Buying a Ticket and the Zones
So, you need to purchase a ticket for the Tube. The
process of buying a ticket is pretty easy and doesn’t require too much
explanation. Simply line up at one of the ticket machines in the station and
follow the instructions: pick the type of ticket you want, insert money, out
comes the ticket, poof! (Hopefully
you’ll be buying your ticket when it is not rush hour and there are a multitude
of machines available, not when there is a massive line that weaves around and
around. I only experienced this once, but it felt like I was in line forever.) Probably the trickiest part of
buying a ticket is determining what type you need.
The Tube map is broken up into nine different zones and the price of your ticket depends on how
many of these zones you plan on traveling in (as well as the time of day if you’re
using an Oyster card, see below). The farthest I ever went out was where
Heathrow is in Zone 6. You’ll most likely not need to go any farther out than
that, as the other zones go out into more suburban residential areas, but you
never know, so keep the zones in mind when planning your trips. Central London is mostly contained in Zones
1 and 2. If your trip consists of sightseeing in the heart of the city,
then know that you do not need to buy a ticket that will go out of these two
zones. If you do happen to buy a ticket for a certain set of zones but
accidently go out of it, that’s okay. When put your ticket through the gate
reader it’ll reject it, meaning you have to go up to one of the service booths
and pay whatever extra fee is required to pass through. Nothing too bad. Trust
me, I did this; it’s pretty much how I learned to pay attention to the zone map
in the first place. Live and learn.
 |
| The dreaded zones! (source) |
Once you’ve determined which zones you’ll need for
your trip, you can select the appropriate ones when purchasing your ticket.
There are a few different types of tickets:
·
Single fares: Need to go from one
station to another in a single trip? Then you’ll want to buy a single fare.
·
Day cards: Thinking of spending the whole
day in London hopping to and from different sites and stations? Buy a day card.
This is where knowing the zones comes in handy so you don’t end up buying a day
card for zones you’re not going to go to (i.e., spending more money than you
need to).
·
Oyster cards: Living in London or intending
to be in the city often? Consider getting a reloadable Oyster card. They save
time and money.
 |
| (source) |
Oyster
cards are reusable cards that you allow you to add funds on a pay-as-you-go
basis or at regular intervals (monthly, weekly, etc.). Overall, they offer
lower fares on the Tube, but the discount is dependent on whether or not you’ll
be traveling during peak rush
hours. There are both regular adult cards that anyone can purchase and
special 18-and-older student cards. There are restrictions for getting a
student card, which you can read about here. Personally, I didn’t
make use of Oyster cards because I was only occasionally in the city. Most of
the time, I just bought day cards. Sometimes I wonder if I should’ve utilized an
Oyster card, even if it was just to make myself feel cool by being able to scan
it on the yellow-colored reader.
Happy traveling!
-L.
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