Sorry if this has been covered before but I searched & could not find it.

I have an Oyster PAYG and have friends staying with me for the weekend.
They live way out of London and so it does not make sense for them to get
Oyster cards. When we travel on the bus together can I use my Oyster card
to pay for them as well?

On the TFL site it says that you can share an Oyster card if it has pay as
you go with Auto top-up, however I don't have Auto top-up and that answer
does not make it clear that multiple people can share teh card at the same
time.

Also on the TFL site it says that you can lend your Oyster card for visitors
to anyone when you are not using. That implies that two people cannot use
it at the same time but does not make it clear if the restriction only
applies to Oyster card for visitors or to all Oyster cards.


Many thanks

Stephen

On 30 Oct, 15:02, "Stephen Osborn"
wrote:
I have an Oyster PAYG and have friends staying with me for the weekend.
They live way out of London and so it does not make sense for them to get
Oyster cards. *When we travel on the bus together can I use my Oyster card
to pay for them as well?

No.

"6.7.2. How to pay as you go – General. Only one person at a time can
travel using the credit on an
Oyster card to pay as they go.

Unless it has a valid season ticket on it, you can transfer your
Oyster card to another person for them
to pay as they go. If you have a season ticket on your Oyster card,
you cannot transfer it to anyone
else to pay as they go. If the Oyster card is registered, it will
remain in your name and you will still be
responsible for the Oyster card and any use made of it. We will not
accept responsibility for any
losses arising out of the transfer and use of the Oyster card.

If you have an Oyster photocard or Oyster card with a valid discount
concession on it, you cannot
transfer it to anyone else to pay as they go. "

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...ember-2008.pdf

U

On Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:02:39 -0000,
Stephen Osborn stephen.osborn wrote:
Sorry if this has been covered before but I searched & could not find it.

I have an Oyster PAYG and have friends staying with me for the weekend.
They live way out of London and so it does not make sense for them to get
Oyster cards. When we travel on the bus together can I use my Oyster card
to pay for them as well?

On the TFL site it says that you can share an Oyster card if it has pay as
you go with Auto top-up, however I don't have Auto top-up and that answer
does not make it clear that multiple people can share teh card at the same
time.

Also on the TFL site it says that you can lend your Oyster card for visitors
to anyone when you are not using. That implies that two people cannot use
it at the same time but does not make it clear if the restriction only
applies to Oyster card for visitors or to all Oyster cards.



No, only one person can use a PAYG card at a time.

But get an oyster card for each of your friends and then return it to
get the 3GBP deposit back when they leave. (Make sure they don't have
any unresolved journeys)

N.B. Only top up the oyster cards with cash. Once you've used a credit
card to top it up, getting the remaining balance back becomes more
complicated.

Tim.

--
God said, "div D = rho, div B = 0, curl E = - @B/@t, curl H = J + @D/@t,"
and there was light.

http://www.woodall.me.uk/

On 30 Oct, 15:02, "Stephen Osborn"
wrote:
Sorry if this has been covered before but I searched & could not find it.

I have an Oyster PAYG and have friends staying with me for the weekend.
They live way out of London and so it does not make sense for them to get
Oyster cards. *When we travel on the bus together can I use my Oyster card
to pay for them as well?


A definite No - an Oyster card can only ever be used by one person at
a time.


On the TFL site it says that you can share an Oyster card if it has pay as
you go with Auto top-up, however I don't have Auto top-up and that answer
does not make it clear that multiple people can share teh card at the same
time.


If the card is just being used in 'PAYG mode' then it is transferable
regardless of whether or not it has Auto top-up enabled. If a
Travelcard or Bus Pass is loaded on the Oyster card then technically
speaking it is not transferable, though this rule is virtually
unenforceable (though I suppose TfL and ATOC might possibly be
interested in an annual Travelcard that was being systematically
shared by a number of people).

There are some ambiguities here - is it legit to lend your Oyster card
that's loaded with a zones 1&2 Travelcard to a friend so they could
use it to pay for a Tube journey in zone 6 (they'd only be using it
for PAYG after all)? I would strongly suspect that's verboten. What
about lending your friend an Oyster card loaded with a Bus Pass so
they could use it on the Tube (and only on the Tube)? I also suspect
that would technically foul the rules.


Also on the TFL site it says that you can lend your Oyster card for visitors
to anyone when you are not using. *That implies that two people cannot use
it at the same time but does not make it clear if the restriction only
applies to Oyster card for visitors or to all Oyster cards.


It applies to all Oyster cards.

Day Travelcards are probably what you're after. Or you could obtain a
few extra Oyster cards and hold on to them so future visitors could
make use of them,

"Tim Woodall" wrote in message
e.uk...

No, only one person can use a PAYG card at a time.

Thanks all for the clarification

But get an oyster card for each of your friends and then return it to
get the 3GBP deposit back when they leave. (Make sure they don't have
any unresolved journeys)

Nice idea but unfortunately impractical. The problem is that Oyster PAYG is
essentially a Tube system and I live in SE London and I almost exclusively
use trains & buses.

To get a refund the TFL website says to go to a Tube station but my nearest
one is c. 6 miles by crows flight.

I would like to have Auto top-up but to convert my card to that I have to
designate a Tube (or Tram/DLR) station and the next time I make a journey
through that station using my Oyster it will happen. However to get to a
Tube station I have to get a train first and so when I go into central
London I buy a paper one day Travelcard and don't use my Oyster.

N.B. Only top up the oyster cards with cash. Once you've used a credit
card to top it up, getting the remaining balance back becomes more
complicated.

Thanks for that tip.


Stephen

In article ,
(Stephen Osborn) wrote:

But get an oyster card for each of your friends and then return it to
get the 3GBP deposit back when they leave. (Make sure they don't have
any unresolved journeys)

Nice idea but unfortunately impractical. The problem is that
Oyster PAYG is essentially a Tube system and I live in SE London
and I almost exclusively use trains & buses.

To get a refund the TFL website says to go to a Tube station but my
nearest one is c. 6 miles by crows flight.

That is why the present cash fares premium is such a pain for some users.

I have to keep a minimum zone 1 tube fare as permanent minimum credit on
mine because I live in Cambridge and arrive in London at King's Cross
where there are often horrendous queues even at ticket machines.

At least with £1.50 credit I can top up at the end of my first journey for
now, but when they close more ticket offices and I need a receipt for the
actual amount spent that day it will become a problem again.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:54:33 -0000, "Stephen Osborn"
wrote:

Nice idea but unfortunately impractical. The problem is that Oyster PAYG is
essentially a Tube system and I live in SE London and I almost exclusively
use trains & buses.

Why not keep hold of it until it extends to the mainline railway, as
it will soon enough?

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

On Thu, 30 Oct 2008 08:40:40 -0700 (PDT), Mizter T
wrote:

There are some ambiguities here - is it legit to lend your Oyster card
that's loaded with a zones 1&2 Travelcard to a friend so they could
use it to pay for a Tube journey in zone 6 (they'd only be using it
for PAYG after all)? I would strongly suspect that's verboten. What
about lending your friend an Oyster card loaded with a Bus Pass so
they could use it on the Tube (and only on the Tube)? I also suspect
that would technically foul the rules.

Only because TfL are being unnecessarily fussy about a tiny amount of
transfer that would actually happen. Our local bus company MK Metro
has recently done away with the pointless contact-type smartcards for
weekly season tickets, and has stated that as a result the new paper
weekly season tickets are explicitly transferrable - indeed I'm sure I
recall they suggested handing them around the family at different
times.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

On 30 Oct, 15:40, Mizter T wrote:
If the card is just being used in 'PAYG mode' then it is transferable
regardless of whether or not it has Auto top-up enabled.

Interesting thought, PAYG has a price cap. You could travel for 3 off-
peak journeys in the morning, give your oyster to someone else, who
would travel for free in the evening, and be perfectly legit (unlike
with a travelcard)

On Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:37:16 -0700 (PDT), Paul Weaver
wrote:

Interesting thought, PAYG has a price cap. You could travel for 3 off-
peak journeys in the morning, give your oyster to someone else, who
would travel for free in the evening, and be perfectly legit (unlike
with a travelcard)

Though it does reflect the de-facto usage of one-day Travelcards, as
it is almost impossible to enforce their non-transfer.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.