Oystercard tool

Pre-paid - is it right for you?

As many of you know I keep pretty quiet about Oystercards cos I haven't got one. Geoff has one now and he seems to be making the most of it and I think Neil has always had one. But I was sent the following email from James Cridland who's built a little something that means you might be able to work out whether it's worth your while getting one:

"Annie... did you know...

...if you just commute between zone 1-4, it's cheapest to just get an Oyster pre-pay card. It beats everything else - including an annual travelcard. Sometimes, an Oyster pre-pay also beats a monthly travelcard too - for zones 1-6, you could save yourself over a grand by moving from monthly travelcard to Oyster pre-pay.

I've knocked together an Oystercard calculator to help people see the relevant costs - a fiendishly ugly page, but quite interesting, nonetheless. Hope you enjoy it. I might smarten it up one day.

Have fun"

Well I actually do commute between zones 1-4, but because I use my travelcard a lot on weekends and bank holidays and on my holidays itself - the calculator didn't seem to make pre-pay any cheaper than my annual card - also cos I get a mainline train from Richmond they don't accept Oystercard Pre-Pay on it anyway. But I'm sure it will be helpful for other people, and thanks for sending it in James.