A little later than planned, I’m delighted to announce our new mobile friendly Oyster Fare Finder. The links on this site have been updated to use it within the site, but you can also access it directly at https://oysterfares.com/off/. The functionality is very similar to the old version, but on the first screen you now choose which type of Oyster card you want to see fares for. At the top of the results page there is a new button for “amend” so you can check a different card type or just change one of the stations.
The major difference between this and the TfL version is that we still display the zonal coverage of the fares. This can be useful when working out what the default route is likely to be, but also clarifies which zones are required on a travelcard to make the journey, or which daily cap might apply. There are some cases where the default route doesn’t necessarily use the expected zones. Examples include Finsbury Park to Hackney Downs and Mottingham to Woolwich Arsenal.
The old version showing all the fares for each card type is still available on the fares guide page, in the menu on the right hand side.
Hi. Could you clarify what is the default route between forest hill and old street please? If I change at London Bridge would I pay £5.20 or £3.30 . I will commute daily.
Thanks
Hi Andree,
The rule is that if the route you take is described as an alternative then it can’t be the default. Changing at London Bridge is in the description of the alternative route so you’d pay £5.20 for that. The default route will be changing at Whitechapel from Overground to Underground.
I’m trying to figure out the default route between Canary Wharf and Orpington Rail station. The journey planner only suggests changing in zone 1 which sounds like the alternative route.
Otherwise, would the alternative route be included in a zone 1-6 daily tube cap (£8.25 with 16-25 railcard) as it uses National Rail, not just underground.
Hi Saj,
The default route covers zones 2-6, so must avoid zone 1. You could take DLR to Lewisham then Southeastern, or Jubilee to Canada Water, Overground to New Cross then Southeastern. There may be other options.
Hi Mike,
I love the new mobile layout and how the info is displayed. One small request is it possible for the type of ticket e.g. national railcard, to persist especially when doing an amend.
Hi Dave,
Thanks for reminding me that that was still outstanding. It should work now.
Sorry Mike still does not seem to be working for me. Have tried chrome and edge on my PC and Android chrome on my phone.
Failure between head and fingers. Should now be ok.
Hi. My friend and I need to get to Finsbury Park on a Friday arriving there about 6.30pm. I’m travelling from Welling and she is coming from Chelmsford. Returning c 10pm. There seem to be a variety of options suggested but not sure I follow all of them! Keen to get cheapest route going but not keen to do masses of changes coming home. Slightly doubting TfL planner as it gave me a bum steer recently! Any advice?
Hi Maddy,
Obviously your friend can’t use Oyster or contactless from Chelmsford. Assuming she doesn’t want to faff around on the way home she’s probably better off getting a paper off-peak day return ticket. That is valid via either sensible route (changing at Liverpool Street, circle to Moorgate, then Great Northern to Finsbury Park, OR change at Stratford, London Overground to Highbury & Islington, then Great Northern to Finsbury Park).
For you there are three routes. The default is Southeastern to London Bridge then Thameslink to Finsbury Park. A slightly cheaper avoiding zone 1 route exists via either Lewisham, Canary Wharf and Stratford, OR New Cross, Canada Water and Stratford. Either way you end up using London Overground to Highbury & Islington and Great Northern to Finsbury Park. The most expensive route involves changing to the Underground at London Bridge (or other terminals) and shouldn’t be necessary if Thameslink are running.
I hope that makes some sense, but do come back if you have more questions.
Thanks. I can’t seem to find times for those cheaper routes although I can see how they would work. What about pink validators-do I need to worry about them if I go via New Cross, etc. The only suggestion TfL is giving me is New Cross to Dalston then Dalston to Highbury and then Highbury to Finsbury. Does Great Northern accept Oyster then?
Hi Maddy,
Yes, Oyster is accepted on Great Northern. Via New Cross and Shoreditch is the default route so no pink readers required.
This is fantastic and going straight in my mobile favourites!
My only request, if you have the time, would be to set a cookie if the “card type” is changed from Adult so it remembers the new railcard/fares when the page is reloaded.
I’ll add it to the wish list.
Hi
Would it be possible to add the maximum journey times to the fare finder? Would be nice to look this up for an individual journey, instead of having to use the table.
Hi Alex,
It’s an idea. I’ll consider the implications. No promises.
Hi there! I was commuting from west Hempstead to Redhill but in the near future I will move to Clapham junction and I will not be using zone 1 on a daily basis anymore. 1 work from home once a week and will usually travel back from Redhill to Clapham after 7pm. I was wondering what would be the cheapest option for me? Zone 2-6 and oyster pay as you go to cover the rest of the distance? Your help would be much appreciated Mike!
Hi Zsolt,
This is an awkward one as there are so many variables. Firstly, you are only using National Rail services so a Travelcard is not likely to be worthwhile. If you only commute 4 days a week then a season ticket is also a lot less worthwhile, if at all. However, if you also use public transport at other times you might get enough use for a zone 2-5 travelcard. Zone 5 takes you to East Croydon and the extension PAYG fares to Redhill are the same from there as they are from zone 6, so don’t waste money on the extra zone on the travelcard. However, as the return journey is off-peak you may well be better off just using PAYG for the whole journey.
Key fares (2018 so will be a little more next year):
Clapham Junction to Redhill: £7.30 peak, £4.40 off-peak.
East Croydon to Redhill: £5.30 peak, £3.10 off-peak.