The Oyster card is credit card sized prepayment card that can be used to pay for travel by tube or bus. The card can be acquired for free from tube station ticket offices but a refundable £3.00 deposit will need to be paid. Once the Oyster card has been acquired it can be credited with cash at tube stations ticket offices, some tube station ticket machines or any of the many Transport for London ticket agents, often small newsagents, displaying the Transport for London or Oyster card logo in their window. Once credited with cash the Oyster card can be used to pay for travel. When travelling bus tap the Oyster card on the yellow Oyster card reader located by the driver. The reader will beep to indicate that the card has been read and the fare will be deducted from your credit balance. For travel by tube tap the Oyster card on the reader on the top of the ticket barrier to open the gate. It is important to also tap the Oyster card on the barrier when leaving the station so that the correct fare can be deducted. Remember to do this even if the ticket barriers are already open for some reason. At stations without ticket barriers there will be a reader located somewhere near the station entrance and exit.

Ticket prices are variable when paid for with an Oyster card but are always less than the cash fare. In the case of bus travel a single journey costs £1.00 as opposed to the £2.00 cash fare. If on any day the price of the tickets you have purchased exceeds the cost of the Travelcard for the journeys you have made your travel cost will be capped at the price of the Travelcard.

For further information visit the Oyster Card Information pages of the Transport for London website.