Visitor Oyster cards
 

I thought I'd share the results of an experiment I did.

Some time back I bought a Visitor Oyster Card so I could lend it to
people who were visiting me -- it has the advantage of being visually
distinct from a standard Oyster card.

Last week, I decided to try adding it to my online account, and it added
fine, and showed me the balance OK. It even *claims* that the card is
protected against theft, although I'm not sure what to make of that
since I'm sure that the Oyster T&Cs used to say that a visitor Oyster
can't be registered or protected.

But anyway, I successfully activated auto top-up on the visitor card and
I can also confirm that the auto top-up does work.

Just in case anyone's interested...

-roy

Visitor Oyster cards
 

On Sep 6, 10:01*pm, Roy Badami wrote:
I thought I'd share the results of an experiment I did.

Some time back I bought a Visitor Oyster Card so I could lend it to
people who were visiting me -- it has the advantage of being visually
distinct from a standard Oyster card.

Last week, I decided to try adding it to my online account, and it added
fine, and showed me the balance OK. *It even *claims* that the card is
protected against theft, although I'm not sure what to make of that
since I'm sure that the Oyster T&Cs used to say that a visitor Oyster
can't be registered or protected.

But anyway, I successfully activated auto top-up on the visitor card and
I can also confirm that the auto top-up does work.

Just in case anyone's interested...

I'm interested - I'm not really surprised that it works, though I did
once think that to create an Oyster online account one needed to have
an Oyster card that at least had a security phrase associated with it
(if not actually fully registered), but recent discussion on here
suggested that one could create an Oyster online account for a card
that's completely unregistered, though I haven't yet played around
with all this myself.

Thanks for sharing your experimentation!

Visitor Oyster cards
 

On 06/09/10 22:42, Mizter T wrote:

I'm interested - I'm not really surprised that it works, though I did
once think that to create an Oyster online account one needed to have
an Oyster card that at least had a security phrase associated with it
(if not actually fully registered), but recent discussion on here
suggested that one could create an Oyster online account for a card
that's completely unregistered, though I haven't yet played around
with all this myself.

It makes sense that one of the benefits of registering (by filling in
the paper form at a ticket office) is that it prevents someone else
attempting to set up an online account for your card. This is clearly a
security benefit for those who don't ever intend to set up an online
account.

Online accounts have been promoted for quite a while as an alternative
to registration if you only want to protect your card from loss, and
don't have the need to add monthly or annual travelcards.

I'm curious, though, how to you end up with a card that has a security
phrase associated with it but is *not* fully registered?

-roy

Visitor Oyster cards
 

The reason I was intereseted to see what would happen with my
*visitor* Oyster card -- the promotional Oyster cards aimed at
tourists -- is that the T&Cs always used to say that you couldn't
register or protect a visitor Oyster card. (I did just look, and I
can't find that now, so maybe they've changed it?)


They moved some of the them. I think you now need
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/termsandconditions/899.aspx

From there eg
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...f-carriage.pdf and
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...f-carriage.pdf

"6.11. Oyster cards available to visitors
These Oyster cards are issued at our agents abroad and
who deal with high volumes of visitors. Special Terms and
Oyster cards as follows:

.. The card can only be used for to pay as you go
.. A non-refundable £2 charge is applied when purchasing
.. No deposit is applied when the card is issued
.. The card cannot be registered/protected."

HTH

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

Visitor Oyster cards
 

On 7 Set, 10:11, "Robin" wrote:
The reason I was intereseted to see what would happen with my
*visitor* Oyster card -- the promotional Oyster cards aimed at
tourists -- is that the T&Cs always used to say that you couldn't
register or protect a visitor Oyster card. *(I did just look, and I
can't find that now, so maybe they've changed it?)

They moved some of the them. *I think you now needhttp://www.tfl.gov.uk/termsandconditions/899.aspx

From there eghttp://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/conditions-of-carriage.pdfandhttp://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/docklands-light-rail-condition...

"6.11. Oyster cards available to visitors
These Oyster cards are issued at our agents abroad and
who deal with high volumes of visitors. Special Terms and
Oyster cards as follows:

. The card can only be used for to pay as you go
. A non-refundable £2 charge is applied when purchasing
. No deposit is applied when the card is issued
. The card cannot be registered/protected."

HTH


Just as a side note, I visit London regulary (3 or 4 times a year) and
in 2007 I got a normal (not a visitor) oyster.
Theoretically, it could not be registered because you need to supply a
valid UK postcode. I bypassed this, by supplying my normal Italian
address with the postcode of the hotel where I usually stay.
Everything's ok, top-up included

Visitor Oyster cards
 

"Kadath Dragon" wrote in message
...
On 7 Set, 10:11, "Robin" wrote:
The reason I was intereseted to see what would happen with my
*visitor* Oyster card -- the promotional Oyster cards aimed at
tourists -- is that the T&Cs always used to say that you couldn't
register or protect a visitor Oyster card. (I did just look, and I
can't find that now, so maybe they've changed it?)

They moved some of the them. I think you now
needhttp://www.tfl.gov.uk/termsandconditions/899.aspx

From there
eghttp://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/conditions-of-carriage.pdfandhttp://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/docklands-light-rail-condition...

"6.11. Oyster cards available to visitors
These Oyster cards are issued at our agents abroad and
who deal with high volumes of visitors. Special Terms and
Oyster cards as follows:

. The card can only be used for to pay as you go
. A non-refundable £2 charge is applied when purchasing
. No deposit is applied when the card is issued
. The card cannot be registered/protected."

HTH


Just as a side note, I visit London regulary (3 or 4 times a year) and
in 2007 I got a normal (not a visitor) oyster.
Theoretically, it could not be registered because you need to supply a
valid UK postcode. I bypassed this, by supplying my normal Italian
address with the postcode of the hotel where I usually stay.
Everything's ok, top-up included

I can confirm the above works. I also got a normal oyster card in 2007 and
used my Australian address with the UK postcode of the internet cafe where i
accessed the oyster website.

Peter
Sydney

Visitor Oyster cards
 

"Roy Badami" wrote in message
...
On 06/09/10 22:58, tim.... wrote:

I have an online account for my unregistered Oyster

All I can do is check the balance remaining

You should be able to do more than that:

You can add money to your Oyster card via a credit or debit card, and you
can activate auto-topup. You can also buy 7 day travelcards. You can
also report your card lost and stolen in which case it will be cancelled
and your balance refunded.

You need to "register" to do this.

tim

Visitor Oyster cards
 

In "tim...." writes:


You need to "register" to do this.

Speaking of visitor Oysters and registration is it possible for
someone to register an Oyster (visitor type or otherwise) with an out
of UK mailing address?

Dave

Visitor Oyster cards
 

On 07/09/10 16:08, tim.... wrote:

You need to "register" to do this.

I don't think that's true.

Certainly I can do the above with the visitor Oyster card I added to my
existing online account, and that card is not registered. Indeed the
online account tells me that it's not registered, and in any case one
can't, ostensibly, register a visitor Oyster card.

-roy

Visitor Oyster cards
 

"Roy Badami" wrote in message
...
On 07/09/10 16:08, tim.... wrote:

You need to "register" to do this.

I don't think that's true.

Certainly I can do the above with the visitor Oyster card I added to my
existing online account, and that card is not registered. Indeed the
online account tells me that it's not registered, and in any case one
can't, ostensibly, register a visitor Oyster card.

It seems that I can add credit to it (or at least I didn't get to a point
where it rejected this request)

but as I have to go to a specified station to "activate" that addition, this
seems a pointless thing to do given that I can add credit at a station from
the machines without the hassle of nominating a station first

tim

Visitor Oyster cards
 

It seems that I can add credit to it (or at least I didn't get to a point
where it rejected this request)

but as I have to go to a specified station to "activate" that addition, this
seems a pointless thing to do given that I can add credit at a station from
the machines without the hassle of nominating a station first

As a one off, I agree. Auto top-up, OTOH, avoids having to worry about
running out of credit. Which can be a bit of a problem if you've just
boarded a bendy bus. (Not happened to me, but people have been
prosecuted for inadvertently running out of credit on a bendy bus.)

-roy

Visitor Oyster cards
 

On Sep 7, 11:26*pm, Roy Badami wrote:

It seems that I can add credit to it (or at least I didn't get to a point
where it rejected this request)

but as I have to go to a specified station to "activate" that addition, this
seems a pointless thing to do given that I can add credit at a station from
the machines without the hassle of nominating a station first

As a one off, I agree. *Auto top-up, OTOH, avoids having to worry about
running out of credit. *Which can be a bit of a problem if you've just
boarded a bendy bus. *(Not happened to me, but people have been
prosecuted for inadvertently running out of credit on a bendy bus.)

Well, that's their defence at least...

Visitor Oyster cards
 

As a one off, I agree. Auto top-up, OTOH, avoids having to worry about
running out of credit. Which can be a bit of a problem if you've just
boarded a bendy bus. (Not happened to me, but people have been
prosecuted for inadvertently running out of credit on a bendy bus.)

Well, that's their defence at least...

Well, if they're going to have a policy of ignoring the penalty fares
system and simply prosecuting at first offence (which it appears to me
that from time to time they do) then running out of credit is rather risky.

Visitor Oyster cards
 

"Roy Badami" wrote in message
...

It seems that I can add credit to it (or at least I didn't get to a point
where it rejected this request)

but as I have to go to a specified station to "activate" that addition,
this
seems a pointless thing to do given that I can add credit at a station
from
the machines without the hassle of nominating a station first

As a one off, I agree. Auto top-up, OTOH, avoids having to worry about
running out of credit. Which can be a bit of a problem if you've just
boarded a bendy bus. (Not happened to me, but people have been prosecuted
for inadvertently running out of credit on a bendy bus.)

How can you run out of credit "on" the bus?

tim

Visitor Oyster cards
 

On 08/09/10 12:57, tim.... wrote:

How can you run out of credit "on" the bus?

Well, you can discover that you've run out of credit after you've
boarded and the bus has already departed.

On a bendy bus, you board the bus and then use one of the Oyster readers
inside the bus to validate your card - by which time the bus has already
departed.

-roy

Visitor Oyster cards
 

On Sep 8, 12:50*am, Roy Badami wrote:

As a one off, I agree. *Auto top-up, OTOH, avoids having to worry about
running out of credit. *Which can be a bit of a problem if you've just
boarded a bendy bus. *(Not happened to me, but people have been
prosecuted for inadvertently running out of credit on a bendy bus.)

Well, that's their defence at least...

Well, if they're going to have a policy of ignoring the penalty fares
system and simply prosecuting at first offence (which it appears to me
that from time to time they do) then running out of credit is rather risky.

All I was suggesting was that the defence of 'I unwittingly ran out of
credit' being presented is probably far more common than of it
actually happening.

(Observe people getting on a bendy bus, attempting to touch-in,
realising they've not got enough credit, shrugging their shoulders and
settling down into a seat. Or even just boarding and not making any
attempt to touch-in, but if inspected presenting their credit-less
Oyster card and claiming they thought they'd touched in. Or numerous
variants thereof. I've got on a bendy bus and realised on boarding
that I was out of credit, so just alighted at the next stop.)

Visitor Oyster cards
 

On 08/09/10 14:47, Mizter T wrote:

On Sep 8, 12:50 am, Roy wrote:

All I was suggesting was that the defence of 'I unwittingly ran out of
credit' being presented is probably far more common than of it
actually happening.

Yeah, I'm sure it is. What I find unnerving is the (recent?) practice
of prosecuting a first offence. I had always understood, perhaps
incorrectly, that prosecution was traditionally used as a means of
dealing with repeat offenders.

-roy