On Jul 4, 7:40*am, wrote:

In article
,
(Mizter T) wrote:

Auto Top Up. Set it up once, and you never need to look online or
check your balance. I haven't had to go online for at least a year. My
only maintenance involves re-upping my Zone 1-3 once a month. And if
you must, stick your record card in your Oystercard wallet - then
you've the best of both worlds.

Yes, Auto Top-up is fantastic - but it's not for everyone. There's a
great many people who's finances are fairly chaotic, or even just very
tight - and money being taken just like that wouldn't really work out
too well.

Not so useful for infrequent users not living near a regular tube station..
I just spent £7 on Oyster due to being in London overnight without my bike
for the first time for some months. That is nearly as much as the total in
the first 6 months of the year of £9.60.

You only need to pass through the nominated Underground station *once*
in order to set it up. If you set it up online on one day (before
11pm), it will be available to be 'picked up' at that station from the
day afterwards, for the next eight days. From then onwards for as long
as you retain that particular Oyster card you don't ever need to
return to that station again, nor indeed use the Tube again - you can
just use buses.

You do need to start or finish making a journey in order to activate
the auto top-up facility (it can't just be picked up from a ticket
machine). However, you can get round this slightly be simply entering
a station through the gates and then exiting it again - for which
you'll be charged for a journey (the minimum fare from that station -
so £1.60 in zone 1), even though you didn't go anywhere. Some might
however consider this worth it in order to get it set up.

In your case however, given the very low usage, it perhaps wouldn't
really be of any significant benefit. (Just another company with whom
you have to update your credit/debit card details when you get a
replacement card!)