TfL London Underground authorisation question

1

Hey, I’m travelling to London next week and I plan to use my Revolut card for the public transport. I have read that TfL blocks 10 pounds because of the way prepaid cards work.

I’m only going to use the Revolut card for TfL, my question is:

If I am there for 4 days and plan on using everyday the public transport, do I need 40 extra pounds?

I know the money gets back after a while, but I’m guessing it’s a few days?

Thanks for helping in advance!

Nil

2

Hi there.

If you use Revolut contactless with Transport For London (TFL), who run the tubes and buses in London, we will block £10 called ‘TFL authorisation’. The £10 will be released after 5 days. Your Revolut Card won’t work with TFL if your balance is below £10. If you tap in again within 5 days, the first £10 will be released and a new £10 will be blocked for 5 days. The reason for this is because TFL authorise contactless payments in a particular way. As the payment amount depends on your travel over a period of time, when you first tap in TFL authorise your payment. They then debit the amount for your journey later. To ensure that you have enough funds in your account to cover your journey, Revolut blocks £10 as a deposit.

2 Likes
3

Hi @anon33247966 !

I found the answer, but I forgot to update this post. I remebered reading it somewhere but couldn’t find it in the community or the FAQ. Turns out it was on the blog.

Sorry to have made you lose your time😅

1 Like
4

Please do not apologise :slight_smile:

5

I would like to update what I have actually encountered when I traveled to London.

Maybe it has changed recently and the FAQs are nt updated yet, but:

  • The authorisation is now £1,50 instead of £10. (Yay)
  • We used it few days and only had 1 authorization.

Also I would like to say:

  • Register for an online TfL contactless account and add the Revolut card to check journey history, as it will take 1/2 days until they charge you, and decide to spend the money. Also useful to check if the card was touched out correctly (you can be charged maximum fare if this happens)
6

Can more than one person use the same card for journeys or does each passenger need a separate card?

7

No, every person needs a separate card.

1 Like
8

Hi, I’m travelling to London with a family of four, and I know there’s a requirement that each person uses a separate card. Can this be achieved by using 3 different virtual Revolut cards (1 remaining is 8yo, who travels free, I think)? Thanks in advance!

9

Hi @anon33247966 Andreas I have a question I didnt use my tfl card nevertheless I have a Tfl authorisation of 5.70 pounds. Thé operation is marked as finished is it normal ?

10

hey! i wonder if you could use different cards from the same revolut account?

11

For the underground?

Yes, but they’ll take an authorization for every card…

12

Hi

Where you able to use multiple virtual cards with TFL

13

You could use multiple virtual cards with Apple/Google Pay if you want to.