Oyster Card: Seamless Bus Travel In London

Oyster cards are smartcards that can be used to pay for journeys on public transport in London, including buses, the Tube, Docklands Light Railway (DLR), trams, Uber Boat by Thames Clippers river buses, London Overground, and most National Rail services in London. Oyster cards can be purchased by both UK residents and travellers from outside the UK. Travellers can buy a Visitor Oyster card before arriving in London, which will be delivered to their home address. The Visitor Oyster card costs £5 (non-refundable) plus postage and offers discounts on certain attractions and services. UK residents can buy an Oyster card by paying a £7 refundable deposit. Both types of cards can be topped up with credit. To pay for a bus journey in London, users must touch their Oyster card on the yellow card reader when boarding the bus.

Oyster cards are smart cards that can be topped up and used to pay for journeys

Oyster cards are smart cards that can be topped up with funds to pay for journeys as you go. This is known as the "Pay as you go" system. You can top up your Oyster card with cash at ticket machines or shops, or by using online payment methods. The credit on your Oyster card never expires and can be used for future trips to London.

When using an Oyster card on a bus, you only need to touch your card to the yellow card reader once at the start of your journey. The flat fare for a single bus journey is £1.75, and you can make unlimited bus journeys within one hour of first touching in at no additional cost.

Oyster cards are widely used in London, with over 86 million cards having been used since their introduction in 2003. They offer a convenient and cost-effective way to pay for public transport in the city, making them a popular choice for both locals and visitors alike.

Oyster cards can be used to pay for journeys on London buses, tubes, trams, and trains

Oyster cards are a convenient way to pay for your journey on London's transport network. They are smartcards that you can use to pay for journeys on public transport in London, including buses, tubes, trams, Uber Boat by Thames Clippers river buses, London Overground, and most National Rail services in London.

Oyster cards can be purchased by both UK residents and travellers from outside the UK. UK residents can buy an Oyster card by paying a refundable deposit of £7, while travellers from outside the UK can buy a Visitor Oyster card for £5 (non-refundable) plus postage. The Visitor Oyster card will be delivered to your home address before you arrive in London.

Oyster cards work on a "pay as you go" basis, where you top up your card with credit and then use it to pay for your journeys. The credit never expires and will remain on your card until you use it. You can top up your Oyster card at ticket machines or online. When using an Oyster card, you need to touch in at the start of your journey and touch out at the end to ensure you pay the correct fare. On buses and trams, you only need to touch in at the beginning of your journey.

Using an Oyster card is usually cheaper than paying with cash. For example, the single adult fare for a London bus is £1.75 with an Oyster card, compared to paying with cash. Oyster cards also offer daily price capping, which means that you will never pay more than a certain amount in a single day, no matter how many individual trips you make.

In addition to Oyster cards, you can also use contactless payment cards, such as debit or credit cards, to pay for your journeys on London's transport network. Contactless payment cards work in a similar way to Oyster cards and offer the same convenience and benefits.

You can buy a Visitor Oyster card if you're a tourist or a UK resident

If you're a tourist or a UK resident, you can buy a Visitor Oyster card to save time and money when travelling around London. The Visitor Oyster card is a smartcard that you can use to pay for journeys on public transport in London, including the bus, Tube, tram, Docklands Light Railway (DLR), London Overground, Elizabeth line, River Bus, and most National Rail services.

The Visitor Oyster card is a convenient and flexible option for tourists and UK residents visiting London. You can buy the card before you arrive in London and have it delivered to your home address. The card costs £5 (plus postage) and comes pre-loaded with pay-as-you-go credit, which you can use to pay for your journeys. You can choose how much credit to add to your card, with options ranging from £10 to £50. The credit on your card never expires, so you can use it on future trips to London or lend it to family and friends.

When using the Visitor Oyster card on buses, simply touch your card on the yellow card reader at the start of your journey. You don't need to touch out when you get off the bus or tram, as this will issue a penalty fare. The adult single pay-as-you-go fare for buses and trams is £1.75, and the daily fare cap is £5.25. It's important to note that you can't use cash to pay for your bus fare.

With the Visitor Oyster card, you can also take advantage of special offers and discounts at leading London restaurants, shops, galleries, and entertainment venues. Additionally, you can use your card to access exclusive discounts on the IFS Cloud Cable Car, Thames Clippers River Bus services, and River Tours on the Thames River.

You can add a travel card to your Oyster card or use it as pay as you go

The Oyster card is a smartcard that you can use to pay for journeys on public transport in London. You can buy a Visitor Oyster card before you arrive in London, and it will be delivered to your home address. The Visitor Oyster card is a popular choice for tourists.

You can use Oyster Cards in two ways:

Oyster 'Pay As You Go'

You purchase credit to be loaded onto your card. Every time you make a journey, the appropriate fare is deducted automatically from your card. You then top up the Oyster card with further amounts as required.

Travelcards

You can buy Travelcards and electronically load them onto your Oyster card. This gives you a fixed cost for unlimited travel for a set time period (7 days, 1 month or one year).

The Oyster card is a flexible option, as you can load a 7-day Travelcard onto your Oyster and use both Oyster Pay As You Go and a 7-day Travelcard together. So, if you are in London for 10 days, you can use Oyster for 3 days and the 7-day Travelcard for the other 7.

The Oyster fare for any individual journey is the lowest fare available. For each calendar day, there is a fare cap—the maximum you can pay in a single day on public transport. This price cap spreads across all modes of transport, so if you mix bus, underground and DLR in one day, the same price cap applies.

You need to touch in and out with your Oyster card to pay the right fare

To pay the right fare when using an Oyster card on buses, you need to touch in and out. Touching in and out is important, as it ensures that you are charged correctly for your journey.

When you board the bus, locate the yellow card reader on the driver's ticket machine and touch your Oyster card on it. This will deduct the bus fare from your Oyster card balance.

You only need to touch in when boarding a bus. There is no need to touch out when you reach your destination, as buses have a flat fare. This means that you will be charged the same amount regardless of the distance travelled.

It is important to remember that if you are using a contactless payment card instead of an Oyster card, the process is slightly different. With a contactless card, you only need to touch in at the beginning of your journey, and there is no need to touch out.

Frequently asked questions