On: TfL's simple pop-up message led to a significant d...

[weinzierl]

I saw this message recently and it left me seriously confused. I was in London for about a week with my twelve year old.

For myself, I just swipe my mobile and I am done. For my child tried:

- Registering in the TfL mobile app doesn't work for children

- An Oyster Card for children should exist but we were told to get a paper ticket instead - at multiple TfL counters.

- Tried to swipe twice, for my child and myself. Did not work - unsurprisingly.

- Trying to get a paper ticket for a child leads to the mentioned pop-up, which says: "It's cheaper to use contactless [..] at adult rate [..]". What is that supposed to mean when trying to buy a ticket for a child? Is the contactless adult rate still cheaper than a paper child ticket? If not, then why am I seeing this pop-up?

So for our next visit: What is the proper way to travel with a 12 year old child as a tourist?

[daveoc64 → weinzierl]

There is an Oyster Card for children aged between 11 and 15, but you have to apply for it in advance and supply a photo. I think it's aimed at people who live in/regularly visit London:

https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/free-and-discounted-travel/11-15-zi...

The other option is a child's paper ticket - those can be purchased without having to apply for anything in advance.

Adult fares via Oyster/contactless may still be cheaper than a child's paper ticket.

You can use the Single fare finder to check the price of a specific journey - for both adult/child:

https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/find-fares/tube-and-rail-fares/sing...

If the Oyster/contactless adult fare is cheaper than a child's paper ticket, you could just use a standard Pay as you go Oyster card:

https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/how-to-pay-and-where-to-buy-tickets...

[weinzierl → daveoc64]

Thanks, this is a good summary and is very much appreciated.

If we assume that an Oyster card for children doesn't make much sense for a tourist, I found no option where the child is cheaper than the adult.

Admittedly, most often the difference between contactless for the adult and the pay-as-you-go Oyster card is negligible. Still it is a bit disappointing.