wrote:

Scenario: a friend of mine from Dublin was coming across to do the
London Marathon and asked me what ticket he should get. He was
arriving at Heathrow, then had to go across London to Custom House to
pick up his marathon stuff. He then had to come back to Leicester
Square to meet me for dinner, then we were heading back to New Cross
afterwards. All tube or DLR journeys apart from the very last one,
which was on National Rail.

Mindful of the fact that Oyster prepay doesn't work on NR, I told him
to get a one day travelcard for Zones 1-6 at Heathrow. As you can
see, I didn't realise that you can't put one day travelcards onto
Oyster!

Result: my friend's journey goes smoothly until we get to Charing
Cross to catch the New Cross train. He's not allowed through the
barrier and the guards just keep yelling "Prepay is not valid on
National Rail", without explaining the one day travelcard issue (we
were protesting that he had a travelcard).

I now understand why it didn't work, but have some questions:

1. What was my friend sold at Heathrow when he asked for a Zone 1-6
one day travelcard to be put onto his Oyster card?


It's impossible to know what he was sold without knowing what he paid.
Are you saying that whatever he bought was pit onto the Oystercard? He
could take the Oystercard to an LT ticket office and ask what was put
on. He could take it a ticket machine and lokk for himself. He could
look at the record of what has been put on his card on the Oyster
website.

2. Would he have been able to buy a paper ticket at Heathrow for the
same price, thus being able to use National Rail on a one day
travelcard?

A paper ticket is the only way to get a One-Day TravelCard. It can be
bought at Heathrow.




--
Bob

Bob Wood wrote:

A paper ticket is the only way to get a One-Day TravelCard.

Just why is this? The benefits of extensions for unplanned journeys apply
just as much to one day travelcards as to longer season tickets so why can't
people get the card on Oyster?

In message , Tim Roll-Pickering
writes

Just why is this? The benefits of extensions for unplanned journeys apply
just as much to one day travelcards as to longer season tickets so why can't
people get the card on Oyster?

Because it is not (yet) accepted by National Rail in most of the London
area.
--
Paul Terry

Paul Terry wrote:

Just why is this? The benefits of extensions for unplanned journeys apply
just as much to one day travelcards as to longer season tickets so why
can't
people get the card on Oyster?

Because it is not (yet) accepted by National Rail in most of the London
area.

But they have no problem accepting my longer season ticket so why not a one
day season ticket?

Tim Roll-Pickering wrote in
:

Paul Terry wrote:

Just why is this? The benefits of extensions for unplanned journeys
apply just as much to one day travelcards as to longer season
tickets so why can't
people get the card on Oyster?

Because it is not (yet) accepted by National Rail in most of the
London area.

But they have no problem accepting my longer season ticket so why not
a one day season ticket?

Forgive a naive question, but what is the advantage of Oyster over paper
tickets - either specific single/return ones or a one-day travelcard? Are
Oyster fares cheaper than paper-ticket fares for the same journey (assuming
it's not by NR!) or is the main advantage the convenience of not having to
queue up at a counter or ticket machine before you can travel?

In ,
Martin Underwood typed:

Forgive a naive question,

You're forgiven.


... but what is the advantage of Oyster over
paper tickets - either specific single/return ones or a one-day
travelcard?
Are Oyster fares cheaper than paper-ticket fares for the
same journey (assuming it's not by NR!)

Oyster singles are always cheaper than paper singles (there isn't such a
thing as return ticket on LT-only journeys). Oyster daily capping will
result in a total fare of at least 50p less than the equivalent one-day
travelcard (ignoring the fact that you can't use Oyster on most NR
trains). Bus journeys are cheaper with Oyster; Oyster capping on bus
journeys will result in a total fare of 50p less than a one-day bus
pass.


... or is the main advantage the
convenience of not having to queue up at a counter or ticket machine
before you can travel?

Saving money - or saving time - you can decide which is the main
advantage for yourself.






--
Bob

Bob Wood wrote:

Oyster singles are always cheaper than paper singles (there isn't such a
thing as return ticket on LT-only journeys).

Except for certain DLR journeys.
--
Michael Hoffman

In message , Martin
Underwood writes

Forgive a naive question, but what is the advantage of Oyster over paper
tickets - either specific single/return ones or a one-day travelcard? Are
Oyster fares cheaper than paper-ticket fares for the same journey (assuming
it's not by NR!)

Yes - considerably cheaper: an off-peak bus journey is 80p with Oyster,
£1.50 with a paper ticket; a zone 1 tube single is £1.50 with Oyster or
£3 without.

Oyster fare-capping means that one day's use should be 50p or so below
the equivalent one-day travelcard price - so, a much smaller saving
there, and no saving at all if the travel includes a national rail
journey since that will normally have to be paid for as an additional
item.

or is the main advantage the convenience of not having to
queue up at a counter or ticket machine before you can travel?

That is another advantage. The current non-acceptance by most of
National Rail in London for prepay/occasional travel is the biggest
disadvantage for many.

--
Paul Terry

In message , Tim Roll-Pickering
writes

Paul Terry wrote:

Because it is not (yet) accepted by National Rail in most of the London
area.

But they have no problem accepting my longer season ticket so why not a one
day season ticket?

I've never seen a good reason why a (pre-purchased) ODTC on Oyster
shouldn't be acceptable to the TOCs (pre-pay is a more complicated
issue, of course). Still, it *is* going to happen, despite the TOCs
dragging their heels at every opportunity.

--
Paul Terry

Paul Terry wrote:

I've never seen a good reason why a (pre-purchased) ODTC on Oyster
shouldn't be acceptable to the TOCs (pre-pay is a more complicated
issue, of course).

AIUI, it seems to be because for some reason you can't load one day
travelcards onto Oyster cards, rather than that the TOCs won't accept
one day travelcards on Oyster.

Patrick