Great. My husband and I each got Oyster cards last year and filled them
up on line. This year comes around and I want to fill up the cards (we
live in the US) and now a new bit of red tape in the system prevents me
from doing so, because my credit card doesn't come with a UK address. Of
course it doesn't. It didn't last year, either. I'm ****ed.

Now I have to get a visitor card.

redcat wrote in news:T9mdnRvIK-
:

Great. My husband and I each got Oyster cards last year and filled them
up on line. This year comes around and I want to fill up the cards (we
live in the US) and now a new bit of red tape in the system prevents me
from doing so, because my credit card doesn't come with a UK address. Of
course it doesn't. It didn't last year, either. I'm ****ed.

Now I have to get a visitor card.

Or wait until you get to London and top up with cash?

In article ,
(James Farrar) wrote:

redcat wrote in news:T9mdnRvIK-
:

Great. My husband and I each got Oyster cards last year and
filled them up on line. This year comes around and I want to fill
up the cards (we live in the US) and now a new bit of red tape in
the system prevents me from doing so, because my credit card
doesn't come with a UK address. Of course it doesn't. It didn't
last year, either. I'm ****ed.

Now I have to get a visitor card.

Or wait until you get to London and top up with cash?

Or with a credit card here, even?

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On Apr 16, 8:20*am, wrote:

In article ,
(James Farrar) wrote:

redcat wrote:

Great. My husband and I each got Oyster cards last year and
filled them up on line. This year comes around and I want to fill
up the cards (we live in the US) and now a new bit of red tape in
the system prevents me from doing so, because my credit card
doesn't come with a UK address. Of course it doesn't. It didn't
last year, either. I'm ****ed.

Now I have to get a visitor card.

Or wait until you get to London and top up with cash?

Or with a credit card here, even?

Yes, that would work fine, and could be done at an Underground station
- either at the ticket office or one of the self-service ticket
machines.

Mizter T wrote:
On Apr 16, 8:20 am, wrote:

In article ,
(James Farrar) wrote:

redcat wrote:
Great. My husband and I each got Oyster cards last year and
filled them up on line. This year comes around and I want to fill
up the cards (we live in the US) and now a new bit of red tape in
the system prevents me from doing so, because my credit card
doesn't come with a UK address. Of course it doesn't. It didn't
last year, either. I'm ****ed.
Now I have to get a visitor card.
Or wait until you get to London and top up with cash?
Or with a credit card here, even?

Yes, that would work fine, and could be done at an Underground station
- either at the ticket office or one of the self-service ticket
machines.


I can't top it with a cc here, because for some odd reason when I bought
it last year (here, as offered by LT/Visit Britain) it required a UK
postal code. So, I put one in and the top up worked fine.

Now they want the exact address my cc is associated with. OK. But I
cannot enter a US zip code into that field. It requires a UK one and
rejects anything else.

**Thanks for everyone's help. So, you say I can take my existing oyster
and put it into a machine at a station and add credit card or cash
payment to it? ** Is there a list of stations where this can be done, or
can it be done at any?

Thank again.

redcat

redcat wrote in
:

I can't top it with a cc here, because for some odd reason when I
bought it last year (here, as offered by LT/Visit Britain) it required
a UK postal code. So, I put one in and the top up worked fine.

Now they want the exact address my cc is associated with. OK. But I
cannot enter a US zip code into that field. It requires a UK one and
rejects anything else.

Does it really check? I have solved the opposite problem, where in the
US some devices - especially gas/petrol stations - require a US zipcode.
I have found that entering 11111 works, even though my card is billed
to a UK address with a UK postcode (but they reject 00000).

So you might try entering any old UK address, eg 55 Broadway, London
SW1H 0BD or 4 Wentworth St, Portree, IV51 9EJ.

You can certainly top an Oyster up at most, maybe all, Underground
stations using a credit card, but I'm not certain that it will accept a
US card, which won't have an embedded chip like ours have. But the
machines were in use before we had chips and during the transitional
period when some had and some hadn't, so they may well still accept a
card with just a magstripe.

Peter

--
Peter Campbell Smith ~ London ~ pjcs00 (a) gmail.com

On Apr 16, 2:01*am, redcat wrote:

Great. My husband and I each got Oyster cards last year and filled them
up on line. This year comes around and I want to fill up the cards (we
live in the US) and now a new bit of red tape in the system prevents me
from doing so, because my credit card doesn't come with a UK address. Of
course it doesn't. It didn't last year, either. I'm ****ed.

Try again when you are sober.

Peter Campbell Smith wrote:
redcat wrote in
:

I can't top it with a cc here, because for some odd reason when I
bought it last year (here, as offered by LT/Visit Britain) it required
a UK postal code. So, I put one in and the top up worked fine.

Now they want the exact address my cc is associated with. OK. But I
cannot enter a US zip code into that field. It requires a UK one and
rejects anything else.

Does it really check? I have solved the opposite problem, where in the
US some devices - especially gas/petrol stations - require a US zipcode.
I have found that entering 11111 works, even though my card is billed
to a UK address with a UK postcode (but they reject 00000).

So you might try entering any old UK address, eg 55 Broadway, London
SW1H 0BD or 4 Wentworth St, Portree, IV51 9EJ.

You can certainly top an Oyster up at most, maybe all, Underground
stations using a credit card, but I'm not certain that it will accept a
US card, which won't have an embedded chip like ours have. But the
machines were in use before we had chips and during the transitional
period when some had and some hadn't, so they may well still accept a
card with just a magstripe.

Peter


Oh, those darn chips. I had trouble with my lack of one last year at
some small out-of-town places. Hmmm. Thanks for the info!

Oh, BTW, yes, the on-line systems checks for the address and zip
associated with the card. It uses credit card verification services
(Verified by Visa, Verisign, etc.).

Cat

Offramp wrote:
On Apr 16, 2:01 am, redcat wrote:

Great. My husband and I each got Oyster cards last year and filled them
up on line. This year comes around and I want to fill up the cards (we
live in the US) and now a new bit of red tape in the system prevents me
from doing so, because my credit card doesn't come with a UK address. Of
course it doesn't. It didn't last year, either. I'm ****ed.

Try again when you are sober.

LOL!

On 16 Apr, 13:05, redcat wrote:
Mizter T wrote:
On Apr 16, 8:20 am, wrote:

In article ,
(James Farrar) wrote:

redcat wrote:
Great. My husband and I each got Oyster cards last year and
filled them up on line. This year comes around and I want to fill
up the cards (we live in the US) and now a new bit of red tape in
the system prevents me from doing so, because my credit card
doesn't come with a UK address. Of course it doesn't. It didn't
last year, either. I'm ****ed.
Now I have to get a visitor card.
Or wait until you get to London and top up with cash?
Or with a credit card here, even?

Yes, that would work fine, and could be done at an Underground station
- either at the ticket office or one of the self-service ticket
machines.

I can't top it with a cc here, because for some odd reason when I bought
it last year (here, as offered by LT/Visit Britain) it required a UK
postal code. So, I put one in and the top up worked fine.

Now they want the exact address my cc is associated with. OK. But I
cannot enter a US zip code into that field. It requires a UK one and
rejects anything else.


I got an oyster 2 years ago when in London.
I registered it with my Italian address, putting the postcode of the
hotel I usually stay when in London. Everything is working fine since
then, even the auto top-up activated on an AMEX issued in Italy...