Traveling to London with Children - what's the best way to get Youth fares?

Question

I know there are already plenty of Oyster card questions here, but I can't find any recent information on travelling with children to London. My situation is this:

There will be 5 of us travelling, 2 adults (we will probably just use our contactless credit cards instead of Oyster cards) and 3 children aged 17, 15, and 10. I beleive the 10 year old can travel for free, and my understanding is that the 10 year old will not need any card at all, and can just go through the gate (let me know if that's wrong!). The 15 and 17 year old children can travel for substantial discounts... but only if they use the Oyster card. I found some information about a youth discount on the Visitor's Oyster card (details found here: https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/visitor-oyster-card#on-this-page-7). Can this also be applied to Oyster cards that we buy when we arrive?

To sum up, my questions are: 1: Does the 10 year-old need any kind of Oyster card to travel (with adults) for free? 2: Is it possible (or even preferred) to just buy Oyster cards when we arrive in Heathrow, and ask the staff to apply the Youth Visitor discount to the Oyster card when we arrive? Or do we need to buy the Visitor Oyster Cards ahead of time, and add the youth discount when we arrive?

If more details are needed, here is our itinerary:

Day 1: We're arriving in Heathrow in the afternoon on the first day of our trip, and taking the tube to our hotel in Zone 1. This will be our only travel on the day of arrival.

Day 2: Sightseeing around London, this will be our most Tube-heavy day, it might be preferable to just buy a 1-day travel card on this day.

Day 3: Taking the tube back to Heathrow to pick up a rental car, and driving west to Wales for the most of the rest of our trip.

Day 8: After spending several days in Wales, we're returning the rental car at Heathrow, taking the tube back to London for one more day.

Day 9: Finally, one more trip to Heathrow to fly home.

Thanks very much!

Answer 1

Does the 10 year-old need any kind of Oyster card to travel (with adults) for free?

Yes on the tube, bus and tram. Though children aged 5 to 10 require a zip oyster photo card if traveling on their own or - more information on this is at: https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/free-and-discounted-travel/5-10-zip-oyster-photocard?intcmp=55572

The application process is detailed in section 6 of https://content.tfl.gov.uk/5-10-zip-oyster-photocard-scheme-terms-and-conditions.pdf - there is no requirment to live in London or the UK. But if you do not you have to apply at least 28 days in advance and collect from a visitor center where you will need to provide proof of the child's age. This applies to all TFL services.

On some national rail services (shown in blue) children always need a ZIP card for tree travel even when traveling with an adult: https://content.tfl.gov.uk/free-travel-areas-without-oyster-adult-accompanying-map.pdf

Is it possible (or even preferred) to just buy Oyster cards when we arrive in Heathrow, and ask the staff to apply the Youth Visitor discount to the Oyster card when we arrive? Or do we need to buy the Visitor Oyster Cards ahead of time, and add the youth discount when we arrive?

It's possible to do that. With some recent rule changes there is now very little difference between them. With the visitor oyster card you'll need to pay a postage fee but it saves the hassle of collecting them at the station.

Visitor oyster cards cost £5 whereas a standard one costs £7. Until recently with the standard oyster card this used to be refundable or redeemable as credit in the future but it is no longer the case.