I use these buses quite a lot and IME while, yes, the last part of the journey is often a crawl, this is factored into the timetables and the bus should arrive within reasonable limits of the timetabled time. Last time I arrived twenty minutes early; before that, on time. Occasionally it all goes pear-shaped, but not often.
At the local village station, they only seem to sell an 'all-zone' Travelcard (zones 1 to 6 - but maybe excluding Heathrow?). £23 covers the return fare to the London terminus station, and unlimited travel on the underground and London buses. Off-peak (leave here after 09:30, but return at any time) is cheaper.
Going to London myself only once or twice a year, I generally buy a one day travel card, £6ish the last few times, now it has gone up to £7.30 iirc. Last time I went, I only used one bus, and walked everywhere else, making the £6ish ticket rather expensive.
Oyster is looking more attractive, if you are intending to come back another day in the future. IIRC, it costs £10, £5 (refundable, eventually) deposit, and £5 toward the fare. These figures may be slightly wrong,as it is a couple of months ago when I looked into it. You can top up the card automatically if needed. The TFL website is not the clearest, well, certainly wasnt for me, but if you keep looking there, you will find the details.
If I go to London from Cambridge I get a travel card that covers the rail trip then the tube and buses at Cambridge station, but I believe you can get the same from most any manned tube station..
They're either working on it or have already done it. Pay at Oyster rates with a contactless debit card. Already available on the buses, later this year on the tube apparently.
You don't have to register your oyster card or load it from a debit card: you can pay for it all in cash. Then they will know that somebody made the journey but they won't know who.
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