In message ,
Colin Rosenstiel writes
In article ,
(TKD) wrote:

They get accused of being anti-Oyster when they complain about a
"rip-off" that is, in fact, not charging more to anyone but the
paranoid and the lazy.

Er, charging twice as much for cash as on Oyster isn't a rip-off?
What is this world you inhabit?

No. It is lack of thrift on your part not a 'rip-off'.

I'm alright because I hardly use the things but what about the tourists?

I'm a tourist, what's the problem?
--
Clive

In message , James Farrar
writes
A world when choosing to pay more is not being ripped off.

For single journeys, use Oyster or pay for the privilege of using a
paper ticket.
I can see the disadvantage to LT of paper tickets, they have to employ
people to issue them, have to have cash securely collected etc., whereas
Oyster can be topped up electronically with no wages to pay and no cash
to worry about.
--
Clive

Clive typed

I'm alright because I hardly use the things but what about the tourists?

I'm a tourist, what's the problem?

You won't have a problem as you are English-speaking and well-informed,

I will make sure that visiting relatives use Oyster when appropriate.

I think there *is* a potential problem for ill-informed visitors,
especially if they don't read English.

--
Helen D. Vecht:
Edgware.

"James Farrar" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 31 Oct 2005 22:18:36 +0000, U n d e r a c h i e v e r
wrote:

On 31/10/05 12:49 am, in article
,
"James Farrar" wrote:

Giving a *bigger* discount is a *rip-off*?

Yes, because the base fare which the discount is being applied to is
unreasonably high.

Another view is that the base fare is the Oyster fare; those who
choose to buy paper tickets can pay extra to do so.

As has been pointed out here, some people, myself included, will from time
to time pay cash.

You will choose to pay more than you need to? Why?

Because it gives me a receipt that my employer will refund.

I've no idea what a printout of Oyster journeys looks like,
but it wouldn't suprise me if it was insufficient proof of the
expense for some country's tax authorities.

tim

tim (moved to sweden) ) gurgled happily,
sounding much like they were saying :

I've no idea what a printout of Oyster journeys looks like,

I have no idea where to get one from.

but it wouldn't suprise me if it was insufficient proof of the
expense for some country's tax authorities.

Mmmm. A damn fine point.

I'd not thought of that, despite having a bloody great big stack of tickets
on the windowsill for expense claims.

Adrian typed


tim (moved to sweden) ) gurgled happily,
sounding much like they were saying :

I've no idea what a printout of Oyster journeys looks like,

I have no idea where to get one from.

Ask someone (nicely) at any open Tube Ticket Office.

--
Helen D. Vecht:
Edgware.

In message , Graham J
writes

I'm not really clear where the increased expense comes in.

I didn't repeat the whole saga that I outlined here a few weeks ago, but
in brief ...

Bus to Richmond Station, SWT to Waterloo, tube to office (and return):

Using a One-day Peak Travel card: £8.
Using Oyster (+ the £5.90 SWT train fare): £11.30

In other words, yes I could use Oyster - but it will be more than 40%
more expensive, and it fails to give me the additional flexibility of
using most other NR services at no extra cost should I wish to.

I also think the discrimination argument is rather flimsy.

From the 2nd January, my ODTC will cost £8.40

But if I used Oyster, the TfL component of this journey would go down
from £5.40 to £4.80.

So, while ODTC is still the better option, I do not get the advantage of
cheaper Oyster fares that are being offered to many Londoners, although
I think I pay the same GLA precept as anyone else.

Most of my journeys have a National Rail component and I don't feel at
all discriminated against. I just take the convenience and cost
benefits of Oyster where I can.

I hardly ever have that luxury. Perhaps one of several nubs of the
problem is the fact that transport charging fails to take into account
the needs of many of us who now work largely from home - in several of
the companies I work for, staff now only go into the central London
office two or three times a week (and I only go in once or twice a
month). This is environmentally to the advantage of all, and yet such
occasional travellers actually pay more - not less - than those who use
up power resources every day in their travel.

Not much of an incentive to cut congestion in London, is it?

--
Paul Terry

In message , asdf
writes

Correct, but that's not the situation we're talking about - you're not
getting "penalised" for not using Oyster. You would be only if you
were buying tube or bus single tickets.

See my response to Graham. I am indeed talking of a three-part journey
from Richmond to central London that involves bus + SWT + tube.

--
Paul Terry

Helen Deborah Vecht ) gurgled happily, sounding
much like they were saying :

I've no idea what a printout of Oyster journeys looks like,

I have no idea where to get one from.

Ask someone (nicely) at any open Tube Ticket Office.

What do you get?

A printout with just A-B for a specific journey, or a full time/station
listing for every journey?

I'm not sure that many employers really need that. I can't see it being
very popular, either with the poor sod that's got to fight through it to
process the expenses nor with the person who many not want their exact
movements for the last month broadcast to their employer.

"Umm, that morning that you had to be up early for the important meeting -
why did you enter Piccadilly Circus at damn near midnight?"

Adrian typed


Helen Deborah Vecht ) gurgled happily, sounding
much like they were saying :

I've no idea what a printout of Oyster journeys looks like,

I have no idea where to get one from.

Ask someone (nicely) at any open Tube Ticket Office.

What do you get?

A printout with just A-B for a specific journey, or a full time/station
listing for every journey?

The latter.

I'm not sure that many employers really need that. I can't see it being
very popular, either with the poor sod that's got to fight through it to
process the expenses nor with the person who many not want their exact
movements for the last month broadcast to their employer.

"Umm, that morning that you had to be up early for the important meeting -
why did you enter Piccadilly Circus at damn near midnight?"

Understandable. I don't think there's an answer to that one.

--
Helen D. Vecht:
Edgware.