Richard Adamfi wrote:

Neil Williams wrote:

It takes 5 mins to get one, and then you just feed a tenner into the
machine when the barriers say you are getting low.

...which TfL get to keep and earn interest on.


If you really want to pay for your tickets one at a time then you can
still do so with Oyster. Instead of putting 3 pound coins into the
machine and getting a paper ticket, you simply touch the Oyster card on
the ticket machine, select 'top-up' then put in the 1.50 then touch the
card onto the ticket machine again.

This way, you still pay the lower Oyster fare but you don't have to pay
in advance and lose your interest to TfL.

I've done exactly this when I've found myself short of Pre Pay credit
on my Oyster card and a bit short of the readies. I just topped up my
Oyster's Pre Pay with loose change using a Tube ticket machine (and if
the machine wasn't working then I'd have gone to the ticket office).

I've also been in a 'Ticket Stop' newsagents where I was behind someone
who just wanted to add two quid of Pre Pay to their Oyster card, which
was done no problem. I asked the proprietor whether there was a
minimum, and he said there wasn't.