tfl oyster card travel history

Oyster Fares Central

Journey History and Queries

Journey history has improved beyond all recognition since the early days of the Oyster system. As long as your Oyster or zip card is registered to a TfL account you can view details of journeys and topups for the last eight weeks. This is available through the TfL website and also using the TfL Oyster app. More details for Oyster follow, but first an overview of the history for contactless.

Contactless Journey History (and how to query a journey)

Unlike Oyster, contactless journey history remains accessible for a year. This is because it provides the detail justifying debits on your bank or credit card account. There are two views available. One is Payment History which displays the journeys making up a particular debit. This won’t change if extra information arrives, like a late touch or a confirmation of a missed touch. Instead, the new information will make up a new entry for the day any adjustment was processed and sent to your bank. The other is Journey History which displays the journeys made during each day. This will change if late information becomes available. On both displays you have the ability to query a particular journey, though it’s not obvious at first. TfL have kindly provided some screenshots to explain how to do this.

The first screen shows the overview for the selected card. Note that identifying information has been hidden. You need to click the button highlighted in red. There is a button to contact TfL about the card, but this won’t pass the details of a specific journey.

Next you come through to the journey statement. Note the tabs to switch between payment and journey view. For any journey you can click on the detail line as shown in red below. Don’t click on the date heading as that just hides the individual journeys for that day.

This brings you through to more detail about the journey, including all touches (yellow and pink readers). Crucially underneath the detail is a button to bring up a form to contact TfL about that specific journey. Again it’s highlighted in red.

The form confirms the journey and gives you a text box to make any comments. You can use this to add information about a missing touch (if the normal form doesn’t work) or to explain why you think the charge is wrong. Most importantly, do NOT enter your payment card details in the box. TfL already have them if they are needed.

Oyster Journey History

Oyster journey history looks similar to the contactless views above, although there is only one view. When you select journey history from the overview you have a drop down menu to choose the period to display. The default is the last seven days, with options for the previous 8 weeks ending on a Sunday or a custom selection. The history is displayed below the drop down. As well as journeys you will also see topups and any refunds picked up. For rail journeys you can click on the ‘+’ sign to expand and show all touches that make up the journey. An example view is below, noting that the prices relate to a zip 16+ Oyster card.

Oyster statement sent by email

There is also a facility to have weekly or monthly Oyster statements sent automatically by email. Sadly this doesn’t exist for contactless. In the right hand menu select “Card preferences” and you can choose the frequency between weekly, monthly or never. You can also choose to receive CSV or PDF formats, or both.

34 thoughts on “Journey History and Queries”

Hi Mike, Is there still an option to receive a Oyster print out at tube stations? Thanks Kim

Sadly not. I believe it can still be done at the National Rail stations which perform Oyster transactions in the ticket office.

My Oyster card always says “You have 0 incomplete journey(s) eligible for refund.”, even if I do have an incomplete journey.

Is this feature for Contactless only – and if so, why does it display that message in the Oyster card page?

No, it’s for Oyster. Not all incomplete journeys are eligible for a refund without contacting the helpdesk.

Can anyone tell me how soon my Oystercard journey history will appear? I used my card today but my outward journey failed to register the touch in and I was charged maximum fair.

Hi Veronica,

It will appear tomorrow morning. If you made identical outward and return journeys there is a chance that they may auto complete the missing touch and queue a refund automatically. Otherwise you can let them know tomorrow.

Last Friday afternoon, I travelled using my Oyster PAYG (with a Gold Card added) from Orpington NR to Charing Cross NR, took a bus (the bus journey triggering the expected auto top up) and later the same day went on the Tube from South Kensington to Embankment and then immediately on to Charing Cross NR to return to Orpington NR. My online Oyster journey history is fine, showing all the expected touches and fares, but for the return journey my Oyster app journey history shows only the South Kensington, Embankment and Orpington touches (skipping the touch at Charing Cross NR) and shows a fare of £1.60 rather than the correct £3.70. The app shows a total daily spend of £5.80 and the online version shows the (correct) daily spend of £7.90 – the £2.10 discrepancy is the difference between the fare shown on the app and what I have been correctly charged. Bizarrely, my PAYG balance as shown online and in the app are both correct and reflect that the correct fare has been charged. Any idea why the two versions are out of step?

I’ve no idea. I’d be interested to know what the helpdesk say. Both Oyster online and the app should be accessing the same online database, as far as I know.

Hello again Mike

I reported the problem of the mismatch between journey histories to the helpdesk and their reply is set out below (it goes on a bit!). I didn’t to resort to the solution the helpdesk suggested – the app history magically updated itself over the last couple of days to bring it into line with the Oyster Online history, without me doing anything.

“Thank you for your web form submission of 24 June regarding the mismatching information between your Transport for London (TfL) account and the TfL App.

I apologise for any confusion and inconvenience resulting from these circumstances and appreciate you taking the time to bring them to our attention.

The TfL App is essentially an extension of your online TfL account, rather than a wholly independent system with a separate set of records. Under normal circumstances, once your online TfL account is updated to reflect the latest travel records, these are then pushed to the TfL App as well for you to have remote access.

On occasion, data may only partially be pushed to the TfL App resulting in the inconsistencies you’ve witnessed. This is usually automatically corrected by our system within a couple of days as soon as the next update is pushed through and the older data replaced.

As you’ve clearly seen directly though, the mismatching information does not necessarily mean that an overcharge/undercharge has in fact occurred. Should this occur anew, it is recommended to fully sign out of the TfL App, restart your smartphone and then sign back in. This should trigger our App to retrieve the records once more overwriting any older one.

If for whatever reason your records are still not being displayed properly on, please respond to this email at your earliest convenience to advise us of this. It would also be of great help if you could provide the following information:

The make and model of smartphone you’re using

The operating system currently installed on it – including the version number (found under your smartphone’s settings)

The version of the TfL App you’re using

Screenshots (if possible) of your travel records as displayed on your smartphone

We’ll then proceed to investigate in more depth to determine why information is not being displayed consistently across the two sets of records”.

Thanks for the update, very interesting.

Hello Mike,

Here is a good one:

Last week I travelled from Queens Road Peckham (overground service) to Goldhawk Road vía Whitechapel (Hammersmith line) making sure I touched on the pink card reader when interchanging. I used my contactless card for this journey.

I travelled from zone 2 to zone 2 crossing zone 1 using TfL services, so I thought I would be charged £2.40/2.90 for this journey.

I have been charged £4.

If I search this journey on the fare finder I got the same fare of £4. But if for example, I try to finish my journey at the previous station which is in the same zone 2 (Shepherd’s Bush Market) I got the usual fare between zone1-2 which is £2.40/2.90.

How is this possible?

I’d contact the helpdesk and ask them to explain. The £4 fare assumes you start by taking a Southern train to London Bridge. This incurs the mixed mode premium hence the high fare. They seem to think you wouldn’t go the long way round to Goldhawk Road.

Hi I took a journey on 2nd July from London City Airport to Paddington and as I had plenty of time I took a very convoluted route. I used Apple Pay and went as follows: – DLR to Bank – Northern to Moorgate – Circle to Farringdon – Thameslink to Blackfriars – Circle to Paddington There are 2 things I don’t understand: – Although I touched in and out everywhere, it shows as an automatically completed journey on my TFL account with the following comment: o To offset any travel disruption you may have experienced, we’ve charged you the minimum fare for this journey. Normally this would have resulted in a higher fare being charged. – The charge was £4:30. Should it not be £2:80? My TFL account shows: 13:08 London City Airport (yellow reader) 13:45 Moorgate (yellow) 13:46 Moorgate (yellow) 13:58 Blackfriars (National Rail) (yellow) 14:00 Blackfriars (London Underground) (pink – although this was at the entrance to the tube and was actually yellow!) 14:30 Paddington (London Underground) (yellow) Do you think this is correct or perhaps I just broke the system?!

I think you might have hit a problem with the temporary arrangements at Moorgate. It’s certainly had trouble working out what journey you were making. You’ve been charged as if you’d gone via Woolwich Arsenal. I think it might have tried to charge you two journeys, hence the comment about a higher fare. You could try contacting the helpdesk via the link at the bottom of the page listing all the touches.

Last Saturday (29th June) I tapped in at Chiswick & caught a train to Waterloo. Due to a trespasser on the track at Putney we were held at Barnes Bridge for 90 minutes. When I eventually tapped out at Waterloo I got 2 £5.60 penalty fares. My journey history shows the system is assuming I failed to tap out from my journey from Chiswick and then failed to tap in on a journey to Waterloo. Understandable given the times I tapped in and out, but my Oster account says I have no incomplete journeys eligible for refund so I can’t apply for a refund on-line & I only have a PAYG mobile so it would cost more than the penalty fare to call them. I won’t be at a tube station until next Thursday, so I assume I can get one of the tube staff to refund both penalties then? I did get a Delay Repay refund from SWT so that’s something.

The tube staff may be able to process the refund, but I’m not 100% sure. The helpdesk is a standard rate number these days so it would take quite a while to rack up the value of two maximum charges minus the correct fare. Or could you borrow a phone with included minutes from someone?

Thanks, but the last time I called them cost me all my credit just whilst I was waiting for someone to answer. I’ll try at a tube station and see how it goes. Why does it not show that I have any eligible incomplete journeys when my journey history shows a journey that I didn’t tap out from & one I didn’t tap in for – as they see it.

I don’t know, but I imagine it’s to do with the fact that with two incomplete journeys you may be looking at combining them into one, and that may have been defined as beyond the scope of the online form.

Hi Mike, I intend to travel from New Malden to Central London on Thursday. As I need to make several stops on the way (Covent Garden, Waterloo, Clerkenwell, Liverpool Street, St Pancras to name a few), would the overall cost of my journey be capped at £10.10 irregardless of whether I use the train for the whole of my journey, or the bus for part of it.

Yes, buses count towards the daily cap.

A couple of weeks ago I used my Oyster card, touched in at Denmark Hill, out at Blackfriars to continue home on Thameslink with my paper ticket. At Blackfriars I checked the display as the exit barrier opened, it recorded the right fare and balance. But a couple of days later I got my Oyster journey history statement which showed an unresolved journey. It is very worrying that these displays don’t show the actual balance. My wife was doing the same journey, used a different barrier at Blackfriars, and it also showed the right balance but failed to contact the Oyster central database so she also had to claim for a refund. We had to this by phone because, for some reason, the online system did not allow us to use this facility.

There was obviously a fault in the barriers at Blackfriars. We have now got refunds, but TfL blame GTR for the problem and vice-versa. I shall refer this to London TravelWatch if I don’t get someone to explain the fault and take responsibility. From now on I shall check by Oyster balance every day that I use it, and recommend everyone else to do the same. It is a most untrustworthy system. The idea of using a bank card for contactless payment horrifies me.

Sorry to hear about your issues. From what you’ve described there seems to have been a communications problem between Blackfriars NR and the central Oyster system. These do happen occasionally. I’m somewhat surprised that it hadn’t rectified itself by two days later as Blackfriars is a very busy station and it must have been causing lots of issues. The fault seems clearly to be the responsibility of GTR, although I’m not sure I’d go so far as to blame them. I have however alerted people in both GTR and TfL to see whether the blame ping-pong is appropriate.

Checking your travel history daily is a very good suggestion anyway, and one that I’d always recommend. I don’t agree that the system is untrustworthy, but when the occasional issue occurs it is important for the problem to be owned and resolved.

Hi. Is there any way to obtain your Oyster card travel history beyond 8 weeks at all? I would need it for employment reimbursement for the tax year beginning April 2019. thanks, Karolina

Hi Karolina,

I’m afraid there is not. Going forward you can set up monthly emails on your TfL account, or if contactless is an option (full adult fares only) the history then stays online for a year. This is because it is justification for debits from your bank or card account.

Unsure whether this is a problem linked to the 60+ Oyster which I have but over the last few months a journey starting after midnight in this case after midnight on the 31st October is shown as occurring on the 1st December. Although this is not a problem on a 60+ Oyster if the same thing is happening on a normal oyster it could cause charging problems. I copy the details from my latest weekly read out.

Date / Time

Journey / Action

Sunday, 01 December 2019 £0.00 daily total 00:20 Bus journey, route U5 £0.00 £0.00

Sunday, 03 November 2019 £0.00 daily total 23:59 Bus journey, route U5 £0.00 £0.00 22:09 Bus journey, route U5 £0.00 £0.00

Saturday, 02 November 2019 £0.00 daily total 00:39 Bus journey, route 350 £0.00 £0.00 21:43 Bus journey, route 350 £0.00 £0.00 14:16 – 14:46 Paddington [National Rail] to West Drayton [National Rail] £0.00 £0.00

13:21 – 13:55 Chancery Lane to Paddington (Bakerloo, Circle/District and H&C) £0.00 £0.00

13:12 Bus journey, route 17 £0.00 £0.00 12:16 Bus journey, route 63 £0.00 £0.00 11:21 – 12:07 Elstree and Borehamwood [National Rail] to Farringdon £0.00 £0.00

09:15 – 10:15 Paddington (Bakerloo, Circle/District and H&C) to Elstree and Borehamwood [National Rail] £0.00 £0.00

08:47 – 09:14 West Drayton [National Rail] to Paddington [National Rail] £0.00 £0.00

Friday, 01 November 2019 £0.00 daily total 01:29 Bus journey, route N222 £0.00 £0.00 00:08 Bus journey, route 222 £0.00 £0.00 Thursday, 31 October 2019 £0.00 daily total 21:54 Bus journey, route 222 £0.00 £0.00

Hi Malcolm,

It didn’t happen on 1st November, have there been other occurrances and is it always 1st December? I’ll pass the details over to TfL anyway.

It has certainly been happening all this year all involve bus journeys. On the months missing it is because the return journey was made prior to midnight examples are

Out 31st December 21:43 return showing as 31st January 00:38 Out 31st March 21:34 return showing as 1st May 00:13 Out 30th April 20:34 return showing as 30th May 00:20 Out 31st May 22:00 return showing as 1st July 00:59 Out 31st August 21:19 return showing 1st October 00:40

Still happening on journeys after midnight

Monday, 30 December 2019 £0.00 daily total 00:37 Bus journey, route 350 £0.00 £0.00

Saturday, 30 November 2019 £0.00 daily total 21:16 Bus journey, route 350 £0.00 £0.00

Thanks for this, I’ll pass it over. I can actually see a pattern here, it’s when the journey is made after midnight on the 1st day of a new month.

Please can you provide details of the bus route involved in your other late night journeys.

is it possible to get a printout of the cost when I used oyster to travel on the 18th Sept 2019?

Sorry, that’s too far away. Oyster travel data is anonymised after 8 weeks in line with the agreed fair use of data.

The bus routes involved will be either 222, 350, U1, U3 or U5 to return home. So either operated by Metroline West or Abelio West London.

Thanks Malcolm,

The info has been passed on to the team investigating.

TfL Contactless via phone - unable to see journey history?

Thread starter Richardr
Start date 2 May 2022

I have an Oystercard and associated account with TfL - which has top up via my credit card. The account has an associated credit card registered as contactless. For convenience I have been using my phone - using NFC via the Barclays app - saves getting the credit card out (and the Oystercard wouldn't work at St Albans City). The issue is that the journeys do not show up on the TfL website, albeit I am paying for them via the card registered with TfL. Is there any way to see the journeys? I seem to have been overcharged yesterday, but without seeing the journey details can't see where this happened, and if a tap in or tap out was missed.

RailUK Forums

Veteran Member

@MikeWh will be able to confirm, but I believe you just have to register your physical contactless card to your Oyster account and the journeys will be visible after the system reconciliation at the end of each week. I don't believe you have to separately register the phone's virtual card on your Oyster account.

najaB said: @MikeWh will be able to confirm, but I believe you just have to register your physical contactless card to your Oyster account and the journeys will be visible after the system reconciliation at the end of each week. I don't believe you have to separately register the phone's virtual card on your Oyster account. Click to expand...

Established Member

MikeWh said: Sadly not. Each device/app allocates a separate ID so that the taps can be tracked. I think if you call the bank they may be able to tell you what information is needed. Click to expand...

Once you've worked out the actual card details used by the app you'll be able to check on the card history just fine. Your bank should be able to tell you the card number and cvv code so you can register with TfL. It's a known issue.

MikeWh said: Once you've worked out the actual card details used by the app you'll be able to check on the card history just fine. Your bank should be able to tell you the card number and cvv code so you can register with TfL. It's a known issue. Click to expand...

Richardr said: Is that different from that of the physical card, and assuming so, is it then consistent going forward? Click to expand...

Reimbursements

How to Get a Receipt for Contactless TfL Travel

The London transport system is regarded as one of the best urban transport systems in the world. It may not be perfect, but Londoners have it pretty good all things considered. It’s possible to traverse the city with nothing more than a contactless card, which is just about the easiest way to pay as a passenger. Unfortunately, this can make things a little tricky when it comes to getting a valid digital receipt for travel expenses. Luckily it’s possible to get a TfL receipt sent directly to your TfL account.

In this guide, we’ll explain how to get expense receipts for your contactless journeys around London. We’ll also explain some of the other services TfL offers to make your life easier when it comes to managing travel payments.

Using contactless payment for London travel

Whether you’re using underground trains, overground trains or buses, you can pay quickly and easily anywhere in London using contactless payment. When contactless payment was first introduced, customers were limited to Oyster cards. Oyster cards were a game changer which allowed commuters to travel around the city on the TfL network with minimal hassle. But they have one main drawback in the sense that they can’t be used anywhere else.

Since 2014, public transport passengers in London have been able to use their contactless bank cards, as well as cards stored in digital wallets, alongside the standard Oyster card. In fact, the number of passengers using contactless debit or credit cards now outnumbers those using oyster cards.

Reimbursements with Moss: More freedom for your team

Tax rules for employer-provided Oyster cards

HMRC treats Oyster cards that are provided to employees by their employers in effectively the same way as individual travel tickets for business trips. This is because Oyster cards use a top-up system, and are usually the most cost effective and flexible way for individuals to travel on the TfL network.

If the amount of money provided by the employer is not enough to cover necessary business trip costs, the employee can claim a tax deduction on the additional costs they’ve paid out of pocket. You can find more information about the tax rules surrounding Oyster cards on the gov.uk website .

How to get a receipt for contactless TfL travel

Contactless payment for TfL is no doubt hugely popular with passengers. It makes it easier and more convenient to travel around the capital, particularly if you’re in a rush. But there’s one common area of confusion—obtaining a valid receipt for individual TfL journeys.

Firstly, it can be hard to distinguish individual work-related journeys if you have a monthly or yearly subscription. To claim a tax rebate for business travel, you need to be able to supply detailed records of each and every item you’re claiming.

When you mix business travel and personal travel on the same card or payment method, it can be difficult to isolate specific journeys. You can find out more about the rules and regulations surrounding travel expenses in our travel expenses guide .

Secondly, many employers will not accept transaction statements from banking apps as valid proof of a journey when claiming expenses. This is because transactions on banking apps lack most of the additional data that employers need to verify a payment was made for a specific journey.

Instead you’ll need to get a TfL payment receipt, which you can obtain online with a TfL contactless and Oyster account. We’ll explain how to do this below.

Getting a TfL contactless and Oyster account

Having a TfL contactless and Oyster account allows you to perform various actions online, like viewing your purchase history or obtaining refunds for unused credit.

Unless you buy an Oyster card in person at a London underground or overground station, you’ll be asked to set up a TfL contactless and Oyster account when you purchase your Oyster card. Once you’ve opened an account, you’ll be able to add credit to your Oyster card whenever you need.

Alternatively, you can create a TfL contactless and Oyster account without buying an Oyster card. Instead you can simply add a normal contactless debit or credit card to your account and access your transaction records this way.

How to get receipts from your contactless and Oyster account

Go to the TfL website at tfl.gov.uk , and then tap ‘Top up Oyster’ to log in. Tap ‘Sign in’ and enter your details. This will take you to the account overview page where you can select your contactless payment cards or Oyster cards.

If you’ve been using a contactless payment card, select the card you want to view on the left hand side of the screen. (This applies to cards you’ve used physically, as well as cards you’ve used through a digital wallet like Apple Wallet ).

Select ‘Journey & payment history’ and you’ll be able to filter and view all of TfL your journeys and payments. You can then download a PDF or CSV file of the receipts for journeys you made during the period you’ve selected. You can also view your transactions if you have an Oyster card linked to your account by selecting ‘Oyster cards’ under the ‘My Account’ menu on the right hand side of your account home screen.

How to add a contactless card to your oyster and contactless account

Getting receipts and payment history on the Oyster app

Instead of logging in to your contactless and Oyster account in your browser, you can access all the essential account functionality in the TfL Oyster and contactless app. The app displays all of the contactless payment cards you’ve added to your account.

You can select which card you want to use, and then simply tap on the contactless card reader with your phone whenever you want to pass through a barrier at the station. Your can access your payment and journey history for each card directly from the app, and there’s a handy map of the TfL network in case you get lost in the depths of the tube.

How to update your first generation Oyster card

Unfortunately you won’t be able to access any of the functionality of the Oyster app if you have a first generation Oyster card. First generation Oyster cards are not compatible with the app. However, because they were phased out in 2010, this shouldn’t be an issue for the vast majority of users.

If you’re unsure whether you have a first or a second generation oyster card, simply check the back of the card and look for a ‘D’ in the bottom left hand corner. If your card doesn’t have a ‘D’, it’s a first generation Oyster card. You’ll need to exchange it for a new second generation card to use the app.

Don’t worry about losing any credit you had remaining on your old Oyster card. When you buy a new one and register it on your contactless and Oyster account, you’ll be able to transfer the remaining balance. You’ll also get your deposit back as credit on your account.

Paying for TfL travel with cash

Since 2012 London buses have been contactless payment only. But you can still buy overground and underground tickets with cash at ticket offices and certain ticket machines. While this makes it easier to get a receipt (you’ll receive a paper receipt as normal when you pay), you actually end up paying more for your fare than you would if you used contactless payment.

Getting TfL receipts as a London road user

Using public transport isn’t the only time you pay when travelling around London. If you’re a road user, you’ll be familiar with the Congestion Charge and Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) charge. These charges were introduced to ease traffic congestion and emissions in the centre of the city, and they’re unavoidable if you have to drive within a certain area.

In most cases, these charges are not tax-deductible because they don’t meet HMRC’s requirements for employee expenses. However, many employers will reimburse you for additional charges you incur on business trips and other work-related travel. If this is the case, your employer will ask you to provide proof of payment of the charge before they reimburse the expense.

Reimburse with Moss: Give freedom to your team

To get your receipts, payment history and other information, you’ll need to log in to your London road user charging account. The process is very similar to the contactless and Oyster account as mentioned above.

Go to the TfL website at tfl.gov.uk , and then tap ‘Congestion Charge’ and ‘Sign in’. Unlike paying with an Oyster card, you have to set up a London road user charging account to pay the congestion charge or ULEZ charge.

Once you’ve logged in, go to ‘My account’ on the top right of the page. Scroll down and click on ‘Payment history’ on the left side of the screen. Here you’ll be able to search your past payments and download a summary of your receipts on a month-by-month basis as a PDF or CSV file.

Receipts and travel expenses with Moss

Moss’s spend management platform simplifies the employee expense and reimbursement process with a range of different tools for employers and employees. When it comes to managing and storing receipts, travel-related or not, Moss can save you time and effort. Employees can scan their expenses receipts directly into the Moss app, and managers can review and approve expenses on the go. There’s no need to deal with paper receipts or invoices because Moss digitises the entire process.

Employers can provide each employee or department with their own Moss corporate credit card . This can be specifically for travel, general expenses, or any other business related spend. Moss virtual credit cards can be set with custom cash limits, and controlled directly from the Moss app for full visibility over every pound that’s spent. Team members can store their Moss cards in Apple Wallet and spend directly from their phone using Apple Pay.

Then there’s Moss insights , which displays a range of detailed cashflow data. With aggregated data from across all of your linked accounts, you can ensure you’re always on top of outgoing costs and aware of potential expense cost savings.

Yes, you can get receipts for contactless journeys on TfL using a contactless card or an Oyster card. To do so you need to set up a contactless and Oyster account. This allows you view all of your past journeys and payments that you’ve made to TfL.

To set up a contactless and Oyster account, visit the tfl.gov.uk website, click ‘Top up Oyster’ and follow the instructions on screen.

An Oyster card is a contactless card that passengers can use on the TfL transport network. Users can top up their Oyster card at ticket machines around London, or link it to a bank card using a contactless and Oyster account.

Yes. To do so you’ll need to set up a London road user charging account, which you can do on the TfL website .

Yes. Contactless payment is cheaper than buying individual tickets with cash because contactless travel has a fixed cap per day.

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TfL Oyster and contactless 4+

Official app from tfl.

#59 in Travel
4.4 • 35.6K Ratings

iPhone Screenshots

Description.

Manage your adult Oyster and contactless cards on the move with the app. • Top up pay as you go credit • Buy adult rate 7 Day, Monthly and Annual Travelcards, and Bus & Tram Passes • View your Oyster card and contactless journey history • Check contactless payments • Check your pay as you go balance and see season tickets • Check if you have any incomplete journeys • Allow notifications when your pay as you go balance falls below a certain amount, or your Travelcard is about to expire When you top up your credit or buy a Travelcard or Bus & Tram Pass, it will be available to collect after 30 minutes when you touch your Oyster card on a yellow card reader as part of a journey on any London bus, or at any Tube, DLR, London Overground, TfL Rail or National Rail station within the pay as you go area, tram stop or River Bus pier. Keeping on top of your spend is easy; see the date, time and cost of your journeys from the last 8 weeks. The TfL Oyster and contactless app will request access to your camera. This is so that you can scan your payment card. We will never store the scanned pictures. Alternatively you can enter the card details manually. You can’t currently add Oyster photocards to this app. You can’t currently buy discounted tickets through the app. For security reasons the TfL Oyster and contactless app is not supported on jailbroken devices.

Version 1.4.5

We have improved accessibility functionality to make app navigation easier and enhance the customer experience

Ratings and Reviews

35.6K Ratings

Great app but improvements can be made

I have been using this app now for roughly 3.5 years and found it incredibly useful. It is simple to use. If there are improvements that can be made they are: 1. Debit/credit card management is not available on the app. Expired cards cannot be removed and there is no choice to remove cards you no longer wish to use. 2. To make the app more interactive it would be very helpful if the touch and go facility is added so that travelcards or pay-as-you-go credits can be used directly from the app instead of using contactless cards or an actual travelcard. Would have thought that this would have been the way to go in the development of the app but the app has stood still from its original launch bar the removal of bugs.

Good idea but needs lots of fixes

I downloaded this app in the hope that I could get my head more around TfL’s mind-boggling payment system and actually budget my travel outgoings to a degree. It’s a great idea for an app and it could easily be brilliant - but like so many other government/public sector apps: it doesn’t compete remotely in the same league as its private sector counterparts. It glitches a lot, I can’t see my payment history 50% of the time, it’s an incredibly limited app because there’s not a journey planner and you can’t link your railcard with your oyster card or debit card. If these things were fixed - this app would be brilliant and genuinely helpful. Unfortunately, I can’t work out whether it’s rubbish because TfL doesn’t think putting time into these kinds of resources is actually important and helpful to people; or whether it’s because they know they’ll ultimately make more money if they actually don’t help people inform travel choices on the underground - and make apps like this as a thinly veiled attempt at making themselves seem concerned with people’s efficiency of life. The app has great potential but needs the execution. Please improve it - it could be brilliant.

No access at all for Voiceover users!

I will start by saying that TFL have an almost exemplar record in embracing accessibility, diversity and inclusion... Everything from audio announcements on busses, trains and tubes to assistance for people who have disabilities at the point of need where possible and in most cases... TFL have been leaders in the notion of “Turn up and go” whih has meant that we as people with disabilities can travel independently and with confidence. So I waited with bated breath as I downloaded the Oyster app from the app store, knowing that as soon as the app was downloaded, I’d be able to interact with it using the native screen reader on IOS, Voiceover... Urm, no, oh dear! Absolutely no access at all. Nothing is spoken from the opening screen onwards so, no way of interacting with the app at all. The only upside to this is that at least its not part accessible which is worse but, this is not a compliment and not a position that tFL should find themselves in. Please can we have an accessible version of this app as soon as the next point release and can TFL reasure its many thousands of VIPs (Visually Impaired People) that accessibility and thereby, inclusion will be front and centre of all app development as part of the general build roadmap... Thank you!

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By: Author Tracy Collins

Posted on Last updated: May 5, 2024

If you’ll be visiting London and want to see the sights by public transport, then paying by contactless vs Oyster card is one of the first things to think about. Transport for London (TfL)’s public transport network is affordable, fast, and reliable, comprising underground and overground trains, IFS Cloud Cable Car, buses, Croydon trams and Uber boats. When using these, though, is it best to use a contactless card or the Oyster system to pay for your journeys?

Wherever you want to go in London, having a quick and easy way to pay for travel can make life much simpler. Which in turn can free up more of your precious time – and hard-earned money.

This guide to using Oyster or contactless on the tube, buses, trains, and boats in London will steer you through the maze. If you have burning questions – such as is an Oyster card cheaper than contactless – then you can expect to have them fully answered in plain English by the end of this article. At that point, you’ll also be well-placed to choose which is most suitable for you and your travel plans.

Here are the pros and cons of using contactless or an Oyster account for London Transport. The TfL Oyster & Contactless app is also covered, as is everything you need to know about Oyster cards for kids.

Let’s get started by taking a look at how you can pay for public transport in London, plus pros and cons of each method.

Contactless

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Can help you budget and track your spending and save on overseas bank charges if applicable
Cash fares can be more costly
Cash payments aren’t always accepted eg buses
Cash is difficult to recover if it’s lost or stolen

If you’re wondering why use Oyster instead of contactless, then maybe it’s worth thinking about cash as a third option. You could always use pounds sterling to pay for your journeys.

The problem is that some forms of transport, including London buses, don’t accept cash payments. Also, cash can be the most expensive way to pay, even where it is an option. So if you want to use all forms of transport, and save money, cash is best avoided.

If you don’t use cash, you won’t have to change so much money to pounds sterling, or worry about carrying the right coins with you. Lost or stolen cash isn’t always covered by travel insurance policies, either. Whereas a credit or debit card can be cancelled instantly.

These reasons are why we cannot recommend paying with cash for transport in London – although a small amount can be useful for emergencies, tipping, and minor purchases. So now we’ve discounted cash, let’s consider contactless versus Oyster card payments.

You won’t need to change as much money when paying by card
Fare caps mean paying a maximum daily amount (the amount depends on the Zones travelled)
You only have to carry one card around
Contactless cards are widely accepted
You can also pay by smartphone
Your bank might charge for transactions in a foreign currency
Contactless customers such as seniors cannot benefit from Oyster card discounts

Contactless is the modern replacement for cash. Just tap your contactless card to pay your fare, instead of using coins and notes. The cost will be automatically debited from your account. Though your bank might charge a fee for a foreign currency transaction.

Contactless is now the most popular payment method in the UK. It’s easy, convenient and widely accepted across the London Transport network.

There’s only one downside. Any bank based outside the UK is likely to charge you for all transactions made in pounds sterling. (Euros are not UK currency, and never were, and in fact the UK has now left the EU.) So check what fees your bank will charge before travelling and paying by contactless, if you want to avoid nasty surprises!

Alternatively, you can use Apple or Android pay when using your device rather than a contactless card. Whatever you use, just make sure you tap the same contactless card or device when touching in and out. Otherwise you could be charged for two separate trips.

So how does the Oyster card compare when paying for London Transport?

The colourful Visitor Oyster card makes a good memento of your trip
You can track your spending more easily as the card is pre-loaded
Separately, more than one person can use one Oyster card
There are special discounts for Visitor Oyster card holders
The card is specifically designed for London Transport
Fare caps mean paying a maximum daily sum relevant to your travel zones
You can use your Oyster card to get into London from Heathrow, Gatwick and London City .
You’re likely to leave an unused amount on the card at the end of your trip
Oyster cards can’t be used at stations between Reading and Iver on the Elizabeth Line
There’s a £7 or £5 upfront charge for each standard or visitor card
Cards must be topped up before travel
You can’t use Oyster cards in taxis

An Oyster card is a payment card, like contactless, but differs because it is London Transport specific. Unlike contactless, you also need to top it up in advance of travel. Oyster cards are available in standard or visitor versions.

If you use an Oyster card, then you will need to carry around that extra card. So is there any reason to choose it over contactless?

There are two additional costs to factor in when using an Oyster card. A £7 non-refundable fee applies to the standard Oyster Card and £5 for visitor versions. The second cost comes in because you’re unlikely to use every penny stored on it. You can return the card to London Transport to redeem this – but in reality, lots of people never get round to it!

Oyster cards can be topped up in £5 increments only. You can add between £10 and £50 every time.

If you do buy an Oyster card, though, it can be used during a repeat visit. Or you could pass it onto a friend or family member for their visit to London. They cannot be used in London taxis, though.

As they’re targeted at tourists, Visitor Oyster cards do offer holders some special discounts. These can include some money off attraction entry fees.

Now let’s take a look at the pay as you go system on London Transport. This lets you use either an Oyster card or contactless.

London Transport and Pay As You Go

You can use contactless or Oyster cards on the following types of transport in London:

Overground trains
Docklands Light Railway (DLR)
Uber Boat by Thames Clippers
Underground (or tube) trains
Most Elizabeth Line trains
IFS Cloud Cable Car
London buses
Trams

A number of the same benefits apply to both contactless and Oyster card payments.

Only pay for the journeys you make
Travel where and when you want to
Use the TfL Oyster and contactless app to track your trips
Fare caps mean never paying more than the Bus and Tram Pass or One Week Travelcard price, even when making multiple journeys between Monday and Sunday. A full day’s travel will also be cheaper than One Day Bus and Tram Pass or One Day Travelcard

Deciding whether to use contactless vs Oyster Card on London buses - as shown in the image.

Whether you want to pay by contactless or Oyster card, download the free TfL Oyster & Contactless app before you travel. It’s available via Google Pay for Android and the App store for Apple.

You can top up Oyster cards via the app. You can also view your trip history, check your remaining balance, and receive advance warning of any Travelcard expiry dates.

You can use the app with more than one contactless or Oyster card. It’s thus an easy way of using the same card across multiple devices.

Zip Oyster photocards and Young Visitor discounts for kids

There is a special version of the Oyster card for children. It’s called the Zip Oyster photocard, and comes in two age ranges. These are 5 to 10, and 11 to 15.

Free travel for 5 to 10 year olds is available on London Transport. A card isn’t always needed, as up to four kids can travel free per fare-paying adult . They can travel on tram, bus, and some train services without a card.

Holders of the card also get free travel on tubes, DLR, and Elizabeth line services, apart from between West Drayton and Reading. They also get a child rate on the IFS Cloud Cable Car, and a 50% discount on adult fares for the Uber Boat by Thames Clippers.

A parent or guardian can apply for a 5-10 Zip Oyster photocard online. There’s a £10 admin fee, and you’ll need a clear digital photo plus their passport.

The 11 to 15 Zip Oyster photocard works in much the same way. There is a higher £15 admin fee for applying, however.

11 to 15 year olds can also get free travel on trams and buses. But they pay child rate fares on tubes, DLR, Elizabeth line, and London Overground services, and the IFS Cloud Cable Car. 11 to 15 Zip Oyster photocard holders also get 50% off Uber Boat by Thames Clippers, and most National Rail fares.

Non-resident 11 to 15 year olds can get discounted travel for up to two weeks via the Young Visitor discount scheme. This is added to an accompanying adult’s standard or visitor Oyster card.

You’ll have to apply when the child is with you. You can apply at any tube or overground station, some Elizabeth line stations, or a TfL visitor centre.

The London Pass is also worth thinking about when deciding whether to use contactless or an Oyster card.

Various London Pass packages include an Oyster card. The London Pass is a London visitor card that gets you into over 80 London attractions. This pass also includes hop-on, hop-off bus routes for exploring the city.

You can buy a London Pass for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 10 consecutive days. Find out more by visiting the London Pass website .

To promote their goods and services to UK visitors, big brands make special offers only available to Oyster card holders.

Those with a Visitor Oyster card can, therefore, make the most of exclusive deals on entertainment, shopping, and food in the UK capital.

Contactless v Oyster Card – FAQs

Both contactless and Oyster cards use the same Pay As You Go system, and both can also be used with the free TfL Oyster & Contactless app. Costs are very similar, though there is a £5 or £7 upfront fee per Oyster card. You also have to top up an Oyster card before you travel.

For Visitor Oyster card holders, however, exclusive deals and discounts are available. For some tourists, it may also be more cost effective to get a London Pass that includes an Oyster card.

An Oyster card for London Transport is a pay as you go smart card. You can use it across the city for most forms of travel, including the IFS Cloud Cable Car and Uber Boat by Thames Clippers services as well as buses, trams, tubes, overground trains, DLR, and most Elizabeth line trains.

A Visitor Oyster card is among the cheapest and most convenient ways to pay for journeys on tubes, buses, trams, DLR, the Elizabeth Line, London Overground, and many National Rail services. You can also use it on Uber Boat by Thames Clippers and the IFS Cloud Cable Car.

Visitor Oyster cards also give holders exclusive discounts and deals, making entry to London attractions cheaper. You may also get money off dining and shopping. And you get to keep the card as a souvenir!

If you’re weighing up contactless versus an Oyster card, there are a few things to consider.

Though it costs £7 to get one, using an Oyster card can help you to avoid any foreign currency transaction charges that might be levied by your bank when using contactless. Simply top up your Oyster card before travel and use this to pay, so you can avoid these.

The fare cap also means you’ll pay a maximum sum per day or week. This can work out cheaper if you travel a lot.

London Passes that include an Oyster Card can be worthwhile if you want to visit a lot of attractions. Visitor Oyster Cards also give you exclusive deals on shopping, food, and entertainment.

The same Pay As You Go system is used for both Oyster cards and contactless payments. You cannot use cash on London buses, so if you want to use those you’ll have to choose between contactless and Oyster.

The colourful Visitor Oyster card also makes a nice souvenir of your time in London. Just keep in mind the £7 upfront Oyster Card cost!

Read next – Best day trips from London by train

TfL mobile app now displays journey history and payments on the go

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Posted: 21 June 2018 | Intelligent Transport | No comments yet

Customers using contactless payment cards across London can now conveniently view their journey history and check or top-up payments on the go…

Customers using contactless payment cards in London can now view their journey history on the go following the latest update to the free Transport for London (TfL) Oyster and contactless app .

Half of all Tube and rail pay-as-you-go journeys in London are made using contactless payment cards or mobile devices. More than 17 million pay-as-you-go journeys a week are made across public transport services; providing value for money, flexibility and convenience.

The success of contactless payment in London is leading more cities to introduce the technology as a convenient method of paying for travel.

Shashi Verma, Chief Technology Officer at Transport for London, said: “We’re delighted that so many Londoners have already downloaded our app, making it easier to check journey history and top-up on the go. This latest update follows feedback from customers and is part of our work to make travelling in London simple and convenient for everyone.”

TfL has updated the free app – available to download from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store – to enable customers to view their journey and payment history and see if they have any ‘incomplete’ journeys. Customers can use their smartphone to quickly add pay-as-you-go credit or season tickets to their Oyster card.

Since the app launched in September 2017, more than 800,000 downloads have been made.

Customers can add their contactless payment card to an online account, personalise cards or devices and hide features that are not required. New features on the app illustrate updated maps and design changes to improve the customer experience.

Chief Executive of London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Colin Stanbridge, said: “We support any improvements to make London’s public transport network easier, cheaper and more attractive to use: in doing so, benefitting commuters, tourists and the economy as a whole. Using contactless cards to travel has made great strides in this area and this update to the app would appear to take these changes a stage further.”

TfL is now working to introduce further improvements to make all the functions of the app available to customers using concessionary cards such as Zip and Student photocards. Future changes are expected to make it easier in requesting refunds.

Related topics Passenger Experience , Ticketing & Payments

Related cities London , United Kingdom

Related organisations Transport for London (TfL)

Related people Colin Stanbridge , Shashi Verma

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