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!

--
David Cantrell | http://www.cantrell.org.uk/david

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!

It's noticeably quicker and easier to get through ticket gates.

I do most of my commuting on NR, and I use Oyster by choice, just for
the convenience of not needing two hands free to take a paper ticket
out of the wallet at the barrier.

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!


Despite the problem in my OP I do like Oyster. I could have had the
same problems with paper tickets. Oyster is easier to get through the
gates (and easy to go a few stops extra out of my travelcard without
queueing up for an extension ticket). Also, every so often, I can get
a several page printout of all the journeys I have made (although the
last statement 'got lost in the post' around about the same time a
royal mail van was nicked in Putney)

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.

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.