"GSV 3 minds in a can" wrote:

On Mar 23, 8:47 am, GSV 3 minds in a can wrote:
I read somewhere that if you have a YP railcard linked to your oyster
card and you make a peak journey in the evening, you will be charge
the offpeak rate. The reason being is that if you purchase an off peak
travel card you can use it in the evening during peak time time. I
was surprised to learn that I made a journey from Kings cross (LU) to
Hounslow at 5pm and it charged me £4.30. It should have been £1.70?

Can someone please clarify.

First off can you clarify the journey you actually made - which Hounslow did
you go to, one of the Tube stations or the National Rail station?

Secondly, are you sure it wasn't GBP3.40, rather than GBP4.30? GBP3.40 is
the peak zones 1-4 Tube fare (Hounslow Central & East are in zone 4, KX is
zone 1 of course).

You can check specific Oyster PAYG fares using the 'single fare finder'
he
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/tickets/fa...inder/current/

In the 'Type' drop down box you can select "National Railcard" to show the
fares with the Railcard discount.

How it works is that there's *no* Railcard discount on peak single fares,
which are charged Monday-Friday 0630-0930 and 1600-1900.

However, all journeys made after 0930 are subject to the off-peak daily cap,
which is discounted if a Railcard is loaded on the Oyster card - if so the
zones 1&2 cap is GBP4.30, the zones 1-4 cap is is GBP4.80 and the zones 1-6
cap is GBP5.30.

The important point here is that there are two separate peak/off-peak
distinctions - one applies to single PAYG journeys where there's both a
morning and evening peak period, the other applies to capping where there's
only a morning peak period.

Therefore, it's possible to be charged a peak PAYG fare during the evening
peak, which nonetheless contributes towards an off-peak daily cap.