Oyster question, please
 

In article , (Roland
Perry) wrote:

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.

You should be alright with the Paris carnet tickets. I've just used 2 of
the 4 left from my last visit here - in 1999. They are plain bluish green
card, quite unlike the current issue but the mag strip is obviously enough
the same to operate the gates at Gare du Nord.

I only keep £1.80 credit on my Oyster cards if possible, or whatever the
minimum fare to get into the tube at King's Cross is this year.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

Oyster question, please
 

On Aug 26, 11:15*pm, wrote:

In article ,
(Roland Perry) wrote:
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.

You should be alright with the Paris carnet tickets. I've just used 2 of
the 4 left from my last visit here - in 1999. They are plain bluish green
card, quite unlike the current issue but the mag strip is obviously enough
the same to operate the gates at Gare du Nord.

The Paris 't ticket' (green and mauve) transmogrified into the 't+
ticket' (white) in 2007 - AIUI the 'plus' it brought to the table was
the ability to make bus-bus, bus-tram and tram-tram interchanges
within 90 minutes of initial validation, which was something that was
not possible with the previous 't ticket'.

However as you say there's no expiry on the old 't tickets' - I don't
think however that they magically gained the extra abilities of the 't
+ ticket', not totally sure on that though.

Anyhow, point being it's useful they don't expire - no guarantee
they'll last forever of course, so probably best not to build up a
huge surplus.


I only keep £1.80 credit on my Oyster cards if possible, or whatever the
minimum fare to get into the tube at King's Cross is this year.

Why does it bother you so? I don't really get it. Who do you bank with?

Oyster question, please
 

On Thu, 26 Aug 2010 19:18:30 +0100
Neil Williams wrote:
for them". It is a refundable deposit for the loan of the card.

Is that how they word it? Can't say I'm surprised. Anything so that the
user doesn't have a leg to stand on legally if TfL wants to get nasty about
use of the card.

B2003

Oyster question, please
 

In message , at 17:15:40
on Thu, 26 Aug 2010, remarked:
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.

You should be alright with the Paris carnet tickets. I've just used 2 of
the 4 left from my last visit here - in 1999. They are plain bluish green
card, quite unlike the current issue but the mag strip is obviously enough
the same to operate the gates at Gare du Nord.

Yep, I don't think the Paris or Brussels tickets expire, but it means
having to keep a little collection of tickets (to go with my growing
collection of local 3G SIMMs). It's like going back to the old days when
one needed a collection of telephone plugs for using with a modem, and
many different currencies in what's now Euro-land.
--
Roland Perry

Oyster question, please
 

In article
,
(Mizter T) wrote:

On Aug 26, 11:15*pm, wrote:

In article ,
(Roland Perry) wrote:
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.

You should be alright with the Paris carnet tickets. I've just used 2
of the 4 left from my last visit here - in 1999. They are plain bluish
green card, quite unlike the current issue but the mag strip is
obviously enough the same to operate the gates at Gare du Nord.

The Paris 't ticket' (green and mauve) transmogrified into the 't+
ticket' (white) in 2007 - AIUI the 'plus' it brought to the table was
the ability to make bus-bus, bus-tram and tram-tram interchanges
within 90 minutes of initial validation, which was something that was
not possible with the previous 't ticket'.

Oh, right. I've only used the Metro so far.

However as you say there's no expiry on the old 't tickets' - I don't
think however that they magically gained the extra abilities of the 't
+ ticket', not totally sure on that though.

Anyhow, point being it's useful they don't expire - no guarantee
they'll last forever of course, so probably best not to build up a
huge surplus.

I only keep £1.80 credit on my Oyster cards if possible, or whatever
the minimum fare to get into the tube at King's Cross is this year.

Why does it bother you so? I don't really get it. Who do you bank
with?

Because for months at a time I don't use Oyster. And it's not like the
Metro carnet tickets which are still worth a journey now despite being
bought in 1999 money. Credit on my Oyster will pay less towards journeys
as fares rise.

The queues at King's Cross are still enormous and now you can only top up
under £5 if you have the exact change. So I have to keep some credit on
Oyster to be able to use it. If I top up at a ticket stop elsewhere I can
get the right amount added and get the right receipt with no worry about
change.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

Oyster question, please
 

On 26/08/2010 10:14, Phil Richards wrote:
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.

There is quite often someone soliciting just that standing just outside
the doors at New Cross Gate



--
Martin

replies to newsgroup only please.

Oyster question, please
 

In message of Fri, 27
Aug 2010 09:56:22 in uk.transport.london,
writes

[snip]

I only keep £1.80 credit on my Oyster cards if possible, or whatever
the minimum fare to get into the tube at King's Cross is this year.

Why does it bother you so? I don't really get it. Who do you bank
with?

Because for months at a time I don't use Oyster. And it's not like the

While I appreciate YMMV, I use Auto Top Up on a registered card.
It suits me; it would not suit you.

Metro carnet tickets which are still worth a journey now despite being
bought in 1999 money. Credit on my Oyster will pay less towards journeys
as fares rise.

I don't bother with such small numbers. Today, I was behind a German
teacher returning 9 Oysters for the deposits. I showed a New York
Metrocard which has some credit and is kept as a souvenir. While
interested, she thought her charges' parents would object. When I
suggested registration, ticket office staff said this is only available
to those with UK addresses.

Metrocard was produced by Cubic at about the same time as it produced
Oyster for London. It uses a swipe - at a limited range of speeds - on a
magnetic reader. I found NY transport interesting: (The following list
is unordered.)
a) it has payphones in subway stations;
b) most trains have air con - stations don't & are vilely hot in summer;
c) PA is manual, sporadic and difficult to understand;
d) trains with dot matrix displays show the HH:MM time when nothing more
interesting is available - LU shows nothing, suggesting display failure;
e) no "stand on the right" on escalators;
f) only station staff seen was an agent selling fares;
g) I envy their local and express trains - the Metropolitan north of
Finchley Road is so limited in comparison;
h) the 2nd Ave Subway has been in planning since 1940 - the first
section should open in 2015;
i) hard seats are adequate; armrests are not used; many spread over 2;
j) at first, I thought they had less grafitti - trains seem worse;
k) while I did not try this, it seems there is a one hour transfer
between subway and bus - Boris and Caroline Pidgeon were discussing this
for London in the Mayor's questions on Bastille Day. She was told
something to the effect of "not now if it hits revenue".


The queues at King's Cross are still enormous and now you can only top up

If you find the queues long, try the Northern Ticket Hall. I expect the
walk to and fro will be faster than waiting in the queues in the other
ticket halls. I find it sad that LU does not use peripatetic staff to
weed those horrible queues..

under £5 if you have the exact change. So I have to keep some credit on

I suspect "you can only top up under £5 if you have the exact change" is
confused. Some machines bear "exact money only" notices. I think that is
a transient condition due to running out of change - I may be wrong.

Oyster to be able to use it. If I top up at a ticket stop elsewhere I can
get the right amount added and get the right receipt with no worry about
change.


Have you considered using a photo of a POM last 8 journey statement?
The machines do print receipts which show what was paid - but not what
was bought ;(
I find the inability of the machines to print such statements is one
example of strong arguments against reducing ticket office hours.
Another is a typical 20 minute phone call to fix an Oyster mistake.
I have not found Oyster's email service a useful alternative.
--
Walter Briscoe

Oyster question, please
 

...in the same way you're not allowed to share an Oyster with a period
Travelcard on it....

Another question I can't answer to my satisfaction on tfl's site: Is a
Travelcard loaded onto an Oyster the same thing as a traditional paper
travelcard? eg: it can be programmed to be effective 1, 3, 4 or 7 days?
If so, maybe that would solve my dilemma (or exacerbate it!).

Rich

Oyster question, please
 

wrote on 29 August 2010 21:48:29 ...
...in the same way you're not allowed to share an Oyster with a period
Travelcard on it....

Another question I can't answer to my satisfaction on tfl's site: Is a
Travelcard loaded onto an Oyster the same thing as a traditional paper
travelcard? eg: it can be programmed to be effective 1, 3, 4 or 7 days?
If so, maybe that would solve my dilemma (or exacerbate it!).

Paper Travelcards are only available for 1 day (peak or off-peak), 7
days or longer (not 3 or 4 days). You can load a 7-day or longer
Travelcard on to an Oyster card, but not a 1-day Travelcard. The
benefits of a 1-day Travelcard are achieved by capping the PAYG charges
for travel on a single day.

--
Richard J.
(to email me, swap 'uk' and 'yon' in address)

Oyster question, please
 

"Richard J." wrote in message
news:Y9Aeo.54027$S_1.44579@hurricane...
wrote on 29 August 2010 21:48:29 ...
...in the same way you're not allowed to share an Oyster with a period
Travelcard on it....

Another question I can't answer to my satisfaction on tfl's site: Is a
Travelcard loaded onto an Oyster the same thing as a traditional paper
travelcard? eg: it can be programmed to be effective 1, 3, 4 or 7 days?
If so, maybe that would solve my dilemma (or exacerbate it!).

Paper Travelcards are only available for 1 day (peak or off-peak), 7 days
or longer (not 3 or 4 days). You can load a 7-day or longer Travelcard on
to an Oyster card, but not a 1-day Travelcard. The benefits of a 1-day
Travelcard are achieved by capping the PAYG charges for travel on a single
day.

--
Richard J.
(to email me, swap 'uk' and 'yon' in address)

Sorry, I should have been more explicit. London Visitor's Travelcard is
what I meant to say. Which had the intermediate day options attached to it,
altho I see it has now been condensed into two choices only - 3 or 7 days.
http://booking.britrail.com/index.ac...or_Travel_Card
Perhaps I am getting in front of myself & should wait a bit & see what
options are available as I get closer to the visiting date. Again, I
appreciate all the advice.