Oyster Zip ???

[LogOUT]

I'm gearing up for secondary school in september - my DS has options of train or bus to get to school. I know I could google this - and probably should - but I love Mumsnet and the little tips of wisdom we all share with each other.

Soooo how easy is it to apply for an OZ? Is it really cheaper in the long run?

[SquirmOfEels]

All London children need a Zip card from their 11the birthday. Not in the sense that they must have one, but because it makes life so much easier if they do.

It's the convenient way to secure child fares, and the required proof for travelling fee in the buses.

You either apply online, or use a paper form at Post Offices. Very straightforward. Costs £10, and you need a photo of the child, proof of their dob (passport or BC) and proof of address.

[AuditAngel]

Definitely, and make him use the bus as that is free while the train (but not the tube) still costs money

[AuditAngel]

If they have a passport you can do everything online, it's really easy.

[AveEldon]

It is definitely worth it

[fuzzywuzzy]

I applied online it came within three days.

Then Ofcourse dd2 lost it a week later. So I left I paid I think £15 for a replacement (six months later), and put it around her neck on a lanyard, she's not lost it since. But it's only been a month.

[LogOUT]

Yes he has a passport - does it link to the photo on that then?

[InMySpareTime]

We haven't bothered with it as we only visit London once or twice a year, and the DCs (despite being 12 and almost 15) look young so have never been asked about their age. At this point it's probably cheaper for us to just pay adult fare for the next year if necessary than to pay for a Zip.

[fuzzywuzzy]

Yes it does, he'll have the same photo on his Oyster card.

[bigTillyMint]

The Zip card is free to London residents. It gives free bus travel and reduced (think it's 60p per journey?) trains/tubes. All London DC have them - they use them for travelling about in their free-time too You need to upload a photo for it. It's a no-brainer if you live in London!

[fuzzywuzzy]

Zip card is a tenner, admin fees I believe.

[AgingJuvenileBinkyHuckaback]

Free bus travel and half price tube travel for five years has to be worth a tenner, surely?

[bigTillyMint]

fuzzywuzzy, it used to be free AFAICR when I applied for my DC!

[fuzzywuzzy]

Think it's going up in price now Tilly was a tenner when I applied for DC then fifteen pounds for a replacement for dd2.

It is worth it, providing the child doesn't lose it every week (as mine did).

[SquirmOfEels]

My scatty one has just lost one again.

She'll be mucking out her bedroom today in the probably futile hope that it was dropped at home. Then I'll be ordering a replacement, and I'll post what it cost.

She's small enough that she often manages to get on buses, but tube/rail is nicely stuffed up slightly more inconvenient for half term.

[loobywoof]

We live hundreds of miles from London but our kids still have the zip Oyster photo cards for our one or two visits a year to London as it just makes things easier and cheaper. They are really easily ordered online.

[Mysillydog]

Children need a zip card to travel in London because buses are cashless and many drivers won't let teens board without one.

[LogOUT]

Thanks everyone - was surprisingly easy to do it online.

[Saracen]

"We haven't bothered with it as we only visit London once or twice a year, and the DCs (despite being 12 and almost 15) look young so have never been asked about their age."

InMySpareTime, I was tempted not to bother getting an 11-15 Oystercard for my 12yo daughter under similar circumstances. I thought of the Oystercard as simply a way to prove her age if challenged, and I was thinking that it was OK for her to travel for free without one if the driver didn't challenge her. I figured that if she were challenged, I could just pay the adult fare for her.

But it was pointed out to me by a MNer that the TfL conditions for carriage don't say that 11-15 year olds travel free on buses. They specify that 11-15 year olds bearing a valid Oystercard travel free on buses. So taking my 12 year old onto a bus without an Oystercard and without buying an adult ticket for her would be fare dodging.

When I saw it that way, I realised I did have to shell out for the Oystercard or pay for adult tickets. Got her an Oystercard which she promptly lost. Oh well!

[InMySpareTime]

saracen could I just use the photo card for my city's transport? Neither of them even looked 11 until this year, and we only take a couple of train/bus journeys a year anyway. It'd be worth me getting a photo card for where I live, but even now, not worth £10/15 for a separate card for an annual visit.

[ComaToes]

I do t know about teenagers, but the under 11 Zip is very much worth having as it gives free train travel (otherwise you pay a child fare). I got my two from Waterloo to Hampton Court for free recently, as well as money off river transport, which is always fun.

[raspberryrippleicecream]

My adult Oystercard was temporarily turned into an 11-15 card for DS2 when just DH and DS2 were in London last month.

[SquirmOfEels]

"Then I'll be ordering a replacement, and I'll post what it cost"

£10

[wateryeyes]

LogOUT, if you need to add credit to the zipcard, either as a one-off top-up or an auto-top-up, and you want to do it online, then it can be quite hard to figure out how to do it - the help isn't very good. There's a thread about it here, just in case it's useful ...

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_advice_tips/1573272-Zip-cards-Oyster-cards-for-teenagers?watched=1&msgid=61450063#61450063

[UnmentionedElephantDildo]

That's a zombie thread from 2012!

(Bizzarely reanimated the day after this one was started and in 'Active' much of the day)

[wateryeyes]

Yeah, it was me that reanimated it, because nobody answered the OP's question and I just figured it out because I was trying to do the same thing. The thread comes up in google when you search for "how do I top up a zip card" so it's useful to have the answer on there.

It's just a coincidence that I saw this thread today and posted the link.