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Oyster Card Advice


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Hi All

 

Been attending these events for a few years now and have always got a Taxi from Euston to Earls Court after bottling it using the underground for fear of getting totally lost, as you can imagine this is a very expensive affair and with the line up this year I need to make some savings. This year I'm going to give the underground a go so looking at an Oyster card but don't know how much il need to put on it, any ideas (Euston to EC and back)

 

Cheers

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Using the Tube can be a little scary at first I remember my first time and even now after years of using it I can still get it wrong.

 

How ever a couple of simple things to bear in mind-

 

Remember the Colour of the line (s) your going to be using I find this far easier to remember than the Names of the Lines.

For example from Euston to Earls Court

 

First line Colour - Light Blue which is the Victoria line to Victoria ( ok this ones easy as your destination is the same name )

Second line Colour - Yellow and/or Green ( this is the same platform and all trains will go to Earls Court )

 

This method works better if you have loads of changes but you dont you only have one.

 

Second tip is to try and remember the Tube Map in your head ( its ok you dont need to know all of it ) you just need to remember what is up down left and right or North, South, East and West.

 

So with this in mind Euston is North , Victoria is South and Earls Court is West so from Euston you will need a Southbound Tube ( South toward Victoria which is South on the Tube Map )

 

Get it ?

 

If you do go wrong Dont Panic just get off at the next stop and change platforms the good thing about the Tube is once on the System you can do and go any where you want to get to your Destination :)

 

Just one more thing if your trying to save Money may I ask if you already have a Oyster Card ? As to get one its going to " Cost " you a Fiver this is a deposit and if your not going to use it often say once or twice a year theres no point as its going to cost more than a normal ticket.

Hi Mate

 

Thank you for the advice it's much appreciated, I'm dreading using the tube for the first time, I did buy an Oyster card a few years ago however lost it so was going to buy a new one

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You can get an oyster online before yo go so they will send it to you. Also if you register the card online if you ever lose it again you can get any balance transferred to a new card.

 

The tube is easy to use as explained above. You just need to take your time in working out which platform goes in which direction.

 

I tend to load up my Oyster with £20 for a weekend as that will cover a couple of days going all over London.

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I am not 100% sure but I don't think so. From a bit of digging it looks like a normal Oyster is £5 refundable deposit the visitor one is £3 non refundable if you ever want to return it.

 

I think either one would be ok for you.

 

 

But they do have an offer on of "

Visiting London for 2 days?

  • Start with £20 credit on your card for unlimited off-peak travel in central London and a single journey on the Emirates Air Line cable car"
Edited by Pod0509
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As someone who uses the tube regularly my advice is to not look anyone in the eye and sit in silence. If someone sits on the seat opposite of you blocking your view out of the window of nothing but tunnel wall (Which you must look at at all times if you have an unrestricted view) then shut your eyes and pretend to sleep until one of you gets off, standard tube etiquette :lol:

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I got confused at first but after a few trips it was so easy and they are so quick and regular that you can go back and forth all over London within minutes. I can go to LFCC then go somewhere else for hours then go back to the venue easily. The pass is better because it lasts you all day and you'll see people going to the show, you'll see cosplayers. Just follow them.

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I always check how much the journeys I'm making will add up to over the weekend, and top up accordingly. If you make extra journeys you can add an extra £5 (or more) online very easily. I rather have too little on there than too much.

 

But just remember to check your balance to make sure you won't run out before you finish a journey.

Edited by Murph
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Oyster cards can be charged up at ticket machines that have the oyster symbol on, at ticket offices, and online (online top ups have to be 'collected' by tapping in at a nominated station in the week after topping up)

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Hi All

 

Just went on the TFL site to get an Oyster card turns out as I bought one a few years ago that I never used and lost that I can have a replacement which already had £20 on it so that's a bit of a bonus, thanks for all the advice will bite the bullet and give the underground ago in July

 

StU

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I don't drive so use my oyster regularly (worn a couple out as well). You will never be charged more the cost of a one day travelcard. The cap is dependent on the time you first use your card that day. After 9:30am Monday to Friday plus anytime on the weekend, will be £8.50. If you only use just trams and buses, it is only £4.40.

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I don't drive so use my oyster regularly (worn a couple out as well). You will never be charged more the cost of a one day travelcard. The cap is dependent on the time you first use your card that day. After 9:30am Monday to Friday plus anytime on the weekend, will be £8.50.

I have a network railcard which gives me 1/3rd off mainline trains - which paid for itself in a single trip - but it also give you 1/3rd off a one day travel card at the weekend. So it only costs me £5.90.

 

Which is daft when a single trip from zone 1 to zone 4 (no discount) costs £5.70!

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The London subway system is great, but I've gotta say, it's very very difficult asking for help. I genuinely had difficulty finding people who were willing/able to speak to me (that includes the staff). I was pretty shocked actually.

 

At one particular station there was six platforms and they weren't especially well labelled. I asked a total of five fellow passengers for advice, all of whom appeared to be mute. Dunno if it's my Scottish accent, but I was really annoyed.

 

So yeah, memorise the maps and pay attention to the signs... there's a bunch of smartphone apps available too btw.

Edited by Xenomorph
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Coming from Glasgow myself i understand. I always feel when I leave London that you're back to reality again.London seems like a little bubble that is unlike anywhere else in the UK and I guess for people there that is their reality. It's very money driven too, i remember riding the trains and I'd never seen so many people well dressed before lol. You start buying into this illusion that's in front of you, you start looking at the clean pavements and roads and the upper class women that are out jogging at 6am and you think wow......must be cool to live here! it's only when you enter and leave and you start to see all those tenement buildings as far as the eye can see and the amount of people that must crammed into them that you start to realise it's not that different than up here. The people in them no doubt are working hard for a better life which is what we all do really. I think a lot of people there probably do just keep themselves to themselves.

 

Up here in Glasgow we are known for being very helpful but we get mocked for our accent so I always feel that sometimes when I go to another place and lets be honest England is another country, there is no UK, come September that will be a fact but I always watch what I say so that they understand me but you can't make people talk to you. I think with the English people and the same with the Welsh and Irish, they talk in their native tongue all the time but of course we get a lot of stick for it. If you come from Edinburgh or Fife it's fine. It's just Glasgow that gets all the fuss but then again we have personality, something that severely is lacking elsewhere in Scotland. I'd like to think for anyone travelling up here that if they asked for help that people in our city would be glad to help them. The last time I went to London for LFCC was 2012 and I got there early, not at the show but in London. I think it was about 6am and I remember come 9am it was still deserted. Just tourists walking around and I'd seen all the usual sights. It was a bit lonely. I remember having to perk myself up to go the convention and if you know me and you Scottish people that is no easy feat. I don't even know if i'm going this year or not, i'm thinking about it. I'd only be going for George Romero so it's a 9 hour bus ride so if i go i need to pick a day, probably sunday and mentally prepare for it lol.

Edited by thewizard
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Up here in Glasgow we are known for being very helpful but we get mocked for our accent so I always feel that sometimes when I go to another place and lets be honest England is another country, there is no UK, come September that will be a fact but I always watch what I say so that they understand me but you can't make people talk to you. I think with the English people and the same with the Welsh and Irish, they talk in their native tongue all the time but of course we get a lot of stick for it. If you come from Edinburgh or Fife it's fine. It's just Glasgow that gets all the fuss but then again we have personality, something that severely is lacking elsewhere in Scotland. I'd like to think for anyone travelling up here that if they asked for help that people in our city would be glad to help them.

 

I asked for help in Glasgow once. I was headbutted, injected with Heroin then deep fried.

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