London Tube - Paying by Contactless Issues

[Haywain]

I don't know of any similar systems. Can you point to one where there is a discount entitlement available with contactless payments?

And where the entitlement to the discount is evidenced by a card that must be carried and shown while travelling.

 

[MikeWh]

Do they not wait until the travel day is up at 0429?

No, the processing happens overnight. If you make a complete journey after the cut-off it will be added to the next days charge.

 

[Deerfold]

No, the processing happens overnight. If you make a complete journey after the cut-off it will be added to the next days charge.

Presumably a good proportion of journeys at those times are for people who've already hit a cap (I don't travel after midnight so often as I once did and when I did is mostly split into pre-Oyster and having a TfL staff pass).

 

[Haywain]

No, the processing happens overnight. If you make a complete journey after the cut-off it will be added to the next days charge.

Or adjusted the next day/night?

 

[MikeWh]

Or adjusted the next day/night?

Yes. This is the reason why the website has two different views: journey history and payment history.

If you travel after the cut-off and haven't capped, then any charge is either made the next night or added to the next day's travel charge, depending on whether you made any journeys the next day. If you started a journey before the cut-off and finished it afterwards, then the whole days charge is likely to be held until the next night.

 

[fandroid]

Tried Google Pay this morning in a different store and all work fine so it must have been 'user error' in the previous stores. Apologies for the thread - it was obviously just coincidence - but at least I know to use contactless on the tube in future!

I've had random failures on retail payments using my phone which is based on a loaded card. I just use another card and the phone usually seems to sort itself out fairly quickly.

I too am old !
I use an Oyster Card, as recommended here, with a Senior Railcard loaded on to it. It definitely saves a lot of cash. You have to get a staff member at a Tube station to load the Railcard onto the Oyster, and that's best done as soon as you get the Railcard. You can load cash onto the Oyster online, but I prefer to do it at a Tube ticket machine, or in fact at any railway ticket machine in London that has a yellow Oyster reader on it. It's just as quick and convenient.

 

[Haywain]

You can load cash onto the Oyster online, but I prefer to do it at a Tube ticket machine, or in fact at any railway ticket machine in London that has a yellow Oyster reader on it. It's just as quick and convenient.

If you're not a frequent enough traveller to use auto-top up, then it's even easier to add money to Oyster through the TfL Oyster app.

 

[londonbridge]

Yes. This is the reason why the website has two different views: journey history and payment history.

If you travel after the cut-off and haven't capped, then any charge is either made the next night or added to the next day's travel charge, depending on whether you made any journeys the next day. If you started a journey before the cut-off and finished it afterwards, then the whole days charge is likely to be held until the next night.

I’ve noticed recently that I’m getting regular cases of my statement showing “adjustments to past fares £0.00” when all travel on the previous day was completed well before the cutoff?

 

[trek]

That doesn't apply when you use Google Pay or Apple Pay. There is no limit to the number of transactions you can make.

This depends on your bank. Some banks can and do want your physical card and PIN to be used after a certain number of transactions. Google Pay as a system doesn't impose a limit but banks can do so.

 

[Haywain]

This depends on your bank. Some banks can and do want your physical card and PIN to be used after a certain number of transactions. Google Pay as a system doesn't impose a limit but banks can do so.

If your bank imposes a limit then get another bank. It's pointless to impose double protection through Google Pay.

 

[talldave]

I've had random failures on retail payments using my phone which is based on a loaded card. I just use another card and the phone usually seems to sort itself out fairly quickly.

I too am old !
I use an Oyster Card, as recommended here, with a Senior Railcard loaded on to it. It definitely saves a lot of cash. You have to get a staff member at a Tube station to load the Railcard onto the Oyster, and that's best done as soon as you get the Railcard. You can load cash onto the Oyster online, but I prefer to do it at a Tube ticket machine, or in fact at any railway ticket machine in London that has a yellow Oyster reader on it. It's just as quick and convenient.

I have my Oyster set to auto top-up, it's really useful and works well. And it goes on the same card I'd have used if I were doing it manually. It prevents any embarrassing rejections, especially as most of my journeys start on a bus.

 

[zero]

I have my Oyster set to auto top-up, it's really useful and works well. And it goes on the same card I'd have used if I were doing it manually. It prevents any embarrassing rejections, especially as most of my journeys start on a bus.

As long as you have 5p on your oyster it will not be rejected on a bus.

My oysters still get rejected on first try ~10% of the time because the readers on most buses still have those annoying covid plastic coverings making it slightly difficult to get the card close enough.

Personally I think it's more embarrassing to get a double beep when using a phone, spend 20 seconds fiddling with it, still get a double beep, then spend 20 seconds rummaging through a handbag to find a bank card, which I've seen twice in the past month.

 

[MikeWh]

As long as you have 5p on your oyster it will not be rejected on a bus.

As long as the balance isn't negative. I used a newly purchased Oyster without any credit (bought from a Southeastern station) on a bus later that day.

 

[zero]

As long as the balance isn't negative. I used a newly purchased Oyster without any credit (bought from a Southeastern station) on a bus later that day.

Interesting. Do you know if hoppers still work when an emergency fare is charged?

 

[MikeWh]

Interesting. Do you know if hoppers still work when an emergency fare is charged?

No they don't. Or, yes they do, but only if you top up before activating the second journey.