Oyster question, please
 

On 26/08/2010 09:43, d wrote:
On Wed, 25 Aug 2010 23:18:49 +0100
Roland wrote:
else). But they can legitimately be used for consecutive rides by
different people, iirc.

Probably only because theres no way to prevent it. Though LU did insist on
old paper travelcards that they were non transferable. Why they bothered I
have no idea. Perhaps something to do with selling to touts.

Possibly or just the whole (stupid) mentality the railways etc. have
about transferring tickets. TfL presumably re-wrote the conditions to
say Oyster PAYG products are transferable simply because it is
unenforceable.

I have to say you never seem to see touts buying & selling ODTC so that
is a good thing in many ways.

--
Phil Richards, London, UK
3,600+ railway photos since 1980 at:
http://europeanrail.fotopic.net
http://britishrail.fotopic.net

Oyster question, please
 

For whatever moronic reason we don't have flat fares in London so you
have to swipe in and out which means its limited to one person per
journey.

For transatlantic readers, we don't all think it is moronic given in
particular (i) the size of the London Underground network and the
congestion in its central area in particular and (ii) the ability to
extend the Oyster card to (so far) National Rail services in the wider
London area. In other words we're like Hong Kong with its Octopus Card,
Tokyo with its Suica/PASMO,......
--
Robin
PM may be sent to rbw0{at}hotmail{dot}com

Oyster question, please
 

On Aug 26, 8:53*am, Neil Williams
wrote:
On Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:48:30 -0400, wrote:
Much appreciated. *Thank you. *I was/am trying to come up with an answer
that won't leave me with 4 Oyster cards with a balance on them. *Two I don't
mind as wife & I frequent London 2 or 3 times a year. *For this particular
trip, I would normally have bought four 3-Day travelcards good for zones 1-6
(all 6 zones out of necessity).

Given that (I think) a 3-day Travelcard was just priced at three times
a One Day Travelcard, and you can still buy the latter on paper, you
could just buy three of those each.

Another argument against buying 3-day Travelcards is that they no
longer exist - they were withdrawn at the beginning of the year.

Failing that, cash the Oyster cards in at the end and get a refund of
the deposit and balance.

The TfL website confirms that this is possible:
You can take your Oyster card to a Tube station ticket office for a refund of your unused ticket or travel
value and the £3 deposit.
(from http://tinyurl.com/37sd9zo )

Using Oyster PAYG might well work out a little cheaper for the OP, if
it turns out that he doesn't need zones 1-6 on all three days; or if
he doesn't need to travel during the morning peak. It certainly won't
cost any more than buying paper tickets - the only downsides are
having to visit a tube ticket office at your last station (though I'd
imagine the major rail termini and Heathrow are used to this kind of
transaction), and possibly being left over with some of our funny
English money.

Oyster question, please
 

On Thu, 26 Aug 2010 10:14:25 +0100
Phil Richards wrote:
On 26/08/2010 09:43, d wrote:
Possibly or just the whole (stupid) mentality the railways etc. have
about transferring tickets.

Indeed. Why they seem to think a ticket should only apply to the person
who it was originally bought for is anyones guess. Imagine if the same
conditions were applied to concert or theatre tickets. The west end would
go out of business.

I have to say you never seem to see touts buying & selling ODTC so that
is a good thing in many ways.

ODTC?

I wonder if theres still a clause somewhere saying Oyster cards remain the
property of TfL even though you fork out 3 quid for them. Wouldn't surprise
me.

B2003

Oyster question, please
 

In message , at 19:48:30
on Wed, 25 Aug 2010, remarked:
I was/am trying to come up with an answer that won't leave me with 4
Oyster cards with a balance on them. Two I don't mind as wife & I
frequent London 2 or 3 times a year. For this particular trip, I would
normally have bought four 3-Day travelcards good for zones 1-6 (all 6
zones out of necessity).

You have to look at the total cost of the various options, and how
closely you think you can manage the amount of credit on the Oystercard
on your last day of usage.

Unfortunately, most transit systems seem to impose a "tourist tax" by
way of un-used credit of one sort or another.

I've got several cards for the NY subway (now expired), most of a Paris
10-ticket carnet, and unusually nothing on a Brussels prepaid card. Plus
a "second" Oyster card with quite a bit of credit I think (I live
outside London and that card gets used maybe three times a year on
average). And Amsterdam seems to be going electronic to such an extent I
may need to get a prepaid card for there sooner rather than later.
--
Roland Perry

Oyster question, please
 

In message , at 09:31:38 on Thu,
26 Aug 2010, Ian Jelf remarked:

Can you just take a PAYG-loaded Oyster Card to a Ticket Office and cash
it in for a refund of the balance (and deposit if applicable)?

Doesn't it have to be registered, and the money paid to a bank account
later? Won't there be a bit of a long queue at Heathrow tube station (or
wherever is the OP's point of final exit from the "TFL system".
--
Roland Perry

Oyster question, please
 

Doesn't it have to be registered, and the money paid to a bank account
later

AIUI yes - to discourage theft of them for the deposit/balance on them.

I *think* the position for the separate "Visitor Oyster card " is
different with tube stations refunding up to £5 when the card is handed
over. But I can't find an answer one way or the other on the Oyster
pages.

Won't there be a bit of a long queue at Heathrow tube station
(or wherever is the OP's point of final exit from the "TFL system".

Good point: I really don't think it'd be worth the OP's time bearing in
mind (i) how far the pound has slumped against the US dollar and (ii)
how much we (UK PLC) are broke and need the money.

--
Robin
PM may be sent to rbw0{at}hotmail{dot}com

Oyster question, please
 

Doesn't it have to be registered, and the money paid to a bank account
later

AIUI yes - to discourage theft of them for the deposit/balance on them.

I *think* the position for the separate "Visitor Oyster card " is
different with tube stations refunding up to £5 when the card is handed
over. But I can't find an answer one way or the other on the Oyster
pages.

Won't there be a bit of a long queue at Heathrow tube station
(or wherever is the OP's point of final exit from the "TFL system".

Good point: I really don't think it'd be worth the OP's time bearing in
mind (i) how far the pound has slumped against the US dollar and (ii)
how much we (UK PLC) are broke and need the money.

--
Robin
PM may be sent to rbw0{at}hotmail{dot}com

Oyster question, please
 

On Thu, 26 Aug 2010 09:31:38 +0100, Ian Jelf
wrote:

Can you just take a PAYG-loaded Oyster Card to a Ticket Office and cash
it in for a refund of the balance (and deposit if applicable)?

I *think* so...

Neil
--
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK
To reply put my first name before the at.

Oyster question, please
 

On Thu, 26 Aug 2010 09:41:31 +0000 (UTC), d
wrote:

I wonder if theres still a clause somewhere saying Oyster cards remain the
property of TfL even though you fork out 3 quid for them. Wouldn't surprise
me.

I would imagine there indeed is, because you don't "fork out 3 quid
for them". It is a refundable deposit for the loan of the card.

Neil
--
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK
To reply put my first name before the at.