Oyster card - Monthly or pay as you go

[sabatier]

Hi,

 

I'll be living in zone 1 but working in zone 3, travelling to work 5 days a week. The annoying thing is that the nearest tube stop to my place of work is JUST INSIDE zone 3.

 

Just wondering which is cheaper: to buy a monthly oyster card (zones 1-3) or a pay as you go oyster card? And is there any way I could get around having to pay to go to zone 3?

 

cheers,

 

sabatier

[SteveH2508]

It depends on:

A) would you use the Oyster card at weekends

B) how much annual leave you have

C) do you travel inside or outside of peak hours

 

For me (Living in Zone 1- working in Zone 5) it was not worth me getting a monthly so I just top-up as needed.

 

The only other suggestion is to get out the A-Z and see how far the nearest zone 2 station is and walk the rest.

[sabatier]

I would probably use it at weekends too, but just within zone 1. I only intend to work in London for a year; any holidays I take will be spent abroad. I'll be travelling between 8 and 9 in the morning, and between 6 and 7 in the evening.

 

I was thinking of getting out at the last stop within zone 2. But say I wanted to go home from the stop just inside zone 3, would my card work if I had only paid for zones 1-2?

[mlondon]

Prepay or Travelcard

[SRPO]

Deleted.

Edited September 23, 2009 by SRPO

[andydd]

I doubt anyone can answer this without doing some math.

 

If I were you id put the info into Excel and see what the result is, I did this with my train ticket to london, involving Zone 1-2 and after taking into account, days off, hols, sickness, etc I decided against buying a train season ticket and would buy one on the day, as it turned out I was made redundant and this decision saved me money, due to the fact that at about 9 months, annual season tickets for trains have no cash value.

 

The tube rules can be quite complex though, the off-peak and the new 'missing zone 1' pink oyster readers added to the complexity even further, hence using Excel. I had a quick peek at monthly oysters and they seem pricey to me, a standard PAYG trip and return a day works out cheaper but this changes if you use it lots at weekends.

 

Andy

[SteveH2508]

Prepay or Travelcard

 

Great Link - nice to know I have not been lining their pockets unnecessarily.

[sillygirl1]

If you have an Oystercard for Zone 1 you can use it on the busses ANYWHERE in London, regardless of the zone the bus travels through, this is the same for a weekly as for a monthly.

 

I would go for monthly as you are less likely to be charged for 'unfinished' journeys if you had a pay as you go - plus with a monthly there are quite often discounts for theatres and things.

 

I am lucky enough to get a free travel card which saves me about £160 a month from where I live (Zone 5).