How To Activate a Oyster Card
What is Oyster Card?
The Oyster card is a payment method for public transport in London in England, United Kingdom. A standard Oyster card is a blue credit-card-sized stored-value contactless smart card.
How To Activate a Oyster Card
To activate you must touch your Oyster card on the yellow reader at your nominated station, and also touch out on the yellow reader at the end of your journey. To register your card, create a contactless and Oyster account. Visitor Oyster cards can’t be registered. If you’re transferring your credit or discount to a new Oyster card, make at least one journey with it first, wait 24 hours, and then sign in to your contactless and Oyster account.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I turn in my Oyster card?
At a London Underground ticket machine, you can get a refund of up to £10 pay-as-you-go credit. Simply touch your Oyster card on the yellow card reader on the ticket machine, select “Oyster refund” and follow the on-screen instructions. You can see the refunded amount due on the screen before finalising your request.
Can I use an Oyster card without registering it?
You can use your Oyster card to pay as you go at any time without providing your personal information to TfL. You can also add weekly and monthly season tickets to your Oyster card without needing to register your card or create an online account.
How long do Oyster cards stay active?
The credit on your Oyster card never expires, so you can keep your card for your next visit to London or lend it to family and friends to use when they come to London.
Can you use Oyster card immediately?
You can add money to an Oyster card or use contactless (card or device) straight away. You only pay for the journeys you make and it’s cheaper than buying a paper single or return ticket (train companies may offer special deals on some journeys).
Can Oyster cards expire?
The pay as you go credit on your Visitor Oyster card never expires so you can keep your card until your next visit, or lend it to family and friends.
Can I use my Oyster with no money on it?
1. On buses: If you tap your Oyster card on the reader and there is insufficient funds, the card reader will display an error message. The driver may ask you to pay the fare in cash or with a contactless payment card. If you dont have enough money to pay, you may be asked to disembark the bus.
How do I add money to my Oyster card?
You can top up your Oyster card at stations, online and at Oyster Ticket Stops (usually a local convenience shop). There are currently 3,900 Oyster Ticket Stops and you can find your nearest one on the TfL website.
Can I withdraw money from Oyster card?
If you have £10 or less pay-as-you-go credit, you can get a refund from Tube station ticket machines. Just touch your Oyster on the yellow card reader, select ‘Oyster refund’ and follow the instructions. The ticket machine will dispense a refund in cash.
How can I tell if my Oyster card is still valid?
You should be able to go to a ticket machine and touch the card on the reader to check the balance and status of the card.
Why is my Oyster card inactive?
It’s memory space, TfL recently said that there were 16.5 million dormant Oyster cards out there with just under 30 million pounds of credit on them. No computer system really wants to have to remember 16.5 million details on its active servers if it can avoid it. So dormant accounts are moved off the active system.