How To Check Oyster Card Balance And Top Up (Step By Step)

Oyster card is one of the most important payment methods for Public Transport in London.

It works on a pay-as-you-go basis, which means that you need to have sufficient funds on your card in order to pay for your journeys.

You can add funds to your Oyster card at any time by using a ticket machine at a Tube station, or online.

Once your Oyster card runs out of balance, you may want to find out an easy way to top up it.

In this article, we will tell you how to top up your oyster card.

Where can I top up my oyster card?

There are some places where you top up your oyster card.
They include:

• The ticket machines in Tube, DLR, London Overground and some National Rail stations
• Oyster ticket stops, click here to check the store locations.
• Create a contactless Oyster account and add your Oyster card
• Visitor Centres
• Apps from TfL, Apple Store, Google Play

Here is a step-by-step guide to top up oyster card on a ticket machine.

1. Touch your oyster card on the yellow reader

2. Select the amount you want to top up

3. If you want a receipt, just press the print receipt, you can pay with cash or a bank card (we use a back card here), insert your bank card and wait for a few seconds.

4. Remove your bank card and touch your oyster card on the yellow reader and wait for the transaction to complete.

5. Done, you can see your new balance. Get the receipt if you choose to print it.

If you want to top up your oyster card online, there are two methods.

1. You will need to register your card on Transport for London. Once your card is registered, you can add funds to it online or using a debit or credit card.
2. Apps from TfL, Apple Store, and Google Play. Download the app, and you can use the app to top up and check your journey history.

Another choice is Auto top-up.

An Oyster card Auto top-up is a feature that allows you to automatically add funds to your Oyster card when your balance falls below £20.

This can be a convenient way to ensure that you always have enough money on your card to pay for your journeys on the London Underground, buses, trams, and some overground trains.

Once your balance goes below £20, Tfl will automatically top up your Oyster card with either £10, £20 or £40 from your bank account.

Here is the auto top-up step-by-step guide:

• 1. Create an account on the Oyster website. Add Oyster
  card to the account.
• 2. After logging in, select “Top up or buy season ticket”.
• 3. Select “Pay as you go with auto top-up” and select an amount to top-up immediately and the amount to auto top-up later.
• 3. Click on “Next Page” twice, and enter your payment details.
• 4. Check your emails for confirming your order.

How to check oyster card balance (How much on my oyster card)

Checking the balance of oyster card is easy. There are at least five methods you can check your oyster card balance.

You can simply touch your oyster card on the yellow reader of any ticket machine, then you can see the balance.

Check the oyster card balance on the ticket machine

You can also see your balance every time you go out of the tube. (see it on the exit window screen once you tap out.)

Ask the shop which has Oyster card reading equipment. Give them your card and they will tell you the balance.

If you don’t want to go out, you can check the balance by Creating a contactless Oyster account and adding your Oyster card, or downloading the App from Tfl, and adding your oyster card.

Check the oyster card balance on the app

Frequently Asked Questions

Do we still need to use our card on a card reader to be able to top up If we use the app to top up?

Once you top up using the app, then you are ready to use it. No need to activate the top-up.

How to set up the top-up oyster automatically through the app?

I don’t think you can do that through the app but you can do that through the TfL website where you register your card as the steps listed above.

With this app do you have to take your Oyster card with you to pay for the transport fares?

Unfortunately, it is a very basic app and does not work to pay for the fares. It’s just to manage the account. If you don’t want to take your Oyster card, I recommend using the Contactless Card.

Conclusion

From the article, we can see that the App from Tfl can do almost everything such as checking the balance, top-up the balance, and checking your journey history. You can also check the tube map using the app.

However, it is disappointing that you can’t use the App to pay for your travel, in other words, you still need to take your Oyster card even though installing the App on your phone.