The Student Room Group

Oyster or Travelcard? Major help needed

I didn't get halls so I've had to stay at home and travel to my university on the other side of London. I was wondering if anyone could tell me the cheapest and the best ticket option, I'll be using a lot of public transport. I've been to my rail station and the guy was no help, would it be cheaper for me to get a monthly travelcard also my station is not in the London zones it's just outside so if I got a travelcard with zones 1-9 would that mean it won't work at my rail station. Someone advise me I'm majorly confused and panicking that I'll get stuck in London. Thank you :smile:
wow I feel for you, maybe get a travelcard zone 1-6 and get someone to give u a lift to the nearest zone 6 station everyday
Original post by Sisely
I didn't get halls so I've had to stay at home and travel to my university on the other side of London. I was wondering if anyone could tell me the cheapest and the best ticket option, I'll be using a lot of public transport. I've been to my rail station and the guy was no help, would it be cheaper for me to get a monthly travelcard also my station is not in the London zones it's just outside so if I got a travelcard with zones 1-9 would that mean it won't work at my rail station. Someone advise me I'm majorly confused and panicking that I'll get stuck in London. Thank you :smile:


Sorry to hear you didn't get halls :frown: What is your local station, and what uni will you be headed to? It's quite difficult to work out the cheapest option for you without that info. Off the top of my head, I'd suggest paying as you go for travel in your first week until you get your timetable and know how many days a week you'll be in and what the easiest route to get in is, then see if a zone 1 - 9 weekly/monthly Travelcard would work out cheaper.
Reply 3
Go with a combination of the two.
Get yourself a paper season ticket between your local National Rail station to a London Terminal (depends where you live; Paddington, Victoria, Euston, Kings X, Liverpool St to name a few). That then takes care of your National Rail travel.

You then apply for an 18+ Student Oyster card on the TFL website. Its £10 but once you have one, you can load a Z1-6 Travelcard onto it at with a 33% reduction compared to an regular Oyster card. In fact, depending on where your Uni is located, you might get away with a zone 1-2 Travelcard which is less than £20 a week for 18+ or just under £30 for regular travelcards. I think you would be entitled to one seeing as you are studying in London. Either way, all Travelcards are valid on any London bus in any zone, regardless of zone on your Travelcard.
Reply 4
If its just outside he London Zone (Assuming its 1-2 stops outside London), can you not buy a ticket to a London Station, get off, touch in and then continue your journey?
Reply 5
Might be easier to get monthly NAtional Rail Travelcards - like I would normally do if I'm travelling into London from reading for the day...

Typically, it's NAtRail station to London All Zones.

Take all the hassle out of it?

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