I currently have an annual zones 2 - 4 Travelcard on an oyster (Due to
expire 31/12/08).

I am starting a new job where my boss will contribute £1500 towards travel.
My new job is in Zone 1.

I am thinking of buying a new Zone 1 - 4 annual, and then trading in my Zone
2 - 4 annual. Is this possible, and how much will I get back on my
remaining Zone 2 -4 ? Also, can this be done at any LU ticket office ?

Cheers

On 23 Apr, 12:08, "Sam" wrote:

I currently have an annual zones 2 - 4 Travelcard on an oyster (Due to
expire 31/12/08).

I am starting a new job where my boss will contribute £1500 towards travel.
My new job is in Zone 1.

I am thinking of buying a new Zone 1 - 4 annual, and then trading in my Zone
2 - 4 annual. Is this possible, and how much will I get back on my
remaining Zone 2 -4 ? Also, can this be done at any LU ticket office ?


You can indeed apply for a refund of your old annual Travelcard. I've
never done such a thing myself but this "oyster help" answer suggests
you can do so at a Tube station ticket office - though for an annual I
somehow doubt they'd give you the refund there and then:
http://tinyurl.com/6h6yoq

This "oyster help" answer meanwhile provides both the address and
direct phone number of the 'Oyster Ticketing and Refunds' office at
TfL:
http://tinyurl.com/5wlvnx


One other thing to bear in mind is that Oyster cards can actually hold
up to three season tickets concurrently, so you could just go and buy
an eight month long Travelcard season for zones 1&2 and have it loaded
onto your Oyster card as well - however I doubt that'd be cheaper, in
fact it'd be more expensive I'm sure.

On Apr 23, 2:02*pm, Mizter T wrote:
On 23 Apr, 12:08, "Sam" wrote:

I currently have an annual zones 2 - 4 Travelcard on an oyster (Due to
expire 31/12/08).

I am starting a new job where my boss will contribute £1500 towards travel.
My new job is in Zone 1.

I am thinking of buying a new Zone 1 - 4 annual, and then trading in my Zone
2 - 4 annual. *Is this possible, and how much will I get back on my
remaining Zone 2 -4 ? *Also, can this be done at any LU ticket office ?

You can indeed apply for a refund of your old annual Travelcard. I've
never done such a thing myself but this "oyster help" answer suggests
you can do so at a Tube station ticket office - though for an annual I
somehow doubt they'd give you the refund there and then:
http://tinyurl.com/6h6yoq

This "oyster help" answer meanwhile provides both the address and
direct phone number of the 'Oyster Ticketing and Refunds' office at
TfL:
http://tinyurl.com/5wlvnx

One other thing to bear in mind is that Oyster cards can actually hold
up to three season tickets concurrently, so you could just go and buy
an eight month long Travelcard season for zones 1&2 and have it loaded
onto your Oyster card as well - however I doubt that'd be cheaper, in
fact it'd be more expensive I'm sure.

Just go along to the ticket office and ask to exchange your Zone 2-4
annual for a Zone 1-4 annual. They will either give you the form to
fill in to get it done, or do it there and then, depending on the
person. You will have to pay the difference, adjusted for the number
of days remaining on your current annual ticket. There is also an
admin fee, but you pay that whether getting a refund or an exchange.

As a guide, current prices for annuals are GBP968 for Zone 1-2,
GBP1384 for Zone 1-4 and GBP808 for Zone 2-4. It is therefore
considerably cheaper (GBP 576 compared to GBP 968) to get an upgrade,
compared to an extra ticket.

I am thinking of buying a new Zone 1 - 4 annual, and then trading in
my Zone 2 - 4 annual. Is this possible, and how much will I get back

You might find they base any refund on the cost of monthly and weekly
tickets - so as though you had been buying monthly tickets. This probably
means you'll pay the one month at last years rate and the rest at this
years and the refund would be less than you expect. This also means had
your ticket been more than 8 months old there would be little refund value.

I came across this when I went into hospital some 8 months into an annual.
The refund for 6 weeks away from work wasn't enough to cover the couple of
months remaining on the ticket when I returned to work. Not very fair.

Regards,
Dave

DaveP wrote

I am thinking of buying a new Zone 1 - 4 annual, and then trading
in
my Zone 2 - 4 annual. Is this possible, and how much will I get
back

You might find they base any refund on the cost of monthly and weekly

tickets - so as though you had been buying monthly tickets. This
probably
[...]
I came across this when I went into hospital some 8 months into an
annual.

There is in fact a different rule for exchanging a season for a
different one, eg on a change of home address or job. This is based on
the number of days and so gives much better value but it may only apply
to tickets issued under the NR conditions of carriage - I can't see
anything about it in the Tfl CC.

--
Mike D

DaveP wrote:
I am thinking of buying a new Zone 1 - 4 annual, and then trading in
my Zone 2 - 4 annual. Is this possible, and how much will I get back

You might find they base any refund on the cost of monthly and weekly
tickets - so as though you had been buying monthly tickets. This probably
means you'll pay the one month at last years rate and the rest at this
years and the refund would be less than you expect. This also means had
your ticket been more than 8 months old there would be little refund value.

I came across this when I went into hospital some 8 months into an annual.
The refund for 6 weeks away from work wasn't enough to cover the couple of
months remaining on the ticket when I returned to work. Not very fair.

I'm sure this has been mentioned before, but when you purchase an Annual
you "only" pay for 40 weeks, so you effectively get 3 months "free" travel.

Or, to look at it another way, you're getting a discount of about 23%
for purchasing a whole year's worth of travel in advance, so if you cash
the ticket in early, you have to repay some of that discount.

It may not seem "fair", but those are the rules that have been in force
since before privatisation.

Cheers,

Barry

I came across this when I went into hospital 8 months into an annual.
The refund wasn't enough to cover the couple of months remaining

you "only" pay for 40 weeks, so you effectively get 3 months "free"

Understood - but it was refund or nothing - I asked for 6 weeks on the end
of the ticket. It's only a bit of paper and I wouldn't have gained out of
it. I never did renew after that and am now driving instead.

Or, to look at it another way, you're getting a discount of about 23%

TfL don't see the annual as discounted - it's an allowance for leave and
sickness. They also said when you buy an annual it's an undertaking to
travel for at least twelve months.

Cheers,
Dave

"DaveP" wrote in message
54...
I came across this when I went into hospital 8 months into an annual.
The refund wasn't enough to cover the couple of months remaining

you "only" pay for 40 weeks, so you effectively get 3 months "free"

Understood - but it was refund or nothing - I asked for 6 weeks on the end
of the ticket. It's only a bit of paper and I wouldn't have gained out of
it. I never did renew after that and am now driving instead.

Or, to look at it another way, you're getting a discount of about 23%

TfL don't see the annual as discounted - it's an allowance for leave and
sickness. They also said when you buy an annual it's an undertaking to
travel for at least twelve months.

Maybe they like to see it that way, but the same law that is currently
catching the Banks out, and the rules on mitigation require them to offer
refunds on reasonable terms.

tim





Cheers,
Dave

"tims next home" wrote in message
...

"DaveP" wrote in message
54...
I came across this when I went into hospital 8 months into an
annual.
The refund wasn't enough to cover the couple of months remaining

you "only" pay for 40 weeks, so you effectively get 3 months "free"

Understood - but it was refund or nothing - I asked for 6 weeks on
the end
of the ticket. It's only a bit of paper and I wouldn't have gained
out of
it. I never did renew after that and am now driving instead.

Or, to look at it another way, you're getting a discount of about
23%

TfL don't see the annual as discounted - it's an allowance for leave
and
sickness. They also said when you buy an annual it's an undertaking
to
travel for at least twelve months.

Maybe they like to see it that way, but the same law that is currently
catching the Banks out, and the rules on mitigation require them to
offer refunds on reasonable terms.

They do offer refunds on perfectly reasonable terms. They refund the
difference between the cost of the annual and the cost of monthly
travelcards for the period used.

Peter Smyth

In article ,
(Peter Smyth) wrote:

They do offer refunds on perfectly reasonable terms. They refund
the difference between the cost of the annual and the cost of
monthly travelcards for the period used.

That's all very well, but in this case the punter is actually trading up
to a season for more zones, so treating it as a refund is rather mean on
someone who's planning to spend more money with them.

Charging the extra pro-rata the difference between the two seasons would
seem a lot more reasonable to me.

--
Colin Rosenstiel