Advantages: Convenient, cashless travel, discounted rates still quite expensive Disadvantages: Having Ken know where I go, not yet universal across all ex-BR stations
...off from buying a London Oyster card for several reasons, not the least of which is that I thought they were only for season ticket use, and as my need to use London's buses and Underground trains was minimal, say, three of four times a month, this ruled me out, or so I imagined.
True, you can use your Oyster card as a season ticket; a friend of mine does, but as I now know it can also be used as a Pay-As-You-Go payment card, with certain advantages ... ...The TfL (Transport for London) Oyster card is a mainly pale blue credit-card sized smart card, although there is no outward sign of a microchip. To enter the TfL* travel network, you touch it onto or slide it over one of the myriad yellow card reading points that have sprung up in recent years, either at the entry door of buses, or at the entry and exit barriers of Underground stations.
*To date, this rules out a large chunk of Network Rail stations ...
BNibbles 11.11.2007 (14.11.2007)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Oyster Travel Card
Advantages: Convenient Disadvantages: You could lose it!
...gentlemen, say hello to the Oyster card then. For those who don’t live in London or perhaps have never even stepped foot in the capital, the following paragraphs may read like absolute gobbledegook, but trust me, I think I know what I’m talking about and I think it makes sense. The Oyster card is basically a form of electronic ticketing used on public transport – buses, some National Rail trains, trams, underground and the Docklands Light Railway ... ...March 2007 over 10 million Oyster cards had been issued…how this quite works out I’m not sure as I swear there’s no more than 8 million residents in London?? Clearly the tourists are doing their bit too! Firstly, London is broken down into ‘Zones’. Naturally, the further out of the centre of the city you are, the higher your zone number. To use a tube map as a diagram, the entire Circle Line is based within Zone 1, which means places such as Victoria, ...
carl.mcqueen 26.07.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Oyster Travel Card
Advantages: Great, handy Disadvantages: Doesn't always swipe first time
...and so have found the Oyster Card an invaluable tool to help me in my journey.
What exactly is an Oyster Card?
An oyster card is basically a credit card sized card ticket which has an amount of preloaded electronic money on it (it can store up to £90 worth of credit) that allows users to travel by swiping the card over electronic readers to gain access to the transport system. The card is valid on the London Underground, buses and the Docklands ... ...new ticket each day. The Oyster Card can be carried in your wallet just like a credit card and so is small, handy and easy to use. The card itself is a bright blue colour and has the word Oyster written on it. I have always wondered why the name Oyster was chosen and after a little research found out it was because of this:
“Oyster was conceived and subsequently promoted because of the metaphorical implications of security and value in the component ...
Spottydog11 27.02.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Oyster Travel Card
Advantages: Cashless and convenient Disadvantages: Non-identifiable to you - if you lose it with £90 credit on - you might feel abit sore
I got my Oyster card last year before going on a day trip to London, to be honest I cannot recall how I found out about the oyster card - I assume it was going on the transport for london website to find out about tube maps or all day travel cards.
I do recall I bought the Oyster card off the website for £5 (£3 of which is retained for adminstration charges) and it was delivered to my home the day after - really prompt service.
If you register ... ...greater risk with pre-charging the oyster card too excessively is that if you lose it somebody else could gain access to free travel. The oyster cards are not identifiable to the individual in this respect save for if you want to top the card up.
As children under 11 travel free on London transport I did not need to apply for an Oyster card for my daughter, we did however have to use the wider (disabled / pushchair gate) as the ordinary gates do ...
dotjay19 01.08.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Oyster Travel Card
...ticketless travel system which saw Oyster Cards introduced a few years ago. Now Sad Ken is no longer around Boris Johnson still has these in place. The main idea behind the Oyster cards I feel was to reduce queue waiting times as well as for Big Brother institutions to know where people travel to and from. The prices for travel to central London is much higher than zones 5 and 6 in Middlesex. The Oyster Card system operates throughout London and ... ...The places where the Oyster card can be used upon is on the London underground network, some national rail zones around London, as well as on big bendy buses as well as the smaller buses. Where the savings can be made are that it costs around £1 in credit using an Oyster card, otherwise a person would have to pay a bus driver £2 in cash. Similarly buying singles from zone 5 or 6 to Central London would cost around £1.80 to £2 single fare, or by not ...
costas1234 16.12.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Oyster Travel Card
Advantages: Cheapest mode of travel in London Disadvantages: Big brother, not good for tourists.
What is an Oyster card?
Basically it is a London travel card enabling the traveller to get around London without constantly buying tickets for the different modes of transport available.
It can be likened to a credit card; however the difference being, you pay up front and charge the card before use, almost identically to a pay-as-you-go phone card.
Transport for London hereafter referred to as tfl, call it a smartcard. I think it was very smart ... ...a station, tfl oulet, or Oyster card shop. This records highly personal information and I would have to question the reason for this. Remember if you then use your card for travelling, all your movements are then recorded every time you swipe the card through a reader and it is reported the police are using this more and more extensively to investigate people's movements. More big brother as I see it. You can obtain an un-registered card but will ...
milleniumzeus 21.09.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Oyster Travel Card
Advantages: Put as much or as little money on it as you like Disadvantages: Can sometimes play up and the ticket barriers can get congested
...first people to have an Oyster card with a season ticket on it when they first came out.
**WHAT IS AN OYSTER CARD?**
Oyster is basically a "smartcard". You can put your Travelcard or Bus Pass season ticket on it, add money to pay as you go or have a combination of both, so if you need to pay for an extra long journey, no problem. They are also resuable, so basically you can have the same card for ever! When your cash/season ticket runs out, just ... ...education can apply for an Oyster card which gives them access to discounts on some attractions and other train travel.
**HOW DO YOU USE AN OYSTER CARD?**
When using public transport i.e. train, bus or tube you must touch in on the special card reader at the gates or on the bus so that it registers, this is also the same for train and tube, when you exit a station you must, again, touch out to register your card so that it takes off the right amount ...
MitchellandAimeesMum 22.11.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Oyster Travel Card
Advantages: Savings can be made Disadvantages: Requires personal information to be recorded,
...my annual season ticket from Oyster card this week.
There was a huge saving in what I was spending on weekly oyster tickets, 2 months free travel. The process was quick and simple.
I paid £600 cash for a zone 2&3 annual ticket at an train station. It took about 5 minutes. But Oyster has not always been this simple. In fact I have mixed feelings about Oyster. When Ken Livingstone first announce the arrival of Oyster it seemed like a Godsend. But ... ...the card. Basically Oyster records and tracks your movements and keeps an account of your travel called your "History". THis is what makes Oyster a smart card.
OYSTER THE SMART CARD.
Oyster works a bit like a debit card. You put money in and the ticket barriers deduct what you use. Oyster tracks your movements and if for instance you go from zone 2 to zone 3 through zone 1 they will request a payment of £1.50. This is an improvement for London ...
damien.gallery 15.06.2007 (14.06.2007)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Oyster Travel Card
Advantages: Quick and easy to use Disadvantages: Don't forget to tap in and out or be charges for a whole days travel
The Oyster Card available for use on the London Underground Network and on many lines into London has changed the way I travel...I now consider myself a 'smart' traveller. Why do I say this? Well as a commuter, I used to hate having to queue for a paper ticket, that I would invariably lose, rip or misplace. The Oyster card has made my journey easier, quicker and more importantly, cheaper. Here are some examples: * A daily travel card used to cost ... ...each way! * The oyster card has actually made me healthier. Instead of just jumping on a train or bus, I now look at the price of a single journey (£1) and think if I can walk just as quick - this has proven to be a great idea between Kings Cross and Euston...and saves me loads of money! * I have registered my card so if it is lost or stolen, I know that my money is protected, this is really great as I... * am able to put an auto top up on the account ...
excelsior81 31.07.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Oyster Travel Card
Advantages: online registration and recharge, less costly than single fares Disadvantages: can struck you sometimes, theft issues
Oyster card is one of best travel companion in London. We bought oyster card on second day of our arrival. Main advantage is when you plan your journey carefully it will be lot cheaper. Transport for London has challanged that oyster is always cheaper than single or return fares in London tubes/buses/trams.. and I think it is right. When you want to travel in certain pre decided travel zone it is really cheaper than buying tickets. For example, I ... ...journey one day cost of oyster card is 5.20 which is cheaper than buying tube and bus tickets. weekly and monthly pass of oyster is again better option than daily oyster card. For weekly zone 1-3 pass I was paying 28.5 pound which gave me freedom of travelling in weekend. Well certainly overall cost of travelling in London is very high but we cant blame oyster for high cost.
Also it is available at many oyster shops now in each corner of London ...
imwhoever 19.09.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Oyster Travel Card
Advantages: Good value for money, Easier to travel with Disadvantages: None I can think of
...(TFL) to obtain a student oyster card. Obviously, at this point I had no idea what they were talking about. It was a Monday, I filled the form attached the passport photograph and enclosed a cheque for £5 then mailed it to them on Tuesday. They said it may take up to 2 weeks on the form but, behold! on Saturday morning, I received my oyster card first thing in the mail. It had my picture on it and I get 30% discount as a student. Now that's what ... ...exiting.
Buying fares using the oyster card is cheaper and the student oyster card is even cheaper (30% off). I usually buy a month's pass every month between Zone 1 and 4 which cost £89.10. This enables me to travel all over London (between Zone 1 to 4) and this has made me tour London using the trains and buses. Zone 1 to 4 covers much of London anyway. I try to get the maximum out of the card every month by riding as much trains and buses as ...
myexcellency2 21.04.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Oyster Travel Card
Advantages: Easy to use. Disadvantages: Some cards just stop working.
Launched in 2003, the oyster card is basically an electronic card which can be used in place of paper tickets for use on public transport. Initially, I was very suspicious of the oyster card system. I had my doubts as to whether it would actually work properly and whether it would be a flash in the pan. Would transport for london really stick with this idea in the long term? Is there even any benefit of using the oyster card system? Well, as well ... ...about reliability. Having used the oyster card for about 5 years I've had to replace the card about 4 times due to it simply not working. The cards do seem to have a life-span, albeit a relatively long one. So its not all bad. The difference in price between the journey on an oyster card and the journey if paid for with paper tickets is quite alot. Some journeys costing £2.50 if paid in cash cost only £1 on oyster card. So, Cash vs Oyster Card... ...
dandadda 25.03.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Oyster Travel Card
Value for Money
Quick review of Oyster Travel Card
You can buy trvalecards 30 days in advance for monthly, which helps because they are going to raise the prices, also you can buy month ly travelcards up to a year for student oysters, which i did not know until half way through my final year!! annoying!! ...
mita1000 15.12.2008
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Oyster Travel Card
Advantages: None Disadvantages: Tracks you where you go.
...is a review of the Oyster Travel card
Where to buy
The oyster card costs £3.00 but when you return it back you do get your £3.00 back you can buy this online and at most newsagents.
Where to topup The Oyster Card is a Electronic Pay as you go card which can be top up at Most newsagents and all Tube stations. you can also topup your card online and use the automatic topup feature which will put money on your card by your bank account when you need ... ...(papper is £3.50)
The Oyster card can be used on all TFL Buses But touching your card on the yellow Reader.
If paying by cash the bus fare is £2.00 so everytime you use a oyster card your saving £1.10 a trip. Underground
The Oyster card can be used on the underground but the cost is different depending on what Zone your using. The Most Pricy timeto travel is Monday to Friday 07:00 - 19:00 where the fare is around 50p - £1.00 Extra. All Other times ...
k800ifan07 10.09.2007 (03.05.2008)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Oyster Travel Card
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