What Ticket should I buy in London. One day travel card or use PAYG Oyster/bank card.

[Mal75756]

I am looking to visit London with the aim to travel around the area on the train over a 3 or 4 day period which will be weekdays.

I really want to travel on the Underground, Overground, Thameslink, Elizabeth Line all in Zones 1 – 6 as I think that would be as far as I would travel out of central London

Also, to be factored in would be stopping off at stations to spend some time spotting, so for example, whilst on the overground, stop for a couple of hours at Shepherds Bush and then move on to stop at Willesden for an hour or so.

I would use Oyster/bank card as I think that is a bit cheaper as I would start during the morning rush hour but worried that I will stop on stations and then resume my journey and find that my oyster has timed out. I could tap out at a station I want to stop at but would then need to tap in to sit on the platforms for a while. To save this worry would it be best to simply get a One-day travel card as I could then sit on any station for as long as I want and then jump on any train that I fancy when I want to get on the move again.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Trainlog]

I would definitely recommend the zones 1-6 ticket from when i have done trainspotting in London, its covers all areas you want, your not exposing your bank cards in busy areas such as barriers for the tube or London terminals -and there is less of a chance of losing it also.

I will reccomend that with your ticket keep it away from your phone as it might get corrupted and you have to explain every 5 mins to a guard to let you in and out and to try and not let it smudge the letters on there too much. Other than that i would definitely recommend it.

 

[Western Sunset]

Zone 1-6 Travelcard every time. Saves the hassle of tapping yellow/pink readers and you can stay at one spot for as long as you like without worrying about exceeding journey times. No brainer.

 

[Mal75756]

Zone 1-6 Travelcard every time. Saves the hassle of tapping yellow/pink readers and you can stay at one spot for as long as you like without worrying about exceeding journey times. No brainer.

Thanks for that, i have been going back and forward with my answer for the past couple of weeks, it was the hanging about on stations that was the issue. Good to have other people's opinions.

 

[Alex365Dash]

I will reccomend that with your ticket keep it away from your phone as it might get corrupted and you have to explain every 5 mins to a guard to let you in and out and to try and not let it smudge the letters on there too much. Other than that i would definitely recommend it.

If this is a concern, you can load a Travelcard onto a National Rail smartcard. Comes without the Oyster/Contactless limitations but doesn’t demagnetise either!

 

[Ralph Ayres]

with your ticket keep it away from your phone as it might get corrupted

Almost certainly an urban myth, though a magnetic catch on the cover of a phone case or bag, or creasing/crumpling the ticket could well make the magnetic code unreadable.

 

[Joe Paxton]

I would definitely recommend the zones 1-6 ticket from when i have done trainspotting in London, its covers all areas you want, your not exposing your bank cards in busy areas such as barriers for the tube or London terminals -and there is less of a chance of losing it also.
[...]

I don't think there's been any particular issue with bank card theft when using contactless cards for travel in London. Perhaps there's a bit more of a potential issue using your mobile phone as a contactless payment device... though from observation the danger seems to be more about people dropping (and possibly smashing) their phones when passing through automatic gates or boarding buses!

I'm old school and carry a wallet which may contain actual cash... I don't always put my contactless card back in said wallet straight away, and sometimes might leave it in a jacket or shirt pocket instead when travelling for the sake of convenience. All good and well until I forget which pocket I've put it in, or straight up forget to put it back in my wallet and the card is then absent when I look for it later! But I was (am) quite capable of mislaying a paper ticket in one of many pockets (and perhaps a bag) as well...

 

[Ediswan]

Almost certainly an urban myth, though a magnetic catch on the cover of a phone case or bag, or creasing/crumpling the ticket could well make the magnetic code unreadable.

As best as I can tell, mobile phones do themselves contain magnets. For the speaker and, if so equipped, the vibration motor. You can test using a cheap magnetic needle compass. If the phone can deflect the compass needle, it is magnetic. Whether these magnets are strong enough to corrupt a rail ticket is a different question.

 

[TUC]

I would definitely recommend the zones 1-6 ticket from when i have done trainspotting in London, its covers all areas you want, your not exposing your bank cards in busy areas such as barriers for the tube or London terminals -and there is less of a chance of losing it also.

I will reccomend that with your ticket keep it away from your phone as it might get corrupted and you have to explain every 5 mins to a guard to let you in and out and to try and not let it smudge the letters on there too much. Other than that i would definitely recommend it.

That doesn't seem to answer the value for money aspect. It does seem yet again rail enthusiasts being cautious about something that most other people get on with in day to day life.

 

[swt_passenger]

That doesn't seem to answer the value for money aspect. It does seem yet again rail enthusiasts being cautious about something that most other people get on with in day to day life.

There are known charging effects with both Oyster and Contactless if the intention is to stay in the system all day. The system will either charge maximum fares for uncompleted or unstarted journeys that time out, or if you go outside the barriers for a spell it may join journeys together unexpectedly. Maximum fares are not part of daily capping, so it’s always safest to use a paper travelcard for these sort of enthusiast purposes.

I‘d agree the other supposed problems eg with interference caused by phones etc are more theoretical than real.

 

[Haywain]

There are known charging effects with both Oyster and Contactless if the intention is to stay in the system all day. The system will either charge maximum fares for uncompleted or unstarted journeys that time out, or if you go outside the barriers for a spell it may join journeys together unexpectedly. Maximum fares are not part of daily capping, so it’s always safest to use a paper travelcard for these sort of enthusiast purposes.

I‘d agree the other supposed problems eg with interference caused by phones etc are more theoretical than real.

And if you're staying in the system all day the bit about "explain every 5 minutes to a guard" won't be happening.

 

[spag23]

I believe you can buy a Travelcard for 1, 2 or three days. The multi-day ones probably work out cheaper. Check online, making sure you get the correct "peakiness" for your plans.

 

[Mal75756]

That doesn't seem to answer the value for money aspect. It does seem yet again rail enthusiasts being cautious about something that most other people get on with in day to day life.

I am being very cautious as my plan is to stay all day in the rail system and know i will hit the cap easily, but dont want to break the rules by missing a tap out or tapping out at a station to end my journey and then tap straight back in to stay on the station for an hour and then find i tap out at the next one but my time has expired and i end up with a fine. I think the paper ticket will be best for me and then i can use it on the barriers and also confirm to any inspection that i have a valid ticket.
Can i just confirm if a day railticket will cover, thameslink and elizabeth line. I guess it wont cover anyother company like south eastern or HS 1 if i wanted to run from St Pancras to Stratford International.

 

[spag23]

I believe you can buy a Travelcard for 1, 2 or three days. The multi-day ones probably work out cheaper. Check online, making sure you get the correct "peakiness" for your plans.

And remember the Travelcard works on buses too; possibly handy for bridging any gaps between the stations on you itinerary.

 

[Western Sunset]

Everying inside zones 1-6 except for the cable c.ar and, as you say HS1 St Pan - Stratford. Don't think it covers HEX either. Remember it also covers buses and the Croydon tramlink.

 

[SAPhil]

Almost certainly an urban myth, though a magnetic catch on the cover of a phone case or bag, or creasing/crumpling the ticket could well make the magnetic code unreadable.

You may well be correct that it's the case rather than the phone. Certainly, every time I store my ticket in one of the card slots in the case, it ceases to work the barriers. Never occurred to me till now that it might not be the phone's fault!

 

[geoffk]

Maximum fares are not part of daily capping, so it’s always safest to use a paper travelcard for these sort of enthusiast purposes.

But aren't paper travelcards being phased out? What then for the OP and others doing the same kind of trip?

 

[swt_passenger]

But aren't paper travelcards being phased out? What then for the OP and others doing the same kind of trip?

Quite possible, in future. But I suspect the OP wants to know what to do in the near term - perhaps he’ll confirm.

 

[Mal75756]

Quite possible, in future. But I suspect the OP wants to know what to do in the near term - perhaps he’ll confirm.

This will be my first trip to do this type of journeying around London rail system and the plan is to go during May. Hopefully with more time on my hands i will also be able to go a couple of more times before winter.

I guess if paper tickets are phased out there will be an e-version that will work on the phone and allow the same sort of travel, e.g. travel zones 1-6 and hang about on stations during my journeying

 

[swt_passenger]

I guess if paper tickets are phased out there will be an e-version that will work on the phone and allow the same sort of travel, e.g. travel zones 1-6 and hang about on stations during my journeying

I wouldn’t bank on it. But there’s a whole other thread about the possibilities, the consensus seems to be there might not be a day travelcard at all:

TfL to scrap paper tickets

TfL are to scrap paper tickets by 2024, according to a MyLondon report. It's unclear whether its magnetic tickets that will stop being issued, with barcoded tickets issued instead, or paper tickets entirely abolished and the remaining tickets replaced by app based products. It also states that...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[Trainlog]

Honestly, thank you to everyone for explaining what might be the source of my corrupted travelcard tickets and general feedback and suggestions to prevent it from occuring . I still definitely recommend the travelcard ticket for enthusiast and tourism purposes from experience - and i hope its not withdrawn as a concept from next year.

 

[kieron]

If you plan to travel before 9:30am, then this adds a couple of extra choices.

An anytime zone 1-4 travelcard costs £15.20 (full price adult), but a zone 1-6 one costs £21.50 (an extra £6.30). Depending on your plans, zone 1-4 might be enough on some days.

If you only make one journey before 9:30, it may be worth checking if an off peak zone 1-6 travelcard (also £15.20) and a paper single would be cheaper than an anytime travelcard.

If you'd like to be able to go wherever and whenever you please, a 7 day zone 1-6 travelcard costs less than 4 anytime travelcards do.

 

[island]

I believe you can buy a Travelcard for 1, 2 or three days. The multi-day ones probably work out cheaper. Check online, making sure you get the correct "peakiness" for your plans.

I haven't encountered 2 or 3 day Travelcards with National Rail validity. There are (or were) 2 or 3 day tickets priced at the same daily rate as Travelcards but only valid on TfL group services.

The only real reasons a paper zonal Travelcard might be preferable to using Oyster/contactless/smartcard are:

1. If planning on making numerous long, circuitous, or consecutive journeys where there is a risk of exceeding the time limits; and
2. If holding a Railcard which admits multiple passengers such as Two Together or Family & Friends, as thes can't be linked to an Oyster card.

"Exposing your bank card" is not a risk about which there is any need for concern.

Mythbusters tested the principles around demagnetising magnetic stripes and the strength of magnet needed to demagnetise it was enough that they put two magnets above and below a host's hand and they were held in place. The tiny magnets in (for example) phone loudspeakers should not have any effect on a ticket.

Can i just confirm if a day railticket will cover, thameslink and elizabeth line. I guess it wont cover anyother company like south eastern or HS 1 if i wanted to run from St Pancras to Stratford International.

A Day Travelcard is valid within on Thameslink and the Elizabeth line within the area paid for. It is valid on Southeastern conventional services but not high speed unless the ticket is endorsed "plus high speed" or similar verbiage.

 

[Mal75756]

If you plan to travel before 9:30am, then this adds a couple of extra choices.

An anytime zone 1-4 travelcard costs £15.20 (full price adult), but a zone 1-6 one costs £21.50 (an extra £6.30). Depending on your plans, zone 1-4 might be enough on some days.

If you only make one journey before 9:30, it may be worth checking if an off peak zone 1-6 travelcard (also £15.20) and a paper single would be cheaper than an anytime travelcard.

If you'd like to be able to go wherever and whenever you please, a 7 day zone 1-6 travelcard costs less than 4 anytime travelcards do.

Thanks Kieron and Island, i feel much more confident about what i can do when i go and what ticket to buy, you are right about zones 1 - 4, i may decide to have a single day when i might venture further but looking at the map, most (if not all) will be within zones 1 - 4.