Cut your London travel costs with these smart London public transport saving tips – Oyster card tricks, off-peak travel tips, and insider ways to save on public transport.
Note: If you wonder how the London Underground actually works, check here.
Did you know that it currently costs £246.60 per month to get unlimited travel between London Zone 1 and Zone 4? Over the years I learnt a lot of tricks for cheap travel in London. Regardless of if you’re visiting for a week or you are planning to move, here are 10 hacks that will help you find how to save money on the Tube: (No. 10 will save you a fortune!)
Don’t buy an Oyster Card
The first thing I did when I moved to London was to go to Woolwich Station and buy myself an Oyster card. I had once ever since. Yes, it’s a cool souvenir as well, but you don’t really need it. You can use your bank card to tap in and out of stations instead. The fares will cost the same and they will be subject to the same daily caps. This will save you the £7 fee for the actual card.
Don’t buy a daily travelcard
If you are visiting London and you want to travel between all the famous places within Zone 1 and Zone 2, just tap with your card. Due to the daily caps, unlimited travel within a day will cost you £8.90. If you buy a travelcard, however, the cheapest one is £16.60 and it covers Zone 1 to 4.
Don’t buy the single paper ticket
This will cost you £7. However, if you travel between London City Airport and Bank Underground station, the actual fare if you tap in and out is only £3.80 in the peak hours.
Remember to tap in AND out
Otherwise you will be charged the maximum amount for your journey.
Use your travelcards for bus rides outside of your Zones
Let’s say you have a weekly travelcard for Zone 1 to 4. You can still get on the bus and get to Zone 6 and your bus ride will be free. You can use a Travelcard for any zone on all bus services within London, regardless of which zones the Travelcard covers.
Travel only by bus or tram
Single fare on both will cost you only £1.75. Yes, even in Central London. So if you want to go around all the famous places on a double-decker bus, this is all that is going to cost you if you take public transport! Once you tap your card you can hop from bus to bus within an hour for no extra charge. And even if you hop a lot, the daily cap is only £5.25.
We have the Night Tube
The Night Tube runs on regular intervals on Friday and Saturday nights on the Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly, and Victoria lines. The fares remain the same. So, no need to watch the time while you are having the time of your life in the club!
Children travel free
Children under the age of 5 travel free on Tube, DLR, London Overground and Elizabeth line (excluding any stations beyond West Drayton) with a fare-paying adult. Up to 4 children between 5 and 11 can travel on the Underground, DLR, Overground and the “Lizzy” Line, and even some national rail lines as long as they are travelling with an adult who is using pay as you go (tapping in and out), or has a valid ticket (excluding Group Day Travelcards). All children under 11 travel free on buses and trams.
Visitors Pass
This is an Oyster card for tourists and it will cost you £7 to buy. Some places, such as restaurants and galleries, however, may offer you discounts if you have it with you.
Skip zone 1!
This is my favourite trick for budget travel in London and I would recommend it if you are looking to purchase a weekly or monthly travelcard. I have used to do this for a while, saving a fortune. Let me give you an example:
Zone 1 to Zone 4 Weekly travelcard will cost you £64.20 and monthly travelcard will cost you the eye-watering £246.60. When a travelcard between Zone 2 and 4 will cost you £37.10 and £142.50 respectively. As you can see, the luxury of using the underground Zone 1 will cost you over £100 per month! Why not skip it then?
This is how:
Utilise stations between Zone 1 and Zone 2. Vauxhall Station on the Victoria line is a good example. If you are travelling from outside Zone 1, you will be charged as if you were travelling to Zone 2 only.
Run or Walk through Zone 1. This is what I did when I was working in finance in West London – I ran 6k in the morning between Vauxhall and my office and then, in the evenings, I ran 5k between my office and Putney Station. This, back then, was saving me nearly £100 every month!
Take the bus. You have a travel card so it’s free, remember?
Hire a bike. Half an hour on a Santander Bike will cost you only £1.65. Even if you do this every working day, it will be cheaper than paying for Zone 1.
WARNING: Travel around Zone 1! Be aware that even if you don’t use the stations in Zone 1 and you don’t tap in or out of them, if you go under the Zone with any of your trains, you will be charged as if you have travelled to or from Zone 1.
Here you have it – 10 hacks on how to save money on the London underground. Do you have any hacks of your own? Let me know in the comments.
KEY HUBS
