In Mar 2021 the price of some of the rides in London underground incres in about 2%-3%.
If you’re planning to stay in London for more than 6 days and you’re planning to take the tube (also known as the underground) more than twice every day, then getting the weekly transportation pass (also known as a weekly travel card) is an option you need consider.
Let’s do the math together:
A trip that takes place off-peak (i.e. not during the rush hours) in zone 1 and between zones 1 and 2 costs £2.40 with an Oyster card (during rush hour the price between zones 1 and 2 rises to £2.90). A daily maximum cap for each day is £7.20 (update until 1 Mar 2021).
A weekly travelcard for zone 1 and zone 2 costs £36.10 (updated 2020).
If you stay in London for 5 days the maximum cap with Oyster will be 36£ then it better to stay with the Oyster – you won’t pay more and you keep the option to pay less.
If you stay in London for 6 days and travel twice every day in zone 1-2, The cost of 6 return trips ends up being at least 2.4*2*6=£28.80 (if they take place off-peak, i.e. not during rush hour) if you travel more than 3 times between zone 1-2 you will pay the maximum daily cup of 7.20 pounds then if you travel 3 times or more in 3 days and the other 3 days you will take the tube only twice with an oyster card you will pay (7.20*3days)+(2.4*2*3days)=36£ then if you travel more then that you should buy the weekly card.
For 7 days, If you travel twice every day in zone 1-2, The cost of 7 return trips ends up being at least 2.4*2*7Days=£33.60 (if they take place off-peak, i.e. not during rush hour)
then if you are going to stay 7 days and will travel more than 2 times a day the weekly travelcard will be a good option for you.
In the other hand, if you don’t do the weekly travel card and you use the oyster card to travel a lot then the maximum you pay is 7.20£dayly_Cap*7Days=50.40£
So if you are planning on taking more than two rides in the tube per day or you are planning on using the tube during rush hour then the card already pays for itself.
Furthermore, the travelcard also allows you free transport on the buses, Overground and DLR.
The rush hours (also known as peak times) are between 06:30 and 09:30 in the morning and 16:00 to 19:00 in the evening from Monday through Friday.
A full chart of all the most recent prices is available on the TfL website.
You can read our full article on London’s Public transport here.