Here at TfL, we’re committed to making travel accessible and affordable for everyone. Saving money whilst using public transport in London has never been easier with plenty of free and discounted travel offers to choose from. Here’s your ultimate guide so you never miss out👇
1. Hopper Fare* 🚌 🚊
When travelling by bus or tram, if you use the same payment method when touching in, you can get unlimited journeys within an hour for just £1.75. And better yet, this price is going nowhere thanks to bus and tram fares being frozen until March 2026.
For example, a person taking three bus rides in an hour pays £1.75 instead of £5.25, saving £3.50.
2. Daily Caps** 🧢
Did you know that we limit pay-as-you-go journeys across our services within a single day? Once you hit the cap, additional travel is free, ensuring your travel costs don’t exceed a set limit. And the best thing? You don’t have to do a thing to benefit from this. Keep touching in and out as usual, and we will sort the rest by calculating the best fare for you.
This would look like an adult travelling through Zones 1-2 pays no more than £8.50 for peak journeys, even with multiple trips, versus £15.80 for four journeys without a cap. With bus and tram fares frozen until March 2026, this means you will never pay more than £5.25 per day.
3. Concessions*** 🎟️
Enjoy free or discounted travel across our network with concessions. Whether you’re a student, senior, under 18, or eligible for a disability pass, explore options like Zip Oyster, National Railcard and Freedom Passes to find out how you can get around the city for cheaper. Apply now to start saving.
What could this look like for you? As a student with an 18+ Student Oyster photocard, you’d get a 30% discount on weekly Travel cards, saving £16.80 on a Zone 1-3 weekly Travel card (reduced from £56 to £39.20).
4. Pink Card readers**** 🩷
Special card readers are dotted across our network that help you avoid paying unnecessary fare increases by telling us the route you took. The next time you’re not travelling through Zone 1, touch the pink card reader when you change trains to save some money.
Picture this: if you were to travel from Stratford to Richmond via Clapham Junction and touch a pink card reader when changing trains, you would pay £4.70 instead of £5.60.
5. Payment Methods 💵
We accept contactless payment cards, mobile devices, and Oyster cards, all of which act as separate payment methods. Avoid “card clash” by ensuring only one payment method is used per journey. This prevents double charges when multiple cards or devices touch for a single journey.
Watch out for contactless and Oyster cards being in the same purse, wallet or phone. Try to keep them separate so they don’t accidentally register as touching in at the same time.
Bonus tip: don’t forget that you always need to touch in and out with the same payment card and device, otherwise, this will qualify as two separate journeys. For example, if you touch in with a mobile device in the morning and then a contactless card in the afternoon, even if using the same bank account and card number, these fares won’t count towards the daily cap.
6. Off-peak travel 🕙
Cheaper fares are available during non-peak hours, meaning you can save money travelling outside of hours 06:30 – 09:30 and 16:00 – 19:00 on weekdays. Off-peak fares also apply on weekends and bank holidays.
Say you touch in at 06:29, for a Zone 1-4 single fare you would pay £2.80 instead of £3.70 at peak times, saving £0.70 per trip.
Plan your next trip
📲 Download our free TfL Go app to check train times so you don’t need to rush
🤩 Browse our Experience London blog to get inspiration for things to do
T&Cs:
*Hopper: For full terms and conditions visit tlf.gov.uk/hopper.
**Daily cap: Always use the same card or device when touching in and out. Excludes London Cable Car, River Bus and Southeastern highspeed services. Daily capping applies to trips completed between 4:30 am and 4:29 am the following day.
***Concessions: Fees apply for photo cards. For full terms and conditions visit tfl.gov.uk/fares/free-and-discounted-travel.
****Pink Card readers: Always use the same card or device when touching in and out and touching on a pink card reader.
