London transport fare caps 2026: how the daily and weekly cap work

If you pay for travel with a contactless card or Oyster, London transport applies an automatic cap: once you spend a set amount in a day or a week, further journeys are free. You do not need to buy a separate pass — the system simply stops charging you.

How does the daily cap work?

The daily cap runs over 24 hours, from 04:30 to 04:29 the next day, not from midnight. As soon as your charges reach your zone's cap, every further journey in that "travel day" costs nothing. For zones 1–2 the daily cap is £8.90; zones 1–3 £10.50; zones 1–4 £12.80; zones 1–5 £15.30; and zones 1–6 £16.30. These caps are frozen from 1 March 2026.

What about the weekly cap?

If you use the same card all week, Monday to Sunday inclusive, a weekly cap applies. It matches the price of a 7 Day Travelcard: £44.70 for zones 1–2, £52.50 for zones 1–3, £64.20 for zones 1–4, £76.40 for zones 1–5 and £81.60 for zones 1–6. The cap is checked near the end of the week, so any refund may appear on a Friday or Saturday. If your travel week starts later than Monday, you may not reach the weekly cap, and a 7 Day Travelcard could be better value.

Does the peak affect the cap?

Single journeys in the peak cost more: from 1 March 2026 a zone 1 peak single rose from £2.90 to £3.10. At some stations a journey started before 09:30 is charged at the peak rate but counts toward the off-peak cap. The cap is your protection against overpaying: however many journeys you make, you will not be charged more in a day than your zone's cap.

The key rule for the cap to work

Use the same card or device throughout the day and week. If some journeys are paid by phone and others by a plastic card, the system counts them separately and neither cap builds up fully. Always touch in and out: an incomplete journey is charged at the maximum fare and can wipe out the benefit of the cap.

How to check charges and reclaim overpayments

Every journey and charge is visible when you sign in to your contactless or Oyster account on the TfL website. If you are overcharged — for example for an incomplete journey when you forgot to touch out — the overpayment is often refunded automatically to your contactless account, or you can claim it. Children travel free or at a discount with the right photocard, and some Railcards can be linked to an Oyster for an off-peak discount. If you travel beyond the London zones on National Rail, check in advance whether contactless and caps apply on that route.

You can always check current figures in TfL's fares section.