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Oyster validity
I just bought an oyster on dec 4 08 when does it expire?
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Oyster validity
wrote in message
I just bought an oyster on dec 4 08 when does it expire? Never |
Oyster validity
In message , at 14:01:03 on
Thu, 11 Dec 2008, Recliner remarked: I just bought an oyster on dec 4 08 when does it expire? Never Never is a very long time. It will probably "expire" (although "become useless" is probably a better description) when there are no longer any gates with backwards compatibility to read them. I'd give it 15 years. Or they may pass a new law saying that all credit expires a year after it's added - I think the New York equivalent has that rule. -- Roland Perry |
Oyster validity
"Roland Perry" wrote in message ... In message , at 14:01:03 on Thu, 11 Dec 2008, Recliner remarked: I just bought an oyster on dec 4 08 when does it expire? Never Never is a very long time. It will probably "expire" (although "become useless" is probably a better description) when there are no longer any gates with backwards compatibility to read them. I'd give it 15 years. Or they may pass a new law saying that all credit expires a year after it's added - I think the New York equivalent has that rule. "The money on your Oyster card never expires - it stays there until you use it. However, if your card is not used for 2 years, you will have to reactivate it or claim back any unused cash by calling the Oyster helpline..." RTFM at: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...oyster.pdfPaul S |
Oyster validity
"Roland Perry" wrote in message ... In message , at 14:01:03 on Thu, 11 Dec 2008, Recliner remarked: I just bought an oyster on dec 4 08 when does it expire? Never Never is a very long time. It will probably "expire" (although "become useless" is probably a better description) when there are no longer any gates with backwards compatibility to read them. I'd give it 15 years. Or they may pass a new law saying that all credit expires a year after it's added - I think the New York equivalent has that rule. -- "The money on your Oyster card never expires - it stays there until you use it. However, if your card is not used for 2 years, you will have to reactivate it or claim back any unused cash by calling the Oyster helpline..." RTFM at: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...oyster.pdfPaul S |
Oyster validity
In message , at 15:40:38 on
Thu, 11 Dec 2008, Paul Scott remarked: "The money on your Oyster card never expires - it stays there until you use it. However, if your card is not used for 2 years, you will have to reactivate it or claim back any unused cash by calling the Oyster helpline..." I never knew that. I must have been lucky that I've inadvertently never left more than a 2 year gap. Or is it a new idea they've just cooked up? It seems that this may even be the "warm up" for the processes I hinted at - you phone to reactivate and they say "actually, we don't do Oyster any more, but here's how to get your money back, loaded onto a Lobster Card". -- Roland Perry |
Oyster validity
"Roland Perry" wrote in message ... In message , at 15:40:38 on Thu, 11 Dec 2008, Paul Scott remarked: "The money on your Oyster card never expires - it stays there until you use it. However, if your card is not used for 2 years, you will have to reactivate it or claim back any unused cash by calling the Oyster helpline..." I never knew that. I must have been lucky that I've inadvertently never left more than a 2 year gap. Or is it a new idea they've just cooked up? I think it dates back to at least 2005 when I originally got my card. Paul S |
Oyster validity
On Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:40:38 -0000, Paul Scott wrote:
"The money on your Oyster card never expires - it stays there until you use it. However, if your card is not used for 2 years, you will have to reactivate it or claim back any unused cash by calling the Oyster helpline..." That might be in theory, but I've left one for more than 2 years (nearly 3) and it was fine. Steve |
Oyster validity
wrote ... I just bought an oyster on dec 4 08 when does it expire? 9th October 2023 I could be a little more accurate if you'd care to tell us if you bought a weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual or whatever ... Help us to help you ... -- Andrew |
Oyster validity
In message , at 16:24:54 on
Thu, 11 Dec 2008, Paul Scott remarked: I think it dates back to at least 2005 when I originally got my card. I've had my card significantly longer than that. -- Roland Perry |
Oyster validity
"Roland Perry" wrote in message
In message , at 16:24:54 on Thu, 11 Dec 2008, Paul Scott remarked: I think it dates back to at least 2005 when I originally got my card. I've had my card significantly longer than that. Isn't the limit based on two years of non-use? |
Oyster validity
On Dec 11, 10:30 am, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 14:01:03 on Thu, 11 Dec 2008, Recliner remarked: I just bought an oyster on dec 4 08 when does it expire? Never Never is a very long time. It will probably "expire" (although "become useless" is probably a better description) when there are no longer any gates with backwards compatibility to read them. I'd give it 15 years. Or they may pass a new law saying that all credit expires a year after it's added - I think the New York equivalent has that rule. -- Roland Perry Actually its 13 months but i had a ride on an expired metro card the agent transferred it to a new card |
Oyster validity
On Dec 11, 1:46 pm, "Andrew Heenan" wrote:
wrote ... I just bought an oyster on dec 4 08 when does it expire? 9th October 2023 I could be a little more accurate if you'd care to tell us if you bought a weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual or whatever ... Help us to help you ... -- Andrew ibought 2 buses and a 7 day 1-4 travel card its empty i want to know can i refill it when i get back to london |
Oyster validity
On Thu, Dec 11, 2008 at 03:40:38PM -0000, Paul Scott wrote:
"The money on your Oyster card never expires - it stays there until you use it. However, if your card is not used for 2 years, you will have to reactivate it or claim back any unused cash by calling the Oyster helpline..." What about unregistered cards? -- David Cantrell | http://www.cantrell.org.uk/david Immigration: making Britain great since AD43 |
Oyster validity
David Cantrell wrote:
What about unregistered cards? Presumably you can just give them the number and they can find it in the database. Unregistered cards still have a record of the balance in the central database. (I presume it's actually a get out clause to avoid having to store decades of data for old cards in the live database, or in case they want to change the system) U |
Oyster validity
On 11 Dec, 15:30, Roland Perry wrote:
Or they may pass a new law saying that all credit expires a year after it's added - I think the New York equivalent has that rule. New York Metrocards expire on a date which is printed on them, it generally seems to be just over a year after they're issued, but they are made of thin plastic with a mag stripe, so a year's worth of heavy use would probably wear one out. You don't loose any credit left on a card when it expires, you just transfer it to a new card. You can even do this yourself, just insert it into a ticket machine, and it will offer to transfer the balance to a new card. This can only be done for a certain time, I think it's two years, after the card expires. PATH Quickcards, which are no longer issued at PATH stations, but can still be bought from NJ Transit machines, and newsagents etc, expire after just 180 days, and any remaining rides left on them when they expire are lost. PATH also accept Pay-per-Ride Metrocards, but not unlimited ride ones, and have in the last couple of years introduced a 'SmartLink' card which functions in a similar way to Oyster, can hold both a stored number of rides an unlimited ride tickets, and which does not expire, but it is only valid on PATH. The MTA has a smart card ticket on trial at a few Subway stations, but this is quite different to the PATH SmartLink card, and they are not inter- available. New York, and the part of New Jersey just over the Hudson from it, really does need more seamless ticketing between their various systems. I have an Oyster cand which is used almost every day, and remember the date it was issued, it was the 24th of May, pay day, and it was the first May after they became generally available. I've lost track of the years, is that four and a half years ago now? No problems with it so far, other than the print is wearing off in places. It's the old type with the roundel in red, and a matt surface. |
Oyster validity
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Oyster validity
On 12 Dec, 04:01, "
wrote: On Dec 11, 1:46 pm, "Andrew Heenan" wrote: wrote ... I just bought an oyster on dec 4 08 when does it expire? 9th October 2023 I could be a little more accurate if you'd care to tell us if you bought a weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual or whatever ... Help us to help you ... -- Andrew *ibought 2 buses and a 7 day 1-4 travel card *its empty i want to know can i refill it when i get back to london It makes no difference what you've had on the card in the past. The card itself does not expire; you can load a bus pass or travelcard or top up the Pay-as you Go on it at any time. You can continue to use the card until either the Oyster scheme is phased out, or the card ceases to work for some reason; it does not expire. |
Oyster validity
On Thu, 11 Dec 2008 05:43:10 -0800 (PST), "
wrote: I just bought an oyster on dec 4 08 when does it expire? Never, as has been said b4 Oyster cards do not expire ! |
Oyster validity
On 12 Dec, 17:14, Roland Perry wrote:
So the money does expire, and quite quickly too! I suppose it depeds on how you define 'quickly' As a tourist, I have a Metrocard I used for about three days in 2004. Any balance is now toast. I believe that is the case, though I'm not certain if there is any way to recover the outstanding balance on a Metrocard which has expired too long ago to be able to transfer it to a new card at a Subway station, e.g. by posting it to the MTA offices, but I don't think so. The last Pay-per-ride Metrocard I bought, on about the 8th or 9th of May this year, expires on the 31st of May 2009, so it could be used for just over a year, and then any outstanding balance could still be recovered for, I think, two years after that. For a typical New Yorker this would not be a problem; they would be unlikely to keep a card which had expired, and was therefore unusable, for over two years, and then try to transfer the balance left on it. For the likes of you and I, who make occasional visits to New York it may be more of a problem, but I would think that most of us would avoid topping up the card with much more value than we were going to use on that visit, unless we knew that we would be returning soon. I've never done a transfer from an expired card, and didn't even know it was possible until quite recently. I've probably lost the odd Dollar or two on some of the cards I've bought, but no more than that. The situation with the PATH Quickcard is rather different; it expires after just 180 days, less than six months, and any remaining rides will not be refunded or transferred. I suppose this stops somebody buying a large number of rides just before fare increase, and using them for a long time afterwards, therefore getting reduced price travel, since Quickcards store a number of rides not a value, but since they are likely to be totally withdrawn soon it probably won't matter for much longer. Also, fare increases seem to be much less frequent there than they are here; the Subway and PATH have each seen just one rise since my first visit in April 2002, though those rises were large, from $1.50 on both to $2 on the Subway and $1.75 on PATH. A few months ago I read a debate, by a group of New Yorkers about how much they should top up on their card so that amount, plus the bonus, equaled an exact number of rides; it seems that a recent reduction in the amount of the bonus has made this more difficult than it used to be. I just couldn't understand this, what difference did it make whether they had an exact number of rides worth on the card or not? I asked about this and they seemed to think I was quite stupid to not see a problem with having an 'unusable' amount, less than one ride, left on the card. I still can't see what the problem is; when yo next top up the amount is added to this small remaining amount, you don't lose it. |
Oyster validity
Roland Perry wrote:
Or they may pass a new law saying that all credit expires a year after it's added - I think the New York equivalent has that rule. Not quite. Each physical MetroCard has a preprinted expiration date. When you buy a new MetroCard, the expiration date is usually a bit over a year away. The card will no longer work after that date, regardless of whether there's any balance left on it. However, the remaining balance can be transferred to a new card at any station booth or MetroCard Vending Machine until two years after the expiration date (recently extended from one). After that, I believe the balance is lost permanently. (If the card is an unlimited card, in the middle of its period of validity, when it expires, then the station agent can't do anything about it. I'm pretty sure it can be mailed in for a prorated refund or for a new card containing the remainder of the unlimited period.) If you're an infrequent visitor to New York, I suppose that means that you should try to use up your balance before you leave New York. Otherwise, it's largely not an issue. There is no charge for the MetroCard itself, and unlimited cards are always dispensed on new cards. -- David of Broadway New York, NY, USA |
Oyster validity
Roland Perry wrote:
I believe it's also illegal to sell/transfer the cards, so someone else who happens to be visiting NY can use up the money. It most certainly is permitted to give or lend a MetroCard to a friend while you're not using it - even an unlimited card. (Of course, that only applies to standard-issue cards available to anyone - Student MetroCards and Reduced Fare MetroCards and employee passes and the like are not transferable.) -- David of Broadway New York, NY, USA |
Oyster validity
In message , at 09:08:48 on Sun, 14
Dec 2008, David of Broadway remarked: I believe it's also illegal to sell/transfer the cards, so someone else who happens to be visiting NY can use up the money. It most certainly is permitted to give or lend a MetroCard to a friend while you're not using it But what about selling them? (On eBay or wherever). -- Roland Perry |
Oyster validity
In message , at 09:01:19 on Sun, 14
Dec 2008, David of Broadway remarked: the remaining balance can be transferred to a new card at any station booth or MetroCard Vending Machine until two years after the expiration date (recently extended from one). After that, I believe the balance is lost permanently. So my impression from 2004 was correct. If you're an infrequent visitor to New York, I suppose that means that you should try to use up your balance before you leave New York. I'd be unlikely to visit NY more than once every two years. It's been 4.5 years at the moment, and no visit in the pipeline. -- Roland Perry |
Oyster validity
David of Broadway wrote:
It most certainly is permitted to give or lend a MetroCard to a friend while you're not using it - even an unlimited card. (Of course, that only applies to standard-issue cards available to anyone - Student MetroCards and Reduced Fare MetroCards and employee passes and the like are not transferable.) I should add that, in the case of a pay-per-ride MetroCard, up to four people may ride on the same card at the same time. If they transfer, they should only swipe/dip once the second time; the proper number of transfers will register. -- David of Broadway New York, NY, USA |
Oyster validity
Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 09:08:48 on Sun, 14 Dec 2008, David of Broadway remarked: I believe it's also illegal to sell/transfer the cards, so someone else who happens to be visiting NY can use up the money. It most certainly is permitted to give or lend a MetroCard to a friend while you're not using it But what about selling them? (On eBay or wherever). I don't think that's legal. (Whether it's done in practice is a different question.) But is it really worth the trouble? How much do you typically have left over on your card when you leave? If you don't know of anyone back home who could use a MetroCard, you could always hand it to a stranger on your way out. You never know - someone could return the favor on your next trip! (I once got a free ride or two at the airport from a departing French tourist.) -- David of Broadway New York, NY, USA |
Oyster validity
Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 09:01:19 on Sun, 14 Dec 2008, David of Broadway remarked: the remaining balance can be transferred to a new card at any station booth or MetroCard Vending Machine until two years after the expiration date (recently extended from one). After that, I believe the balance is lost permanently. So my impression from 2004 was correct. Close but not quite. In 2004, the expiration date was about one year after purchase, but you would have still had one more year to transfer the balance to a new card. If you're an infrequent visitor to New York, I suppose that means that you should try to use up your balance before you leave New York. I'd be unlikely to visit NY more than once every two years. It's been 4.5 years at the moment, and no visit in the pipeline. What are you waiting for?! -- David of Broadway New York, NY, USA |
Oyster validity
In message , at 19:35:07 on Sun, 14
Dec 2008, David of Broadway remarked: How much do you typically have left over on your card when you leave? I only have the one set of cards, from one visit; and I forget the exact amount. But it was four cards (one for each of the family) and enough to be irritating. -- Roland Perry |
Oyster validity
In message , at 19:38:03 on Sun, 14
Dec 2008, David of Broadway remarked: the remaining balance can be transferred to a new card at any station booth or MetroCard Vending Machine until two years after the expiration date (recently extended from one). After that, I believe the balance is lost permanently. So my impression from 2004 was correct. Close but not quite. In 2004, the expiration date was about one year after purchase, but you would have still had one more year to transfer the balance to a new card. I already said that 12, 13, 24, 25 months all felt the same to me; and that at the time the only deadline I was made aware of was 12 months. If you're an infrequent visitor to New York, I suppose that means that you should try to use up your balance before you leave New York. I'd be unlikely to visit NY more than once every two years. It's been 4.5 years at the moment, and no visit in the pipeline. What are you waiting for?! The need to go, and I don't need to at the moment. -- Roland Perry |
Oyster validity
Roland Perry wrote:
I only have the one set of cards, from one visit; and I forget the exact amount. But it was four cards (one for each of the family) and enough to be irritating. Not that this will help you this time around, but, as I pointed out elsewhere, a family of four can share one card. Of course, if you want to split up and go to different places, that won't work. And I can't argue with the irritation! -- David of Broadway New York, NY, USA |
Oyster validity
In message , at 08:12:53 on Mon, 15
Dec 2008, David of Broadway remarked: Not that this will help you this time around, but, as I pointed out elsewhere, a family of four can share one card. Of course, if you want to split up and go to different places, that won't work. We might have split into 2+2 a few times. I don't recall this "four on one card" thing being very well explained - it's quite an unusual mode for metro ticketing. Handy to know if I ever return en masse. -- Roland Perry |
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