Oyster Help

[danfitz123]

Hi guys,
Long time no post. In a few weeks im going to london and I dont know what the best option is as regards to oysters. I have seen two types.....Visitors and normal ones. From what i can gather the visitors one is just more expensive for some reason. This makes me think that I should get a normal one, but are there any hidden charges. I have a railcard, so how will this affect it? Another question I have is, approximately how much will i need on my Oyster for two days in london traveling across zones 1-6?

Please help me Oyster nuts

Thanks

 

[district]

You can buy a normal oyster card for £5 from ticket offices or some ticket machines at most stations. You can also put a National Railcard on it (only Senior, 16-25, HM Forces, Disabled or Gold) giving you reduced rate on off peak tickets.

You can make as many journeys as you want and the price you pay will be capped at the price of a normal paper travelcard. This is called the daily cap - with a railcard, this is £5.60 per day for Zone 1-6 (so £11.20).

In order for you to 'cap', you MUST make sure you touch in on the barriers (or standalone readers if the station doesn't have barriers) at the start and the end station.

If you are using buses or trams, make sure you touch in as you enter the bus, or touch the reader on the tram platform before you board the tram. If you are using trams from Wimbledon, then special rules apply as Wimbledon has ticket barriers. This page gives more information on using Oyster at Wimbledon.

If you are 'bashing' or going on a leisurely train trip in which you will take longer than normally would be if you were just commuting, then don't use oyster as you will go over the allotted time and you will be charged more than you should have to be. Buy a paper ticket in this circumstance.

This forum is lucky in that we have a resident oyster expert who has compiled a useful website - See http://www.oyster-rail.org.uk/.

 

[danfitz123]

You can buy a normal oyster card for £5 from ticket offices or some ticket machines at most stations. You can also put a National Railcard on it (as long as it only allows discounts for one person - so not Family & Friends) giving you reduced rate on off peak tickets.

You can make as many journeys as you want and the price you pay will be capped at the price of a normal paper travelcard. This is called the daily cap - with a railcard, this is £5.60 per day for Zone 1-6 (so £11.20).

Ok thanks. Do you know what the visitor Oysters are for as i cant work out why someone would pay more?

 

[district]

I am not 100% sure, and someone will correct me, but I believe they are prepaid with credit, whereas Oyster cards bought from ticket officers are not.

http://visitorshop.tfl.gov.uk/oystercard/product/oyster-card.html

 

[danfitz123]

Thanks For the advice, you've been a great help.

 

[district]

Just checked for you - Visitor Oyster cards are actually cheaper in that the deposit is only £3, but you can't buy it without £10 of credit, so likely to be more expensive. Furthermore, you can't get the deposit back like you can with a normal one, and you can't put tickets on it (like travelcard season tickets). Not sure if you can even put railcards on either.

 

[danfitz123]

Ok. One more thing. When im performing an out of station interchange, how do I get out of the first station without ending the current journey. For example if I get off the northern line at Euston with the intention of changing at Euston Square. How do I do this without getting charged 2 Journeys?

 

[TheKeymeister]

I wondered this when I was in London, and changed between Tower Hill tube and Tower Gateway DLR. Apparently touching out and touching in at a nearby station within a specified time has the effect of 'cancelling' the last touch out, making it appear as one continuous journey. That's how it appeared on the online statement thingy when I regularly did it anyway!

If you do use the DLR though, make sure 100% you remember to touch in on the oyster reader (it isn't barriered) - the one time I forgot to do it, I bought a friend a paper ticket as he lost his wallet and forgot to touch in myself, I got checked about 30 seconds after leaving Tower Gateway and given a penalty fare.....

 

[danfitz123]

Thanks, thats useful to know as I will be using the DLR.

 

[RJ]

danfitz123, bear in mind that the daily charge will exceed £5.60 if you wish to travel during the morning peak. If you do use it during the morning peak, the daily cap for Zones 1-6 will rise up to £15.80.

Morning peak is generally before 09:30 on buses and between 06:30 and 09:30 on the Tube, DLR and National Rail, though there are exceptions. You'd be best off double checking on the TfL Single Fare Finder.

 

[yorkie]

Ok. One more thing. When im performing an out of station interchange, how do I get out of the first station without ending the current journey. For example if I get off the northern line at Euston with the intention of changing at Euston Square. How do I do this without getting charged 2 Journeys?

Hi, I am guessing you don't visit the Fares section much as a member here MikeWh has his site in his signature: http://www.oyster-rail.org.uk/ it contains the answers to almost anything you could want to know (and more!) but if you get stuck on any part of it, please let us know.

And to answer this specific question, you ensure that the time delay between you touching out and touching in is less than the times specified here: http://www.oyster-rail.org.uk/out-of-station-interchange-osi which is 20 minutes in this particular case.

 

[MikeWh]

danfitz123, bear in mind that the daily charge will exceed £5.60 if you wish to travel during the morning peak. If you do use it during the morning peak, the daily cap for Zones 1-6 will rise up to £15.80.

Morning peak is generally before 09:30 on buses and between 06:30 and 09:30 on the Tube, DLR and National Rail, though there are exceptions. You'd be best off double checking on the TfL Single Fare Finder.

Morning peak fares apply between 0630-0930, but the off-peak fares charged between 0430-0630 still count towards the anytime cap. However, if you only make one journey before 0930, only that journey will be charged in addition to the off-peak cap.

 

[Mojo]

Ok. One more thing. When im performing an out of station interchange, how do I get out of the first station without ending the current journey. For example if I get off the northern line at Euston with the intention of changing at Euston Square. How do I do this without getting charged 2 Journeys?

Where an OSI does exist, all you need to do is touch out, and then touch in again at the other station. A list of OSIs is available at http://www.oyster-rail.org.uk/out-of-station-interchange-osi/.