On Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:37:05 -0000, Paul Scott wrote:

Don't forget that some cards don't have a deposit - namely, cards
initially purchased with a week-or-longer Travelcard. (Or at least
that was the policy when I was last in London.)


It has changed since then, 7 day travelcards (at least) had a deposit
introduced to encourage people not to throw them away IIRC...

The £3 deposit now applies to all newly-issued Oyster cards (even
annual seasons).