ITSO TFL Travelcard - not tapping out

[diffarc]

I have an ITSO smart card with a TFL Travelcard for Zones 1-3 on it. If I was to not tap out of the TFL system, what would actually happen?

For example:

1. Tap in at Bond Street - using my ITSO with Zone 1 - 3 travelcard
2. Arrive at Stratford, not tapping out
3. Change to Greater Anglia train towards Southend Victoria, using barcode based ticket (not smart card) from Stratford to Southend

Does this change if I use a pink reader?

 

[MikeWh]

There is no penalty for not touching in/out with a travelcard within the zones. As long as you have a valid ticket to go beyond the zones you will be fine. Pink readers will never end a journey so it will just be ignored in this case. There are yellow readers towards the ends of the Liz line platforms if you want to be sure, but it won't be a problem with a travelcard.

 

[Watershed]

Worth noting that an Anytime Day Return from Boundary Zone 3 to Southend Victoria is quite a bit cheaper than one from Stratford. That said, the Off-Peak fares are the same and obviously you can't buy Advance tickets from Boundary Zone 3, only from Stratford.

This illustrates why it's always a good idea to check the fares from the relevant Boundary Zone station (or the last station in the zones your Travelcard covers - Manor Park in this case, which has the same fares as Boundary Zone 3).

 

[fandroid]

The OP has obviously loaded a normal TfL zones Travelcard onto an ITSO smartcard. Are there any restrictions on this? I would like to load a Zones 1-6 Day Travel card into my SWR Touch card to get the best deals for travelling from Heathrow after landing.

 

[diffarc]

There is no penalty for not touching in/out with a travelcard within the zones. As long as you have a valid ticket to go beyond the zones you will be fine. Pink readers will never end a journey so it will just be ignored in this case. There are yellow readers towards the ends of the Liz line platforms if you want to be sure, but it won't be a problem with a travelcard.

Thanks - I was worried I’d be charged the maximum fare if I didn’t tap out (not sure how they’d do that but who knows!) I’ve also heard that pink readers can be used to tap in so will keep an eye out on the return.

Worth noting that an Anytime Day Return from Boundary Zone 3 to Southend Victoria is quite a bit cheaper than one from Stratford. That said, the Off-Peak fares are the same and obviously you can't buy Advance tickets from Boundary Zone 3, only from Stratford.

This illustrates why it's always a good idea to check the fares from the relevant Boundary Zone station (or the last station in the zones your Travelcard covers - Manor Park in this case, which has the same fares as Boundary Zone 3).

Thanks, I’m guessing with the boundary zone tickets, my train has to stop at that station, similar to split ticketing?

 

[Watershed]

Thanks, I’m guessing with the boundary zone tickets, my train has to stop at that station, similar to split ticketing?

You don't need to stop there.

Since Travelcards are zonal, the split falls under condition 14.3 of the National Rail Conditions of Travel (NRCoT) - which permits non-stop splits:

Unless Condition 14.1 applies, if you are using a Season Ticket, daily Zonal Ticket, or another area based Ticket such as a concessionary pass, ranger, or rover, in conjunction with another Ticket and the last station at which one Ticket is valid and the first station that the other Ticket is valid are the same, then the train does not need to Call at that station for your combination to be valid.

That is in contrast with the position if you're combining two point-to-point tickets (e.g. Liverpool Street to Manor Park + Manor Park to Southend). In that case you would be correct that you'd have to stop at the station where you change from one ticket to the next.

 

[Edvid]

The OP has obviously loaded a normal TfL zones Travelcard onto an ITSO smartcard. Are there any restrictions on this? I would like to load a Zones 1-6 Day Travel card into my SWR Touch card to get the best deals for travelling from Heathrow after landing.

That should be doable, provided it isn't of the Evening / Sunday Out variety. If Tap2Go is enabled on your SWR Touch then you must touch in / touch out even if you're travelling within the bounds of your Travelcard.

EDIT - It appears you can't buy an ITSO-fulfilled Day Travelcard on the SWR app or website, though.

 

[fandroid]

That should be doable, provided it isn't of the Evening / Sunday Out variety. If Tap2Go is enabled on your SWR Touch then you must touch in / touch out even if you're travelling within the bounds of your Travelcard.

EDIT - It appears you can't buy an ITSO-fulfilled Day Travelcard on the SWR app or website, though.

I have been buying outboundary day travel cards for loading onto to my Smartcard from the SWR app. No problems. I have always done it using my phone to load. I wonder if I can load the inboundary Day Travelcard via a TVM?

 

[SWT_USER]

That should be doable, provided it isn't of the Evening / Sunday Out variety. If Tap2Go is enabled on your SWR Touch then you must touch in / touch out even if you're travelling within the bounds of your Travelcard.

EDIT - It appears you can't buy an ITSO-fulfilled Day Travelcard on the SWR app or website, though.

I get the option to add to smart card when purchasing a day travelcard on the SWR app.

I would recommend using a totally separate smart card for tap2go. I've had charging errors on several occasions when mixing the two.

 

[Edvid]

I have been buying outboundary day travel cards for loading onto to my Smartcard from the SWR app. No problems.

I get the option to add to smart card when purchasing a day travelcard on the SWR app.

That's good to know. Admittedly I don't have the app myself and used fulfilment options on the booking website as an approximation.

I wonder if I can load the inboundary Day Travelcard via a TVM?

Within Zones 1-6, TVMs with non-Oyster ITSO readers are a rare breed. St Pancras and Liverpool Street are the only two applicable stations I know of that have them; on that basis some other London termini are most likely to have them.

 

[Wallsendmag]

That's good to know. Admittedly I don't have the app myself and used fulfilment options on the booking website as an approximation.

Within Zones 1-6, TVMs with non-Oyster ITSO readers are a rare breed. St Pancras and Liverpool Street are the only two applicable stations I know of that have them; on that basis some other London termini are most likely to have them.

Kings Cross LNER TVMs and I would expect Chiltern at Marlyebone bur not 100% on that one

 

[redreni]

There can be weird restrictions on day travelcards on Smartcards.

GWR, for instance, will let you do it but not if you pick origin and destination stations not on their patch (e.g. if you query Paddington to West Drayton on their journey planner and select a day travelcard then that's fine to have on a Smartcard, but if you query Hadley Wood to West Croydon and select a day travelcard then you can only have it on paper. I've no idea why).

Maybe SWR is the same, or maybe they just don't sell day travelcards for Smartcard fulfilment online (like LNER).

Any ticket office should sell an inboundary day travelcard and pop it on any Smartcard, though.

 

[ns274]

There is no penalty for not touching in/out with a travelcard within the zones. As long as you have a valid ticket to go beyond the zones you will be fine. Pink readers will never end a journey so it will just be ignored in this case. There are yellow readers towards the ends of the Liz line platforms if you want to be sure, but it won't be a problem with a travelcard.

In my experience for ITSO cards pink readers function exactly the same as a yellow reader - I've once touched out my ITSO card using a pink reader at Wimbledon.

 

[Surreytraveller]

In my experience for ITSO cards pink readers function exactly the same as a yellow reader - I've once touched out my ITSO card using a pink reader at Wimbledon.

And what effect did touching your ITSO on a pink reader have?

 

[mattdickinson]

Kings Cross LNER TVMs and I would expect Chiltern at Marlyebone bur not 100% on that one

EMR TVMs at St Pancras also have them.

 

[fandroid]

I would recommend using a totally separate smart card for tap2go. I've had charging errors on several occasions when mixing the two.

I've enabled that by having a GWR Smartcard for ticket loading and an SWR one for Tap2Go!

 

[ns274]

And what effect did touching your ITSO on a pink reader have?

Identical to touching out on a yellow reader - the validator showed "EXIT" and so did the Ecebs app.

 

[diffarc]

Just to bump this thread with a question - if I purchased a boundary ticket, how would my travelcard work on the return leg? Say I've used a boundary ticket for the first part, then the travel card from zone 3 to zone 1. In this scenario I would not have tapped in at the start, so would I be able to exit the barriers?

 

[Haywain]

Just to bump this thread with a question - if I purchased a boundary ticket, how would my travelcard work on the return leg? Say I've used a boundary ticket for the first part, then the travel card from zone 3 to zone 1. In this scenario I would not have tapped in at the start, so would I be able to exit the barriers?

Yes, it is not necessary to tap in with a Travelcard.

 

[diffarc]

Yes, it is not necessary to tap in with a Travelcard.

Thanks for the confirmation!