The short answer
For 99% of visitors, tap your contactless bank card or phone. Fares are identical to Oyster pay-as-you-go, you avoid the £7 Oyster deposit, and weekly capping works automatically (Monday–Sunday).
Where Oyster still wins
- Non-UK cards with foreign-transaction fees — every tap is a separate transaction. A pre-loaded Oyster is one top-up.
- Children aged 11–15 travelling without an adult need a Zip Oyster photocard.
- Railcard discounts must be attached to an Oyster to apply to off-peak pay-as-you-go.
Fare caps
Daily and weekly caps apply to both. You will never pay more than the equivalent Travelcard for the zones you use.
Apple Pay & Google Pay
Work exactly like a contactless card. Use the same device at every gate — switching between watch and phone mid-journey breaks the journey and triggers a maximum fare.
What to avoid
- Paper single tickets: nearly 3× the contactless fare.
- Mixing Oyster and contactless in one journey — the system treats them as two incomplete journeys.