Soorrrry, yet ANOTHER Oyster question....

Spanish Eyes

Today is Tuesday, have to be in London Thursday - mission of mercy OH relative very ill and... has to be done.

Anyway, I am not even thinking of how much the flights and accommodation cost because it is eye watering at such short notice. Gulp. But.....

We need to traverse the city for lots of reasons. So it would appear that I cannot get a Visitor Oyster because I haven't had time to get one online.

Anyone know if I can get one anywhere in London? Seems you can only get them if ordered outside the UK.

If not, can I just rock up to the train station and buy an "ordinary" one? How do I load credit on and so on, and on and on.

Any and all information for poor me heading off in two days yikes, would be most welcome.

rainbow kirby

You can just rock up to any station with a ticket office and buy one. 5 quid, you can get that back at a ticket office at the end of your trip.

You can load credit on at the machines in every station and in a lot of newsagents - all machines take cards, some take cash.

mansize

My contactless bank card worked in London as an Oyster card

Dave0301

Yes, what rainbow kirby said.

Word of warning, depending on where you need to go etc. just beware that Southern rail network is in the middle of a strike. Shouldn't be a huge issue unless you are travelling in South London or out to the commuter town down south.

Dave0301

mansize wrote: »

My contactless bank card worked in London as an Oyster card

Can also do this, but best to avoid it so that you don't incur oversea transactions from your bank.

danwhite88

Sail and rail with stena is pretty good. I've done it before. Got the 2am boat from Dublin port to holyhead and train to Euston arrived at 11am. Think it's about €86 return. Can change travel dates without any extra costs with a phonecall.

mansize

Dave0301 wrote: »

Can also do this, but best to avoid it so that you don't incur oversea transactions from your bank.

I just found it convienant without the need for purchasing, topping up etc

rainbow kirby

It is ridiculously convenient but I'd be leaning towards not wanting a ton of unnecessary charges.

It's going to kill me having to have change for the bus when I'm back in Dublin next week :pac:

mansize

rainbow kirby wrote: »

It is ridiculously convenient but I'd be leaning towards not wanting a ton of unnecessary charges.

It's going to kill me having to have change for the bus when I'm back in Dublin next week :pac:

I only incurred one charge each day and it was less than 50c

mansize

rainbow kirby wrote: »

It is ridiculously convenient but I'd be leaning towards not wanting a ton of unnecessary charges.

It's going to kill me having to have change for the bus when I'm back in Dublin next week :pac:

Get a leap card!

Spanish Eyes

Thanks everyone. I am packing and up late as a result. But we are not going to outer Mongolia either, I have to keep reminding myself!

Much appreciated about the Oyster. Will just pay the tenner for the two of us and get on with it. And top up of course!

Will be in Stratford so the rail strike might not impinge. Need to get to see my aunt in Mitcham though! Long trek East to West, but I hope the tube/tram will work.

Any updates for me?

God almighty we have spent more on this mission of mercy than would cost to get to New York. But I do appreciate that short notice and late booking means HIGH cost especially in the height of the Summer, it is what it is, and we won't regret seeing him at his last.

Eye watering money for all this I'm telling ya. Jeez.

Don't want ANYONE telling me they got a cheap flight to London anymore. OK.

BrokenArrows

mansize wrote: »

I only incurred one charge each day and it was less than 50c

It probably depends on the bank you are with.

So if someone wants to do this they should figure out how much they would be charged.

mansize

The Oyster people send one charge to the bank at the end of each day so whatever that charge would be work out corresponding visa debit forgien transaction fee (not the ATM withdrawal one)

Looking at itsyourmoney.ie the fee seems to be from 20c to 50c

Woden

Slightly off topic but it depends on the bank/card e.g. I have a Santander visa debit card if I was to use it abroad I'd get a non-sterling fee for each transaction in addition to the exchange rate. This could be a % charge or a flat rate which adds up. I have a Santander credit card then also which I use abroad instead it just users the mastercard daily rate and has no non-sterling fees.

Halifax clarity credit card is another such card if anyone is looking for one.

Here are the mastercard rates for a given settlement date: https://www.mastercard.com/global/currencyconversion/

Spanish Eyes

Me again.

Just looking at the contactless options. I have no transaction fees because I have a certain amount going through account each month. Was just looking back at statements and I haven't been charged anything for using the debit card when in Europe (or US) for that matter!

So I think I'll chance the contactless Oyster system and see what happens! I'll suck up the exchange rate.

Will report back.

Spanish Eyes

For those interested, the contactless option on TFL options worked a treat. Neither of us has bank charges because of the deal we got with the bank, certain amount going through the account each month.

No charges for the contactless, or anything else we used the debit card for in London. Happy Days!

Contactless is a great feature of TFL. With a cap too! But you must use the same debit card for all transport on the day to get the cap.

Off topic, but apart from transport god London is very expensive altogether, and I thought Dublin was bad. But it is London and we were visitors, so hey ho.

mansize

Yeah I love the contactless option too! No fiddling about topping up, knowing what credit you have- if you have enough etc