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Oyster Card Vs. Contactless

Calgary, Canada
Level Contributor
965 posts
26 reviews
20 helpful votes
Oyster Card Vs. Contactless
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I am a bit confused about contactless card. Is it a visa/mastercard with contactless pay features? How does the machine know there will be a cap by credit card? How does it track the time?

Where to purchase oyster card? It can be delivered to Canada? any shipping fees? The Oyster card has 3 dollar activation fees? Why people don't use a contactless credit card to avoid that.

Brighton and Hove...
Level Contributor
16,804 posts
19 reviews
48 helpful votes
1. Re: Oyster Card Vs. Contactless
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You can buy Oyster cards when you arrive, no need to pay to have them delivered. The important information that you need is whether and how much your bank charges you to use your credit/debit card abroad. That's information you should always have before travelling.

Yes, the cards are issued by your normal provider but have the contactless technology embedded.

Edited: 6 years ago
United Kingdom
Destination Expert
for Cornwall
Level Contributor
28,965 posts
334 reviews
164 helpful votes
2. Re: Oyster Card Vs. Contactless
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In no particular order, many people don't yet have contactless cards (visitors from the US in particular).

Many overseas visitors don't want to pay charges for overseas transactions. Not all banks offer fee free transactions abroad.

The tfl system "knows" to bill your card once a day (at the end of the charging day) and automatically applies the cap before debiting your account once for the whole day's travel.

Visitor Oystercard are not recommended because the deposit is not refunded. And why pay postage? Also you can't add a travel card to that sort of Oystercard.

With normal Oysterdcards you can get a refund of the deposit and unspent funds on the card subject to a few minor conditions. You can buy an Oystercard on arrival. It takes a couple of minutes.

Edited: 6 years ago
London
Destination Expert
for London
Level Contributor
28,069 posts
80 reviews
131 helpful votes
3. Re: Oyster Card Vs. Contactless
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The Oyster card has 3 dollar activation fees? Why people don't use a contactless credit card to avoid that.

---------------

The Visitor card costs £3 (not dollars AFAIK) and is unnecessary. 'Ordinary' Oysters can be obtained from any tube station for a refundable £5. A daily (and weekly, Mon to Sun) cap is applied and billed by the issuer when using contactless. Any charge by your card issuer should apply to the capped amount, not individual transactions.

Whether that's the best value depends how long you are here, when your trip starts and whether you wish to use the 2for1's for which nothing on Oyster or contactless is eligible.

Edited: 6 years ago
Leicester, United...
Destination Expert
for Iraq, Iran, Tehran
Level Contributor
1,720 posts
3 reviews
8 helpful votes
4. Re: Oyster Card Vs. Contactless
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I use contactless in London and have noticed no problems. It's very convenient, and I never bother using my oystercard any more even though I have one. I'm using a bank VISA debit card with contactless technology.

Edited: 6 years ago
London, United...
Level Contributor
3,102 posts
126 reviews
108 helpful votes
5. Re: Oyster Card Vs. Contactless
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I don't even know where my Oyster card is and I live in London. Since I've had contactless and then Apple Pay I've never looked back!

Guildford, England
Level Contributor
8,993 posts
16 reviews
29 helpful votes
6. Re: Oyster Card Vs. Contactless
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You can only load rail cards on Oyster so those of us wanting to do that stick to our Oyster cards.

United Kingdom
Level Contributor
3,178 posts
18 reviews
25 helpful votes
7. Re: Oyster Card Vs. Contactless
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>How does the machine know there will be a cap by credit card? How does it track

>Why people don't use a contactless credit card to avoid that

****************

Residents visiting from outside the TfL zones usually get a zones 1-6 combo National Rail Day Travel-card, so don't need any-further payment method,

Some travellers have season tickets for their journeys.

Some concession type Railcards (Senior/16-25/disabled) can't be programmed on contactless bank cards, but they can be set on an Oystercard

Not all non-UK issued Contactless debit cards work and there may be overseas bank fees.

Some people set up Apple Pay.

Oyster/contactless tracks because you tap in and out on the underground and use single-tap flat fares for buses.

Oyster has been around for 14 years, contactless technology is much newer, TfL introduced it about 3 years ago, as mentioned not everyone has a contactless card yet or wants one, in some countries their banking system and technology is much behind so cards are not issued.

Once you have an Oystercard it's worth creating an account, you can view all your journey history for the previous 8 weeks and see how your fares/capping are calculated, you also have protection against loss or theft.

8. Re: Oyster Card Vs. Contactless

This post has been removed at the author's request.

To read more about editing your posts, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/help/how_to_edit_your_posts Edited: 5 years ago
Calgary, Canada
Level Contributor
965 posts
26 reviews
20 helpful votes
9. Re: Oyster Card Vs. Contactless
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Thanks all! I have another question regarding contactless. I have a visa with contactless feature. We are two adults. Can we use the same visa card for purchasing public transit ticket? Cap will apply for this case?

London, United...
Level Contributor
4,816 posts
71 reviews
42 helpful votes
10. Re: Oyster Card Vs. Contactless
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Each person must have their own means of paying (contactless card or Oyster). You cannot share.

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