Cheapest way getting around London by over/underground

DarrenM343

DarrenM343

DarrenM343

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Joined
19 Oct 2008
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6,065
Hey,
I'm hearing conflicting things on this. Some say oyster card, other say just use a contact less debit/credit card when going through the gates but make sure you use the same card each day to get the best discount depending on the number of days in a week you travel.

Basically for the next 3-6 months (and probably maybe longer) I'm going to be using the trains at least 5 days a week (maybe 6 or 7). WHat's the cheapest way of doing this?
 
You get daily fare capping on Oyster PAYG and contactless (which are the same fares).

A season ticket might benefit you but you haven't said what journeys you are making so it's not guaranteed.
 
Mrs. Feek and I had a day in London on a weekend, she used her contactless card, I used my Oyster. When I checked how much we'd spent a few days later, her cost was about a pound lower than mine - I have no idea why, we did exactly the same journeys.
 
Feek said:
Mrs. Feek and I had a day in London on a weekend, she used her contactless card, I used my Oyster. When I checked how much we'd spent a few days later, her cost was about a pound lower than mine - I have no idea why, we did exactly the same journeys.
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Contactless works a bit differently from what I understand.

It records all the places you've tapped in and out and their times, and then afterwards tries to figure out what you actually did taking all that information together. It is even clever enough to use that information to realise you accidentally walked through an open gate (I don't know if this is intentional or a limitation of how Contactless works).

Oyster on the other hand makes transactions with every interaction with a gate. Charges you maximum fare when you tap in, and refunds you appropriate amount when you tap out. It therefore penalises you when you forget to tap out.
 
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I didn't forget to tap out, we only used the underground so I wouldn't have been able to get out of the station if I hadn't tapped out. All my journeys showed complete on the log.
 
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Depends on the gates, some of the older ones in zone 2 aren't as good as the major stations.

I use Oyster because my train tickets live in a separate place to my payment card, and if I ever came close to being able to take advantage of the weekly cap it would mean I was travelling for work, which is expensed anyway.
 
If you already own a set of quality cutters, pinch a decent spec road bike.*

* This might not be legal.;)
 
Ha ha UT.

Didn't mention that Mond to Fri will be Stratford to Liverpool street return, maybe with the odd trip to meet up with friends working close by and weekends generally getting about.

Forgot to mention that I need to claim as expenses, so ideally need receipts or some way of easily identifying the journeys. I assume oyster gives some kind of statement and is better for this than looking through bank/credit card statements?
 
I would use Oyster with a monthly travel card. I suspect you can get the same price with a contactless card too somehow.
 
DarrenM343 said:
Ha ha UT.

Didn't mention that Mond to Fri will be Stratford to Liverpool street return, maybe with the odd trip to meet up with friends working close by and weekends generally getting about.

Forgot to mention that I need to claim as expenses, so ideally need receipts or some way of easily identifying the journeys. I assume oyster gives some kind of statement and is better for this than looking through bank/credit card statements?
Click to expand...

You can register on the tfl website, add your credit card number and it'll show all journeys you make and charges. Even gives you a pdf format for easy printing.
 
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