5-10 Zip Oyster advice

[Fiyero]

I'm taking my nieces to London in May and we are staying over in Croydon. We usually use the tube so they are free if accompanied but this will be a train ride. I can get them
Discounted travelcards with my gold card discount (or plan a train route all the way from home that is valid but probably less flexible than I’d like) but it got me to thinking about a zip Oyster card. I believe it is a £10 fee and as they are only just 7 they should get some use and I think will like tapping in themselves on the tube!
The issue is how to get them, they don’t have passports, their mum is happy for me to take birth certificates and I can visit a travel centre in advance. Ideally I’d want them in advance so we can take bags straight to the hotel.

Thanks in advance for any guidance / tips.

 

[hkstudent]

I'm taking my nieces to London in May and we are staying over in Croydon. We usually use the tube so they are free if accompanied but this will be a train ride. I can get them
Discounted travelcards with my gold card discount (or plan a train route all the way from home that is valid but probably less flexible than I’d like) but it got me to thinking about a zip Oyster card. I believe it is a £10 fee and as they are only just 7 they should get some use and I think will like tapping in themselves on the tube!
The issue is how to get them, they don’t have passports, their mum is happy for me to take birth certificates and I can visit a travel centre in advance. Ideally I’d want them in advance so we can take bags straight to the hotel.

Thanks in advance for any guidance / tips.

The oyster can be posted to you if identity can be verified online
https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/free-and-discounted-travel/5-10-zip-oyster-photocard

 

[Fiyero]

The oyster can be posted to you if identity can be verified online
https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/free-and-discounted-travel/5-10-zip-oyster-photocard

It looks like that only works with passports, which they don’t have

 

[MikeWh]

It looks like that only works with passports, which they don’t have

You can apply online without a passport. You need to provide the photo and pay the fee. You then need to choose a visitor centre to collect from where you'll need to provide the birth certificate and the email you receive when the application is complete. It's not clear whether the child has to be present. If you live in Croydon then either Victoria or Gatwick Airport will probably be your most convenient centre.

 

[Fiyero]

You can apply online without a passport. You need to provide the photo and pay the fee. You then need to choose a visitor centre to collect from where you'll need to provide the birth certificate and the email you receive when the application is complete. It's not clear whether the child has to be present. If you live in Croydon then either Victoria or Gatwick Airport will probably be your most convenient centre.

Thanks, I did a dummy run. It says elsewhere Piccadilly Circus is a visitor centre but I couldn't select there to collect it from.
Annoying that it needs 3 weeks for collection as I am back up in 3 weeks (without the girls). It is seeming that collecting on the day is going to get tricky as the idea is to straight to Croydon to drop off bags. We could go to victoria first if it will definitely work!

 

[717001]

You don’t say where you are travelling from, but train companies often have discounts available - such as the “Kids for £2” on Thameslink https://www.thameslinkrailway.com/tickets/discounts-and-railcards/kids-for-2

Also available on GN and Southern.

 

[Fiyero]

You don’t say where you are travelling from, but train companies often have discounts available - such as the “Kids for £2” on Thameslink https://www.thameslinkrailway.com/tickets/discounts-and-railcards/kids-for-2

Also available on GN and Southern.

Eastleigh on SWR. I can get pretty cheap advance tickets (to Waterloo or Clapham Junction) or use my Gold Card for discounted flexible tickets. If I already had their zip cards we could all leave Clapham on our paper tickets and tap back in to go to Croydon. It isn't quite as simple as just getting a ticket from Easteligh to Croydon to cover it as we'd go to Croydon twice (dropping off bags and staying over) so definitely need an additional ticket of some kind (and I'd rather not have an argument over break of journey!)