LivingTravelShould I buy an Oyster card for my children?

Should I buy an Oyster card for my children?

If you are visiting London with children between the ages of 11 and 15, traveling around the city can be greatly simplified by purchasing Oyster Visitor Cards. Adult cards can be purchased in various countries even before you leave home, and once you arrive in London, you can ask a Transport for London (TfL) staff member to apply a Young Visitor discount to the card. of your son. You can buy a regular (not visitor) Oyster card at Heathrow, and use any type of Oyster card to get to central London from Heathrow and Gatwick airports (but not Luton or Stanstead).

What is an Oyster card?

An Oyster card is a plastic ticket in the shape, size, and function of a smart card. Like a smart card, you deposit money on the card, and charges that you would normally pay in cash are deducted as you travel. Once purchased, the Oyster card covers all forms of mass transport in London, the Tube (Tube), Transport for London (TfL) Rail and most of the National Rail lines in London, London Overground, London Buses and Dockland Light Rail (DLR). It can be purchased daily or weekly; It can be used at any time of the day and covers attractions throughout London, zones 1-9.

The Visitor Oyster card costs £ 5 to activate and then you choose the amount of credit you want to add in increments of £ 5 up to £ 50. If you run out of money, you can top it up and use it again – at the end of your trip, you can get your money back. unused credit. In many cases, using a card to buy a ticket is significantly cheaper than cash. Additionally, the daily fare has a “cap” amount, and after you’ve reached that cap or made your third trip in a day, you travel free for the remainder of that day. A Visitor Oyster card also comes with various special offers and discounts at restaurants, shops, and entertainment venues.

Children and Oysters

You don’t need a toddler Oyster card. In London, children under the age of 11 travel for free on buses and tram lines, and on the Tube, DLR, London Overground, Tfl Rail and some National Rail, up to four children under 11 years of age travel free if they are with an adult who pay the fee. Purchasing a separate Oyster card for your 11-15 year old may be convenient because the youth visitor discount is half the pay-as-you-go adult rate discount.

When you’re ready to leave London, you can get your unspent credit back, keep it for your next trip, or give the card to a friend to use.

Paper travel cards

If you don’t want to go the smart card route, you can choose a Travelcard, a paper ticket that you can buy from a ticket vending machine at any London Underground station. A travel card is a flat-rate ticket that covers all your trips for a day or a week or more. This means that you pay a flat rate for that day / week, etc.

The Travelcard document covers travel on the London Overground tube, bus and trains (local trains); trips are discounted, but there are no special offers and money is not refunded. They are best used for travel in large groups. These tickets feed the barriers in the subway stations and come out again.

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