Using the underground - advice for a non Londoner

[Mumofteenandtween]

Can I just tap my phone to pay for the underground on the way in and the way out?

Yes you can

Yes.

It’s incredibly simple. Look up the route on your phone before you go and screenshot it.

Yes. Just make sure that you always do tap both ways, even if the barriers are open or, in some places, there aren't barriers just little standalone contactless readers - if you don't, you will be charged the maximum amount for a day's travel.

Yes you can. If you use a card, make sure you use the same card either end.

Thank you!

Yes, just don’t do what my DD did and tap her phone & card thinking they were interchangeable as they are the same bank account (it wasn’t a very expensive mistake, but annoying to pay twice for one day’s travel!).

TFL refund mistakes like that - they don’t advertise it but it’s fairly clear on the website how to ask them about billing errors. She might need to make an account.

You can also tap your watch if you have your card set up on it

Yeah I think I did look it up at the time but I didn’t get round to it due to faff of setting up an account and it being under a tenner.

Surely you could’ve just googled this?

I googled a question about using trains. Got a very definitive answer. "Brilliant", I thought. Off I went.

It cost me £24 for a journey that should have cost £6. Why? Because I googled, "can i use contactless to get to Station x". And the answer was Yes. But what it didn't say, was that Station X was not on the SAME contactless system as other stations on the same line. So when I tried to get out at Station X, it thought that I had not checked in anywhere. And becuase I was staying over night, I couldn't go back and check out from my original station so it charged me the max rate.....

Googling is a great tool. But it doesn't necessarily flag the exact little quirks that have been mentioned on this thread eg using contactless from your phone is not the same as the actual physical card.

Oh a nd yes, they DO refund - which is all well and good. But it's a pain in the ass.

Make sure you watch out for impatient women wearing pink who push you through the barriers when you haven't paid yet. My phone hadn't registered.

Silly cow did this to me and I had to faff about to get my card re-swiped.

You can also tap your apple watch.

I did. That was how I discovered I could use contactless.

But google results didn’t emphasise about making sure you tap on the way out even if the barriers are open or making sure that you use the same card both times. And it definitely didn’t warn me about women in pink!

It also doesn’t reassure me that it is incredibly simple so I don’t spend the next 4 days worrying that I will mess it up.

Google is great. But it isn’t a real person.

You'll be fine, if as said, you use exactly the same method to tap out with that you tapped in with. So card both times or phone both times. There's often a staff member about so ask if you're not sure.

Also, if you use a bus, you only need to tap in, not out as it's a flat rate. £1.75 however far you go on one bus.

Stand on the right on escalators.
Don't come to a dead stop when you step off the escalator - move to the side out of the way if you're not sure where you're going.
Move along the platform if it's busy.
Have your method of payment ready as you approach the barrier.

The Underground is well signposted. If you've worked out your journey in advance and know that you need, for example, the Central Line westbound, you'll see signs telling you where to go.

Totally agree re escalator etiquette!

Be very careful about pickpockets and phone snatchers. Memorise your route - don't stand in the street looking at your phone .