Oyster - requirement to have sufficient PAYG credit

[kieron]

The other issue is that Oystercard holders with monthly (or longer) Travelcards loaded may not have paid any deposit. Certainly when I got my Oyster in 2004, the (then £3?) deposit did not have to paid if you had a monthly Travelcard. Nowadays I only use PAYG - but have never paid a deposit.

I'm not sure that that's important. You haven't paid a deposit, but you couldn't get a new card now without paying one. This means that you wouldn't gain anything by throwing your card away unless you stopped using Oyster altogether.

I imagine this concession was the reason why Oyster cards with season tickets on them are treated differently from PAYG cards. I don't think it makes sense to maintain this distinction now that everyone pays a deposit.

 

[Mojo]

But what if you intended to use your Z3-6 paper travelcard to travel through Z1 back into Z3?

Nothing will happen, unless you are stopped by an Inspector on-board the train or before you exit after you have crossed the boundary. It is also possible to set the gates to reject or monitor 'Short seasons' but only when Revenue staff are present.

What if the same thing applied to an Oystercard with Z3-6 TC (but no payg balance on it) and you used that to travel through Z1 and back into Z3 before touching another reader?

The appropriate fare will be deducted from the Oyster card, taking it into a negative balance and preventing any further touch-ins until it is next topped up.

 

[LexyBoy]

But what if you intended to use your Z3-6 paper travelcard to travel through Z1 back into Z3?

I would either buy a ticket to cover the Z3-Z3 via Z1 journey before starting my journey (in which case I not be able to start my journey if I didn't have sufficient funds), or disembark at a station in Z3 either side to touch in and out using PAYG (in which case I wouldn't be allowed to start with no PAYG credit, though it's true that I could still touch in with only enough for a single zone journey).

What if the same thing applied to an Oystercard with Z3-6 TC (but no payg balance on it) and you used that to travel through Z1 and back into Z3 before touching another reader?

In the hypothetical scenario where one cannot make an auto-combined PAYG/Travelcard journey, then that would be evading the fare as a touch in would be required to start the PAYG journey. In actuality, it also seems to be forbidden, as does making a PAYG-only journey without sufficient credit for the whole journey.

It had been my belief (clearly mistaken) that one would not be penalised if one successfully touched in and out on each journey.

The appropriate fare will be deducted from the Oyster card, taking it into a negative balance and preventing any further touch-ins until it is next topped up.

...unless you are stopped by an RPI during your journey.