The easiest way to pay for transport around London

So many people come to London, and don’t realize how seamless the city really is. Therefore, leaving them not knowing the best and easiest ways to maneuver.

I’m here to make this whole process easier for you.

In London, the city uses TFL (Transport for London) and their seamless tap to pay system can be used for multiple forms of transport including underground, overground, buses, cable cars, etc... And using tap to pay via your bank card, whether connected to your phone or not, is in fact the cheapest way to get around.

You can opt to get an oyster card and refill it, but this is extremely inconvenient and more expensive as you will have to use a machine to get the card, pay for the card itself and then have to continuously refill it.

Many people are used to getting daily, weekly or monthly passes to get around in their city, but this rule doesn’t apply here. What will happen is your card will have a cap, daily and weekly. Meaning you will not pay more than X amount of dollars depending on which zones you are travelling between.

KEEP IN MIND

Whenever using a bank card for transport, stick to the same card, and same method. If you use your apple watch wallet to enter and your phones apple wallet to exit, this counts as 2 different cards, and you will be charged a full days fare on both cards. And you can‘t receive your daily or weekly cap if you don’t use the same card and method every time .

All you really need in this city is some type of bank card, and preferably in your phones wallet, and even more preferably, set up to be used for express transit. (This is a setting that can be found in your phones wallet)

Let me explain why Express Transit will always be the most convenient way to get around.

Using a bank card requires you to go into your wallet or keep your card in your pocket. Keeping it in your wallet, makes it inconvenient when its time to tap. And if it‘s in your pocket, you risk loosing it.

Using your phones regular wallet to pay can be a lot simpler as most of us already have and keep our phones in our hands. However, this will require you to double tap, and possibly even enter your pin, therefore making the process not as convenient as it truly should be.

This is where setting up one card for express transit in your phone is the best way to go. When you turn on this feature, all you will need to do is tap your phone. That’s it. No double tapping and no fuss.