London travel- pay as you go or travel card

[Snoopy111]

Its a while since we lived in London and travel cards have moved on a lot! We're visiting during half term with teens and a 10 year old. We don't have Oyster cards and don't want to have to buy them. I was planning to get travel cards but with the pay as you go cap of £8.10 the travel card is actually more expensive but I can't use my card to pay as you go for everyone can I? The teens don't want to have to pay for their own travel. I understand that the 10 year old travels free but how do they get through the barriers?

Also any recommendations for some where cool for dinner between the south bank and the barbican would be very welcome.

Thanks

I can't use my card to pay as you go for everyone can I? The teens don't want to have to pay for their own travel

You can transfer them the money and they can still use their own cards.

Contactless is cheapest option. Your 10year old is free on everything except the cable car and commuter boats. You go through the bog double gates which are usually either side of the gate line. On buses and DLR they just walk with you.
For the teens you either need a contactless card Or you get an oyster card but have to queue to cash in again when you've finished with it. Do they have cards for their bank accounts?

If you have Google pay/apple pay linked to a particular credit card that counts as a different card to tapping in and out with the card itself . That might help you pay for you and 1 other person.

I haven't explained it clearly but to put it another way, if I tap in with my phone, I need to tap out with my phone. I shouldn't tap out with the card itself as the system thinks of the two payment methods as different and can't link the two directly even if the end payment both come off the same card. This will work in your favour here as one child could use the card and another the phone.

If you register at tfl in advance you can get a statement to check what you have been charged later. (The cost doesn't get sorted out until around midnight after you travel).

For under 11s, you use the family/wide gate to tap in and out. You might need to take proof they are under 11 if it isn't obvious.

Depending on how long you visit for, it might be cheaper to get visitor Oyster cards next time, you can get Young Visitor discounts added to them for children between 11 and 15 and they will get half price fares.

https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/visitor-oyster-card#on-this-page-7

I always think Wahaca on the South Bank is a good place to go, it's in stacked shipping containers and you can watch the world go by.