"Roland Perry" wrote:

In message , at 11:40:09 on Tue, 29 Mar
2011, d remarked:

How much do normal oysters cost now?

Went up to £5 on 2nd January this year:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/medi...ive/17092.aspx


The rationale behind this is solid - it's to avoid people getting a card,
loading the minimum amount on it needed to get through the gates at their
starting station, making a longer journey, exiting leaving the card with a
negative balance then discarding the card.

Example - a peak PAYG single from zone 1 to Watford Junction is GBP7.70. To
get through the gates to start a journey in zone 1, a card needs to have the
minimum fare chargeable from that station on it - in this case GBP1.90. If
the deposit was still GBP3.00, then it'd be possible to obtain a card and
load it with sufficient PAYG credit for a total outlay of GBP4.90, then use
it to get to Watford Junction - on exiting the full GBP7.70 would be charged
leaving the card with a negative balance of GBP -5.80 (that's a minus), so
the punter just ditches said card - voila, they've 'saved' GBP2.80.

The higher deposit for the card negates this possibility.