I love Oyster — I live in Manchester and have had a card for a couple of years for my fairly regular trips to London. There’s no way I’m going to pay £4 for a single tube ticket when the same on Oyster will only cost £1.50. On the buses, a single cash fare is a whopping £2 (even if you’re only going a couple of stops) but with Oyster it’s only 90p.
I also love the fact that they have ‘daily price capping’. This allows you to travel as much as you like each day and you won’t ever pay more than the cost of a travelcard. A daily travelcard on Oyster is cheaper than the equivalent paper travelcard, so you save money and don’t have to plan your trips in advance to work out whether a travelcard would save money.
If you are a regular visitor to London then the £3 deposit for an Oyster card is definitely worth it, as you will save loads when using the tubes, DLR, trams, buses and certain trains. I ordered mine online and had it delivered, or you can buy one from vending machines when you get to London. There are also loads of Oyster offers available too — these are published in leaflets at stations. A brilliant idea that is very well executed.
Check out my review of Oyster Card – I am david_1982 – on Qype
