MIG wrote:
TKD wrote:
"MIG" wrote in message
oups.com...

TKD wrote:
If you live in one of the many places in London (particularly
south) where there are NR stations and local shops can't top
up Oyster, you have little choice but to get a paper season
ticket. You might have an Oyster which you put prepay on
when you get the chance, near work in central London say, but
you wouldn't be able to put your travelcard on it on the
morning when you needed to renew.

Why not? Assuming you live within the Travelcard Area, there's
nothing to stop you from getting a Weekly or longer Travelcard
on Oyster and renewing it in advance (as your Oyster has three
slots for Season Tickets).

I live in Edmonton, North London. My nearest Underground
stations are Turnpike Lane - Southgate (inclusive) on the
Piccadilly Line or Seven Sisters on the Victoria Line.
Admittedly, I do have several Oyster ."Ticket Stops" nearby,
but I opt to renew my Monthly at a convenient Underground
Station about a week before it runs out. Problem solved.

I was in Twickenham recently, and could not find anywhere that
could top up an Oyster.

Your lack of planning is no ones fault but your own. A quick
visit or call to TfL and you would have discovered there are
loads of places to top up in Twickenham.[list of 17 agents snipped]

How does one "visit TfL" when trying to catch a bus in the
evening?

WAP? PDA? or maybe have some forward thinging and sort it before
your balance got too low?

Are you really sure that these places all top up Oyster? I tried
a number of Ticket Stops in the centre of Twickenham, not
realising till then that Ticket Stops in that part of the world
don't have Oyster equipment.

Rubbish. There are ticket stops with Oyster equipment all over
Greater London and beyond. This website clearly shows which offer
paper and which offer Oyster:
http://www.tfl-ticketlocator.co.uk

Most of these would be a bus ride from where I was. How is this
making my life more convenient?

It isn't supposed to idiot proof your life. Its your responsiblity
to keep your balance topped up if you do not want to have auto top
up enabled.

What a bizarre response. I wanted to catch a bus in Twickenham and
bleedin obviously did not have access to the Web.

Situation: decide at short notice to travel somewhere by bus (and
why should I plan this days in advance?), knowing that there are
ticket stops, go to ticket stop near bus stop and ask for Oyster,
discover that there is such a thing as a ticket stop without
Oyster, walk down high street trying other ticket stops for Oyster,
with no success, and end up getting a paper bus pass.

Why do you imply that this situation involves idiocy? All I said in
the first place was that I was in Twickenham recently and couldn't
find anywhere that could top up an Oyster. I then get lectured on
forward planning.

Do you wait until you've completely run out of cash before looking
around for an ATM? At least with Oyster, you have the option of an
auto top-up if forward planning is so difficult for you.

--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)