On Mon, 06 Jun 2005 21:22:51 +0100, David Cantrell
wrote:
On Sun, 5 Jun 2005 23:41 +0100 (BST), (Colin
Rosenstiel) said:
In article . com,
(Chris!) wrote:
Sorted @ Fulham Bdwy (East Putney closed early).
Sounds standard practice there. I'm glad I can't use Oyster (because I
travel from Cambridge) with all the hassle.

I just don't see what benefit Oyster would have for me, and I live in
London!

Single fares are cheaper, particularly on buses. You spend less time
queueing for tickets and ticket extensions. And you never pay more
than the price of a Travelcard for a day's travel (on tube/bus/DLR),
even if you don't know at the start of the day whether you'll make
enough journeys to justify getting a Travelcard.

However, if you have a Travelcard season, and never go outside your
zones, the advantages appear to be more limited: potential additional
ease of getting through ticket gates, and the ability to renew your
season online.

In article ,
(Francis Davey) wrote:

Colin Rosenstiel wrote:
In article . com,
(Chris!) wrote:

Sorted @ Fulham Bdwy (East Putney closed early).

Sounds standard practice there. I'm glad I can't use Oyster (because
I travel from Cambridge) with all the hassle.

I've never had any hassle with Oyster. Some of my Cambridge friends
actually have Oysters for when they want to get around the capital
quickly. I guess you have a gold card or something (as I did when
commuting) so London travel is an irrelevance to you.

My comment was actually about the lack of staffing of the East Putney
ticket office but then it was open at 10 tonight, shock horror!

PS: I thought you were a Cambridge City Councillor, but I am obviously
out of touch

I am! But I only work in London three days most weeks. Tonight and
tomorrow I'm staying in Putney which could be the only use I'd have for an
Oyster all year. I use a Network Card and day returns, one day Travelcards
and saver returns, plus the odd tube single, on different trips.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

asdf wrote:
snip
However, if you have a Travelcard season, and never go outside your
zones, the advantages appear to be more limited: potential additional
ease of getting through ticket gates, and the ability to renew your
season online.

Except if it is a 'discount' (i.e. Student) travelcard - then you have
to go to the ticket office to get it renewed

David Cantrell wrote:
I just don't see what benefit Oyster would have for me, and I live in
London!

asdf wrote:
Single fares are cheaper, particularly on buses. You spend less time
queueing for tickets and ticket extensions. And you never pay more
than the price of a Travelcard for a day's travel (on tube/bus/DLR),
even if you don't know at the start of the day whether you'll make
enough journeys to justify getting a Travelcard.

However, if you have a Travelcard season, and never go outside your
zones, the advantages appear to be more limited: potential additional
ease of getting through ticket gates, and the ability to renew your
season online.

I second what asdf has said - if you're using the tube and/or buses and
buying single fares, even on an occasional basis, then Oyster Pre-Pay
can save you dosh. A couple of examples - with Oyster Pre-Pay, it's an
80p off-peak fare on the bus as opposed to £1.20. Also, at weekends
and after 7pm, a Zone 1 - 6 single Tube ticket will cost you £3.80,
but only £2 with Oyster.

Also, as asdf has said, the price capping means you don't pay more that
a Day Travelcard even if you don't plan ahead. Though as the Oyster
Pre-Pay system is still not accepted on most National Rail (NR) routes
in the capital, this can mean that you effectively pay for a Day
Travelcard yet you don't get the full functionality of one - though
AIUI, eventually NR will participate fully in the Oyster Pre-Pay
scheme.

If you have a Travelcard season and do go outside the zones covered on
the Tube, then you'll never have to queue to buy an extension (or
forget to buy one & get hit with a £10 penalty fare, as a scatty
friend of mine always seemed to manage to do) as the Oyster system will
automatically debit the extension fare from you Oyster Pre-Pay balance.

And it's just conveniant having this bit of plastic that you've
pre-loaded with money rather than having to fumble for change and buy
tickets the whole time.

snip story about man at station 'losing' my prepay and reducing my
season ticket...
Sorted @ Fulham Bdwy (East Putney closed early)... took 70 minutes to
get it corrected - but at least that's better than queueing tomorrow in
the am peak

In case anyone is interested, the tube people said: "We do not offer
compensation for human error". If that is a blanket statement it seems
rather worrying that they accept no responsibility for any mistakes
their staff may make

Chris! wrote:
snip story about man at station 'losing' my prepay and reducing my
season ticket...
Sorted @ Fulham Bdwy (East Putney closed early)... took 70 minutes to
get it corrected - but at least that's better than queueing tomorrow in
the am peak

In case anyone is interested, the tube people said: "We do not offer
compensation for human error". If that is a blanket statement it seems
rather worrying that they accept no responsibility for any mistakes
their staff may make

Perhaps someone should mention the Unfair Contract Terms Act to them...