London tube payment question

[KatpissEverdeen]

Visiting in a couple of weeks time, and I've been told that you can now just tap your debit card to the reader on the turnstile to pay for the tube. If there's 4 of us going, does everybody need their own debit card? The kids don't have one but I can't imagine that people will be very impressed if we're stood with one card passing it backwards and forwards!

Please explain to a bumpkin how it works!

You can’t pass it back and forth …one person per card…how old are your kids

Go through the gated barriers, kids under 10 travel free

https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/free-and-discounted-travel

It will be easier for you to buy travel passes for your children (tickets that can be fed through the gates)

You need a card each. You can't share cards.
If kids are under 11 they are free and one of the adults uses the extra wide gates and beeps in and the kids go through with you.
If they are over 11 it gets more complicated.

One card per person. How old are the kids?

You can't share. I have two banks and did Apple Pay on each card for me and my daughter xx

And don’t do lIke I did and tap on and off with different cards😭

As others have said, you can’t pass a debit card back and forth between people. The barriers register the card at the station you tap in at when you start your journey and then again when you tap out at the station where you end your journey and that’s how the cost debited to your card is calculated (because the journey total will vary according to how many zones you’re travelling across).

So I can't stand at the tapper, tapping my card as they fo through and then finally tapping it for me? The kids are 14 but only have GoHenry cards which I'm not sure will work?

Is it an oyster card we need then?

Myself and DH used our bank cards. Ds who was 14 at the time we were advised to buy a child's day ticket which he just tapped in and out with. We got the ticket at the tube station we started from.

I think, but am not certain, that you could use one card in two different ways - via your phone, and via the card itself, and that that would work. Not certain though and that would only do 2 people.

That makes sense - thanks!

No, you need individual cards if they're over 10. You tap on at your first stop and off at your last, it calculates the cost from that based on where you've been so you can't tap multiple times for each person.

Your kids can use their gohenry cards :) https://uk.community.gohenry.com/s/article/gb-Can-the-card-be-used-on-buses-trains-or-the-London-Underground-network

I believe Go Henry does work on the tube though.

This is completely wrong

@KatpissEverdeen do both you and husband have credit cards too? (ergo 4 cards in total) 😉

it's obvious but do remember to tap out also.

The Go Henry cards should work.
They will be paying adult price but the daily cap (ie you don't get charged more than this) is £8.50.
To get an Oyster card for them you have to purchase them for £7 and then top it up to cover the ticket price.
Just use their Go Henry cards.

If you're coming for longer than a day and plan on using a lot of transport it is worth getting oystercards for the kids and then finding a person to set them to young person's rate. If you're coming just for the day or staying v centrally and walking a lot I wouldn't bother.

You could get them both oyster cards with a 'young visitor discount'. Should be cheaper than tapping in the Go Henry, though arguably slightly more faff. This is from the TfL website:

Young Visitor discount
If you don't live in London and you're visiting with children who don't have an 11-15 Zip Oyster photocard, they can get discounted travel for up to 14 days with the Young Visitor discount.
Add the Young Visitor discount to an Oyster card to get:

• 50% off adult-rate pay as you go fares and daily caps on bus, Tube, tram, DLR, London Overground, Elizabeth line and most National Rail services

The discount can be added to a standard Oyster card or Visitor Oyster card by a member of staff at:

• Any Tube or London Overground station
• Some Elizabeth line stations
• Visitor Centres

How old are the children?

TFL info

@longdistanceclaraclara

If you're visiting for any length of time buy them oystercards and get the young visitors discount added:
https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/free-and-discounted-travel/11-15-zip-oyster-photocard#on-this-page-5
This will save you a lot of money.
Otherwise they can tap on and off with go Henry cards (they need a separate card each) but they'll be charged an adult fare.

Any contactless payment works. If you have a card linked to Apple pay/Google pay on your phone, use the same mechanism to tap in and out. It treats your phone and tapping in with the card itself as separate payments.

This does mean you could give 1 child your card and you use your phone, even if the end charges both end up on the same card.