for 10 days, I suggest you get an Oyster card credited with £20 or £40 and at the same time have it loaded with a seven-day Travelcard (£22.20). This will allow you unlimited travel in zones 1 and 2 at any time of the day. Again, should you wish to make a trip outside these zones, the Oyster card will automatically take up the extra cost.
Travelcards can be bought separately, but start and expire on a specific date; an Oyster card, along with any credit balance, remains active for two years.
You can buy an Oyster card (and add credit and/or load it with a Travelcard) at www.tfl.gov.uk/oyster, or at (44-845) 330-9876, and at most Underground ticket offices, some National Rail ticket offices, 8 London Travel Information Centers and more than 2,200 Oyster Ticket Stops.
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