What zones does a prepay Oyster card cover?

Kevin

Kev wrote:

What zones does a prepay Oyster card cover?

Kevin


Er, all the London zones. But I think there may be some confusion here.

Pre-Pay / Pay-as-you-go on Oyster (two names for the same thing) is a
system where, as the name suggests, you pay as you go - i.e. you charge
up your Oyster card with Pre-Pay credit, then for each journey you make
the appropriate fare is deducted from your cards Pre-Pay balance.

There are also daily price caps that apply if you make several journeys
in one day. Which cap applies depends upon if you travel during the
weekday morning peak (before 0930) or not, whether you travel by bus or
by Underground, and if you travel by Undeground what zones you travel
in. Daily capping thus provides a product similar to a one day
Travelcard.

*Very important point*
Oyster Pre-Pay is not valid on National Rail (i.e. overground trains)
apart from a few exceptions [1]. This is set to change but not for
another couple of years at least.

Any Oyster card can also be loaded with a weekly or longer Travelcard,
in which case it can be used on National Rail within the zones that
Travelcard covers. Thus there are not seperate types of Oyster cards,
they are the same Oyster cards but just used in two different modes.

It is also possible to combine these two modes during a single journey
- i.e. combine a weekly or longer Travelcard loaded on an Oyster with
Pre-Pay - if, for example, you had a zones 1-3 Travelcard on your
Oyster, and you were travelling out to Heathrow on the Tube, then your
Oyster card would automatically deduct the appropriate excess fare from
zone 4 to zone 6 automatically from your Pre-Pay balance. This
automatic facility only applies when using the Underground - as stated
earlier apart from a few exceptions Pre-Pay is *not* valid on National
Rail. If one needs to travel out of zone on National Rail one should
buy a paper ticket extension first before travelling.

I understand that at first glance it can look pretty confusing, but I
decided I wouldn't oversimplify and have covered everything. If you
have any more questions please ask away - alternatively if you want it
from the horses mouth go to TfL's "Oyster help" website [2].

Below I've linked to the appropriate TfL fares pages on their website
where you can find the relevant fares.

-----
Oyster Pre-Pay fares for the Underground:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/fares-tick.../tubedlr.shtml

Oyster Pre-Pay daily price caps that apply when travelling by
Underground (and bus):
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/fares-tick...ubedlr-4.shtml

Oyster Pre-Pay fares for buses:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/fares-tick...bustrams.shtml

Oyster Pre-Pay daily price cap that applies when travelling by bus
only:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/fares-tick...strams-4.shtml
-----


[1] Oyster help answer - Limited Oyster Pre-Pay acceptance on National
Rail
http://snipurl.com/Oyster_Pre_Pay_on_NR

[2] Oyster help front page
http://transportforlondon.custhelp.com/

Mizter T wrote:
Kev wrote:

What zones does a prepay Oyster card cover?

Kevin


Er, all the London zones. But I think there may be some confusion here.

Pre-Pay / Pay-as-you-go on Oyster (two names for the same thing) is a
system where, as the name suggests, you pay as you go - i.e. you charge
up your Oyster card with Pre-Pay credit, then for each journey you make
the appropriate fare is deducted from your cards Pre-Pay balance.

There are also daily price caps that apply if you make several journeys
in one day. Which cap applies depends upon if you travel during the
weekday morning peak (before 0930) or not, whether you travel by bus or
by Underground, and if you travel by Undeground what zones you travel
in. Daily capping thus provides a product similar to a one day
Travelcard.

*Very important point*
Oyster Pre-Pay is not valid on National Rail (i.e. overground trains)
apart from a few exceptions [1]. This is set to change but not for
another couple of years at least.

Any Oyster card can also be loaded with a weekly or longer Travelcard,
in which case it can be used on National Rail within the zones that
Travelcard covers. Thus there are not seperate types of Oyster cards,
they are the same Oyster cards but just used in two different modes.

It is also possible to combine these two modes during a single journey
- i.e. combine a weekly or longer Travelcard loaded on an Oyster with
Pre-Pay - if, for example, you had a zones 1-3 Travelcard on your
Oyster, and you were travelling out to Heathrow on the Tube, then your
Oyster card would automatically deduct the appropriate excess fare from
zone 4 to zone 6 automatically from your Pre-Pay balance. This
automatic facility only applies when using the Underground - as stated
earlier apart from a few exceptions Pre-Pay is *not* valid on National
Rail. If one needs to travel out of zone on National Rail one should
buy a paper ticket extension first before travelling.

I understand that at first glance it can look pretty confusing, but I
decided I wouldn't oversimplify and have covered everything. If you
have any more questions please ask away - alternatively if you want it
from the horses mouth go to TfL's "Oyster help" website [2].

Below I've linked to the appropriate TfL fares pages on their website
where you can find the relevant fares.

-----
Oyster Pre-Pay fares for the Underground:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/fares-tick.../tubedlr.shtml

Oyster Pre-Pay daily price caps that apply when travelling by
Underground (and bus):
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/fares-tick...ubedlr-4.shtml

Oyster Pre-Pay fares for buses:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/fares-tick...bustrams.shtml

Oyster Pre-Pay daily price cap that applies when travelling by bus
only:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/fares-tick...strams-4.shtml
-----


[1] Oyster help answer - Limited Oyster Pre-Pay acceptance on National
Rail
http://snipurl.com/Oyster_Pre_Pay_on_NR

[2] Oyster help front page
http://transportforlondon.custhelp.com/

The question on the LUL online complaint form says "What zone/s does
your ticket cover?"

And from drop down menue you have 2 1-2 1-3 1-4 1-5 1-6 2-3 2-4 2-5 2-6
3-4 3-5 3-6 4-5 4-6 5-6 6.

I would have thought that the answer was not applicable for a prepay
Oyster as 1-6 would not be correct as it excludes National Rail and is
prepay Oyster not available to Watford or Amersham.

I was expecting the complaint to be rejected if unanswered but it did
accept it anyway.

Kevin

Kev wrote:
Mizter T wrote:
Kev wrote:

What zones does a prepay Oyster card cover?

Kevin

Er, all the London zones. But I think there may be some confusion here.

[snip]

The question on the LUL online complaint form says "What zone/s does
your ticket cover?"

And from drop down menue you have 2 1-2 1-3 1-4 1-5 1-6 2-3 2-4 2-5 2-6
3-4 3-5 3-6 4-5 4-6 5-6 6.

I would have thought that the answer was not applicable for a prepay
Oyster as 1-6 would not be correct as it excludes National Rail and is
prepay Oyster not available to Watford or Amersham.

OK, so seeing as that question is not compulsory, don't select anything?
Just make sure that you have selected 'Prepay' or whatever appropriate
choice from the question two lines up, "What ticket do you hold?", and
they should be able to work it out?


I was expecting the complaint to be rejected if unanswered but it did
accept it anyway.


Only those questions with a red asterisk are mandatory.

--
Larry Lard

The address is real, but unread - please reply to the group

Larry Lard wrote:
Kev wrote:
Mizter T wrote:
Kev wrote:

What zones does a prepay Oyster card cover?

Kevin

Er, all the London zones. But I think there may be some confusion here.

[snip]

The question on the LUL online complaint form says "What zone/s does
your ticket cover?"

And from drop down menue you have 2 1-2 1-3 1-4 1-5 1-6 2-3 2-4 2-5 2-6
3-4 3-5 3-6 4-5 4-6 5-6 6.

I would have thought that the answer was not applicable for a prepay
Oyster as 1-6 would not be correct as it excludes National Rail and is
prepay Oyster not available to Watford or Amersham.

OK, so seeing as that question is not compulsory, don't select anything?
Just make sure that you have selected 'Prepay' or whatever appropriate
choice from the question two lines up, "What ticket do you hold?", and
they should be able to work it out?


I was expecting the complaint to be rejected if unanswered but it did
accept it anyway.


Only those questions with a red asterisk are mandatory.

--
Larry Lard

The address is real, but unread - please reply to the group

Still seems daft to ask what ticket type but then not have an
equivalent zone, why not offer none or n/a. I could have been
travelling on a Bristol to Norwich via London for all they knew, the
claim for delay whilst on LUL must still be applicable.

Kevin

In reply to news post, which Kev wrote on Thu, 17 Aug
2006 -


The question on the LUL online complaint form says "What zone/s does
your ticket cover?"

And from drop down menue you have 2 1-2 1-3 1-4 1-5 1-6 2-3 2-4 2-5 2-6
3-4 3-5 3-6 4-5 4-6 5-6 6.

I would have thought that the answer was not applicable for a prepay
Oyster as 1-6 would not be correct as it excludes National Rail and is
prepay Oyster not available to Watford or Amersham.

I was expecting the complaint to be rejected if unanswered but it did
accept it anyway.


Pre Pay can be used at Amersham, I use it. I have also purchased travel
cards on my Oyster from zone 6D to 1

Matthew

--
Matthew P Jones - www.amersham.org.uk
My view of the Metropolitan Line www.metroland.org.uk - actually I like it
Don't reply to it will not be read
You can reply to knap AT Nildram dot co dot uk

Matthew P Jones wrote:

In reply to news post, which Kev wrote on Thu, 17 Aug
2006 -


The question on the LUL online complaint form says "What zone/s does
your ticket cover?"

And from drop down menue you have 2 1-2 1-3 1-4 1-5 1-6 2-3 2-4 2-5 2-6
3-4 3-5 3-6 4-5 4-6 5-6 6.

I would have thought that the answer was not applicable for a prepay
Oyster as 1-6 would not be correct as it excludes National Rail and is
prepay Oyster not available to Watford or Amersham.

I was expecting the complaint to be rejected if unanswered but it did
accept it anyway.


Pre Pay can be used at Amersham, I use it. I have also purchased travel
cards on my Oyster from zone 6D to 1

Matthew


I think Kev's comment - "[...]is prepay Oyster not available to Watford
or Amersham" - was rhetorical.

He does indeed rightly point out that zones A-D are not available as
choices on the drop-down menu on the LU complaints form - but I guess
if they did feature they drop-down menu would be unmanageably long and
would dissapear off the bottom of the page!

"Mizter T" wrote in message
oups.com
Kev wrote:

What zones does a prepay Oyster card cover?

Kevin


Er, all the London zones. But I think there may be some confusion
here.
snip

*Very important point*
Oyster Pre-Pay is not valid on National Rail (i.e. overground trains)
apart from a few exceptions [1]. This is set to change but not for
another couple of years at least.

I wonder if Oyster can be used on Thameslink (aka FCC) between Wimbledon
and Farringdon? It's obviously allowed on the Tube between the same
stations, and the same Oyster card readers/barriers apply regardless of
which train is taken, so the system won't know which route was followed.
But would a ticket inspector on the FCC train regard it as a non-valid
fare?

On Fri, 18 Aug 2006 10:50:51 +0100, "Nigel Pendse"
wrote:

"Mizter T" wrote in message
roups.com
Kev wrote:

What zones does a prepay Oyster card cover?

Er, all the London zones. But I think there may be some confusion
here.
snip

*Very important point*
Oyster Pre-Pay is not valid on National Rail (i.e. overground trains)
apart from a few exceptions [1]. This is set to change but not for
another couple of years at least.

I wonder if Oyster can be used on Thameslink (aka FCC) between Wimbledon
and Farringdon? It's obviously allowed on the Tube between the same
stations, and the same Oyster card readers/barriers apply regardless of
which train is taken, so the system won't know which route was followed.
But would a ticket inspector on the FCC train regard it as a non-valid
fare?

Judging by what happened to me on the North London Line last week,
you'd be judged a non-valid fare. I was on my way back from Lord's to
Kew via the Bakerloo and NLL, and there was a huge Silverlink and
British Transport Police presence at Willesden Junction; when my
prepay Oyster was read, I was made to go out through the barriers, get
a single ticket and then come back in. Given that TfL will deduct a
price equivalent to that of a one-day travelcard from the Oyster card,
the fact that I can't use the bloody thing as a travelcard on a route
that I'm extremely likely to use is becoming more and more of a pain.

Angela

Ang Gilham wrote:

On Fri, 18 Aug 2006 10:50:51 +0100, "Nigel Pendse"
wrote:

"Mizter T" wrote:
*Very important point*
Oyster Pre-Pay is not valid on National Rail (i.e. overground trains)
apart from a few exceptions [1]. This is set to change but not for
another couple of years at least.

I wonder if Oyster can be used on Thameslink (aka FCC) between Wimbledon
and Farringdon? It's obviously allowed on the Tube between the same
stations, and the same Oyster card readers/barriers apply regardless of
which train is taken, so the system won't know which route was followed.
But would a ticket inspector on the FCC train regard it as a non-valid
fare?

Judging by what happened to me on the North London Line last week,
you'd be judged a non-valid fare. I was on my way back from Lord's to
Kew via the Bakerloo and NLL, and there was a huge Silverlink and
British Transport Police presence at Willesden Junction; when my
prepay Oyster was read, I was made to go out through the barriers, get
a single ticket and then come back in. Given that TfL will deduct a
price equivalent to that of a one-day travelcard from the Oyster card,
the fact that I can't use the bloody thing as a travelcard on a route
that I'm extremely likely to use is becoming more and more of a pain.

Angela

It might be annoying, but the fact is that Oyster Pre-Pay is, as I
said, only valid on a very limited number of National Rail routes - see
the link below for the full list [1].

This is not TfL's fault - they have been pushing to get Oyster Pre-Pay
valid on National Rail routes for a long time - it's because the
intransigence of the Train Operating Companies (TOCs), and the
SRA/Department for Transports lack of willingness to change this.

However TfL's lobbying has paid off - if you read this press release
[2] you'll see that in a couple of years we should have Pre-Pay
acceptance across the National Rail network in London.

And the good news for users of the North London Line is that this may
well be implemented even sooner, as TfL is taking control of the NLL in
2007 (it's a bit more complicated than that - see the press release
[3]) and they plan to make Oyster Pre-Pay available on that route.

So whilst you'll just have to put up with it being a pain in the
proverbial for the moment things are changing.


[1] Oyster help answer - Limited Oyster Pre-Pay acceptance on National
Rail
http://snipurl.com/Oyster_Pre_Pay_on_NR

[2] TfL press release - Transport Secretary and Mayor of London
announce new Oyster deal
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/press-cent...t.asp?prID=776

[3] TfL press release - Mayor welcomes Tfl control of first London
passenger rail services
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/press-cent...t.asp?prID=690