According to TfL, it should be possible to get certain National
Railcards (such as a Senior Railcard) loaded on to an Oyster card so
that a lower daily price cap applies.

My wife and I both managed this last year, but our Senior Railcards
expired and we had to renew, so we have just realised that we need to
renew the loading of the Railcard on to our respective Oyster cards.

The problem is that nobody seems to know how to do it. We have tried at
tube stations, and at City Thameslink (one of the specifically named
National Rail stations said to be able to do it). In all cases the
ticket office staff state initially that it cannot be done, and when
presented with evidence to the contrary, such as a printout of the
relevant web page http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/oysteronline/9261.aspx
simply say that they don't know how to do it, even after consulting
their supervisors.

Has anyone managed to get their price cap reduced by loading a NR
railcard on to an Oyster card, and if so what's the secret?

I would complain to TfL but cannot work out how to do this on their
website without answering a host of pointless questions, such as "date
of incident" etc.

--
Clive Page

On 28 Nov, 23:09, Clive Page wrote:
According to TfL, it should be possible to get certain National
Railcards (such as a Senior Railcard) loaded on to an Oyster card so
that a lower daily price cap applies.

My wife and I both managed this last year, but our Senior Railcards
expired and we had to renew, so we have just realised that we need to
renew the loading of the Railcard on to our respective Oyster cards.

The problem is that nobody seems to know how to do it. *We have tried at
tube stations, and at City Thameslink (one of the specifically named
National Rail stations said to be able to do it). *In all cases the
ticket office staff state initially that it cannot be done, and when
presented with evidence to the contrary, such as a printout of the
relevant web pagehttp://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/oysteronline/9261.aspx
simply say that they don't know how to do it, even after consulting
their supervisors.

Has anyone managed to get their price cap reduced by loading a NR
railcard on to an Oyster card, and if so what's the secret?

I would complain to TfL but cannot work out how to do this on their
website without answering a host of pointless questions, such as "date
of incident" *etc.

--
Clive Page

I did it last year at Green Park although it seems like an extensive
process as there was an array of buttons that needed to be pressed in
order to make it happen. I would e-mail as it's best if TfL know there
are major training issues!

In article , (Clive
Page) wrote:

According to TfL, it should be possible to get certain National
Railcards (such as a Senior Railcard) loaded on to an Oyster card
so that a lower daily price cap applies.

My wife and I both managed this last year, but our Senior Railcards
expired and we had to renew, so we have just realised that we need
to renew the loading of the Railcard on to our respective Oyster
cards.

The problem is that nobody seems to know how to do it. We have
tried at tube stations, and at City Thameslink (one of the
specifically named National Rail stations said to be able to do
it). In all cases the ticket office staff state initially that it
cannot be done, and when presented with evidence to the contrary,
such as a printout of the relevant web page
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/oysteronline/9261.aspx
simply say that they don't know how to do it, even after consulting
their supervisors.

Has anyone managed to get their price cap reduced by loading a NR
railcard on to an Oyster card, and if so what's the secret?

I would complain to TfL but cannot work out how to do this on their
website without answering a host of pointless questions, such as
"date of incident" etc.

Hmm. Must try it myself. I was going to try St James's Park. If they can't
do it there, they can't do it anywhere. Have you tried ringing the Oyster
helpline (landline 020 7227 7886)?

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On Nov 28, 11:09*pm, Clive Page wrote:
According to TfL, it should be possible to get certain National
Railcards (such as a Senior Railcard) loaded on to an Oyster card so
that a lower daily price cap applies.

My wife and I both managed this last year, but our Senior Railcards
expired and we had to renew, so we have just realised that we need to
renew the loading of the Railcard on to our respective Oyster cards.

The problem is that nobody seems to know how to do it. *We have tried at
tube stations, and at City Thameslink (one of the specifically named
National Rail stations said to be able to do it). *In all cases the
ticket office staff state initially that it cannot be done, and when
presented with evidence to the contrary, such as a printout of the
relevant web pagehttp://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/oysteronline/9261.aspx
simply say that they don't know how to do it, even after consulting
their supervisors.

Has anyone managed to get their price cap reduced by loading a NR
railcard on to an Oyster card, and if so what's the secret?

I would complain to TfL but cannot work out how to do this on their
website without answering a host of pointless questions, such as "date
of incident" *etc.


Clive Page

I've done it twice. The first time was at Canary Wharf, and, although
I had to fill in a form, worked fine. The second time was at Charing
Cross, and took a LOT of explaining what I needed, but once he got it
(and I wasn't very confident he did get it) it did work.

In message , Paul Corfield
writes
Clive - if you can let me know which tube stations you tried I can raise
this with the relevant Revenue people at LU so they know there are some
issues re training and awareness. Given extension of PAYG to NR in the
New Year it is likely the volume of such transactions will increase and
it makes sense to deal with any inadequacies now.

Paul - thanks. I guess you are right about a greater number wanting to
do it in the new year. Except that the facility is so well hidden, that
probably nobody will try to use it.

My wife tried at Lambeth North some time in October - the ticket clerk
got my wife to fill in a form and experimented with his machine for some
time, then said it wasn't possible.

Then at City Thameslink (ok not a TfL station, but explicitly listed on
the TfL website as one where you can do this): on 25th Nov around 17:30
the ticket clerk took a photocopy of the printout from your website but
could not work out how to do it. He said it probably wasn't possible
until January, but he would ask his management for information.

She tried around the same time the following night, hoping to see the
same man, but he wasn't on duty, and the clerk claimed that it simply
wasn't possible at NR stations. A long queue was building up behind
her, so she didn't pursue it.

That's not a huge sample, of course. But a year ago we managed to get
the discount loaded, and though I don't remember the details, it took
attempts at several stations before we succeeded.


The other issue is that the ability to get a NR Railcard loaded at all
and that it gives you a lower daily cap is very well hidden on the TfL
websites, and I've never seen it described in printed literature. I
would never have known about it if it weren't for this newsgroup.

I've just searched the TfL website again, the main leaflet is a 22-page
document
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...s-zones1-6.pdf
which says at the foot of page 11: "holders of some National Railcards
can get discount off-peak daily price capping" but it doesn't say which
railcards, or how you get it. There are lots of fare tables later in
the leaflet, but none of them seem to be the relevant ones.

Fortunately, because of an earlier thread in this newsgroup, I was able
to read
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/faresa...ares/6769.aspx
but that URL does not seem to be linked from anywhere else on the TfL
site (and I've rooted around for some time). I wonder how anyone who
does not read this newsgroup is expected to find this document.

I also thought that I saw somewhere that the reduced price cap does not
apply to travel on buses when using a NR railcard - not all that
unreasonable I guess. But I can't find this reference any more, and I
haven't the faintest idea how it would apply if you were to use some
combination of buses and trains during the day.

Regards

If you have a local tube station that is convenient then I'm sure we can
do something to ensure you get a successful transaction. If you wish to
reply off group then my E mail address works.

Thanks Paul, but living in Bedfordshire our usual first encounter with
the tube is St.Pancras, but the ticket offices there always have such
horrendous queues so I'd never bother. I guess we'll try at random tube
stations on future trips around London, whenever we have half-an-hour to
spare :-). (By the way, my email address at page2.eu also works).

--
Clive Page

In article , (Clive
Page) wrote:

In message , Paul
Corfield writes
Clive - if you can let me know which tube stations you tried I can
raise this with the relevant Revenue people at LU so they know there
are some issues re training and awareness. Given extension of PAYG to
NR in the New Year it is likely the volume of such transactions will
increase and it makes sense to deal with any inadequacies now.

Paul - thanks. I guess you are right about a greater number
wanting to do it in the new year. Except that the facility is so
well hidden, that probably nobody will try to use it.

My wife tried at Lambeth North some time in October - the ticket
clerk got my wife to fill in a form and experimented with his
machine for some time, then said it wasn't possible.

Then at City Thameslink (ok not a TfL station, but explicitly
listed on the TfL website as one where you can do this): on 25th
Nov around 17:30 the ticket clerk took a photocopy of the printout
from your website but could not work out how to do it. He said it
probably wasn't possible until January, but he would ask his
management for information.

She tried around the same time the following night, hoping to see
the same man, but he wasn't on duty, and the clerk claimed that it
simply wasn't possible at NR stations. A long queue was building
up behind her, so she didn't pursue it.

That's not a huge sample, of course. But a year ago we managed to
get the discount loaded, and though I don't remember the details,
it took attempts at several stations before we succeeded.


The other issue is that the ability to get a NR Railcard loaded at
all and that it gives you a lower daily cap is very well hidden on
the TfL websites, and I've never seen it described in printed
literature. I would never have known about it if it weren't for
this newsgroup.

I've just searched the TfL website again, the main leaflet is a
22-page document
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...s-zones1-6.pdf
which says at the foot of page 11: "holders of some National Railcards
can get discount off-peak daily price capping" but it doesn't say
which railcards, or how you get it. There are lots of fare tables
later in the leaflet, but none of them seem to be the relevant ones.

Fortunately, because of an earlier thread in this newsgroup, I was
able to read
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/faresa...ares/6769.aspx
but that URL does not seem to be linked from anywhere else on the
TfL site (and I've rooted around for some time). I wonder how
anyone who does not read this newsgroup is expected to find this
document.

I also thought that I saw somewhere that the reduced price cap does
not apply to travel on buses when using a NR railcard - not all
that unreasonable I guess. But I can't find this reference any
more, and I haven't the faintest idea how it would apply if you
were to use some combination of buses and trains during the day.

I found this at http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/oysteronline/9261.aspx, the
first hit from a search on the TfL site for "railcard":

National Rail Railcard discounts
If you hold a National Rail Railcard, you can get an Oyster card and have
the Railcard discount entitlement added to it. If you then travel during
off-peak hours on Tube, DLR, London Overground and some National Rail
services, the Oyster daily price cap will be reduced by 34 per cent.

National Railcard price capping discounts do not apply if you only travel
by bus or tram. However, if you travel by bus or tram as well as Tube,
DLR, London Overground and some National Rail services, any bus or tram
journeys will count towards the daily price cap.

This discount is available to holders of the following National Rail
Railcards:

Disabled Persons
HM Forces
Senior
Young Persons

There is then a link to "Check current daily price cap for National Rail
Railcard discounts" at
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/faresa...ares/6769.aspx with
the full details, including a pricing table.

If you have a local tube station that is convenient then I'm sure we
can do something to ensure you get a successful transaction. If you
wish to reply off group then my E mail address works.

Thanks Paul, but living in Bedfordshire our usual first encounter
with the tube is St.Pancras, but the ticket offices there always
have such horrendous queues so I'd never bother. I guess we'll try
at random tube stations on future trips around London, whenever we
have half-an-hour to spare :-). (By the way, my email address at
page2.eu also works).

As someone who also faces the unbelievable queues at Kings Cross St
Pancras my practice is to deal with my Oyster needs at my first
destination tube station (usually Westminster or St James's Park but
sometimes East Putney). Seems to work for PAYG top up getting change for
cash avoiding queues but I've not yet tried to load my Senior Railcard.
Must try doing so on Monday.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In article ,
() wrote:

There is then a link to "Check current daily price cap for National
Rail Railcard discounts" at
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/faresa...ares/6769.aspx
with the full details, including a pricing table.

What this also means for Senior and 16-25 Railcard holders is that they
will only want to but Day Travelcards from Cambridge if travelling outside
zones 1-4 (off-peak). A Day Travelcard costs railcard holders £4.30 more
than a London Terminals Off Peak Day Return. The daily cap is £3.80 for
zones 1-4 but £4.60 for zones 1-5 or 6.

Other TOCs than FCC charge seem to less for Day Travelcards, AIUI (FCC
also charge £4.25 from Bedford). For example NXEA charge £3.00 from
Colchester while SWT charge £3.25 at Off-Peak rate and only £2.70
Super-Off-Peak from Windsor. However, other stations seem to be
inconsistent, e.g. Winchester £4.95 Off-Peak, £2.45 Super-Off-Peak.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

Clive,
I had a railcard discount loaded onto my Oyster two years at at
Finchley Rd tube, it took less than 5 minutes. Last year I had to get
the discount reloaded as my railcard had expired and the oyster
discount expires simultaneously. This time I had to fill in a form
( to get my card registered as this was now a prerequisite) and it
took the clerk some time to sort it out. I'm not sure what is going to
happen this year as my railcard is again up for renewal. I've had lots
of problems and heated arguments with LU staff wrt discounted daily
caps for Railcard holders - several were 100% adamant that these did
not exist, they even showed my the relevant LU leaflets which did not
mention them. I told of that the information on caps which listed on
their website. There has definitely been a lack of information flow
and problems in edifiying staff of all the nuances of Oyster.

C

In message , at 11:50:20 on
Sun, 29 Nov 2009, Paul Corfield remarked:
I would hope that the new Northern Ticket Hall at Kings Cross will bring
some overall relief to the chaos that has been Kings Cross tube station
and its ticket queues.

But the chaos is normally caused by having only a fraction of the
windows open[1]. If they could be bothered to staff all the windows, the
queues would be much shorter.

[1] I'm not absolutely certain, but it looked to me as if they only had
two windows open at 12.15 last Friday.
--
Roland Perry

In message , at 06:11:45
on Sun, 29 Nov 2009, remarked:
As someone who also faces the unbelievable queues at Kings Cross St
Pancras my practice is to deal with my Oyster needs at my first
destination tube station

The queues seem systemic, and have not been alleviated by either the
rebuild of the original ticket hall or the introduction of the western
hall [1]. I have my doubts whether the northern hall is going to be the
silver bullet some predict.

[1] http://www.perry.co.uk/images/stp-western-queue.jpg

in December 2007.
--
Roland Perry