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Londoners: Free £10 Oystercard Prepay Credit!
Money_Man_Steve
Posts: 511 Forumite
in Motoring
Update 08/11/05 - it seems as though this offer is unfortunately no longer available. If anyone knows any different, let me know and I'll update this message:
For those of you that have an Oystercard (a smartcard for travelling on London's tubes, buses and trams) you can get a free £10 prepay credit!
Here's how:
You have to be one of the first 10,000 people to register online for a new Oystercard feature called 'auto top-up.' This is a service which automatically tops-up the balance of your card when it falls below £5. The top-up amount can either be £20 or £40 (you choose when registering for the service). The auto top-ups are charged to a credit or debit card that you specify when signing up - basically you authorise a recurring transaction to be charged to the card.
You can cancel the auto top-up feature using the Oystercard website, and I can see nothing in the T&C's that would prevent you from doing so after collecting your free £10 prepay credit!
I have just registered my Oystercard for auto top-up, and found out a bit more about it in the process:
- during the online registration process, you have to purchase a minimum £20 top-up for your card. The promotional £10 prepay credit is given as a discount on the top up amount that you choose. i.e. if you choose a £20 top-up, you will only be charged £10.
- once you order the prepay, you have to 'activate' your Oystercard for the auto top-up service by using it at a tube station of your choice within seven days of registering. You have to specify which tube station you will use to activate your card when you register for auto top-up. If you don't activate your card within seven days of registering for auto top-up online, your purchase is cancelled and you have to re-register for the service.
- there is no time limit on using up your free £10 credit, but if you surrender your card before you use it up, you don't get a refund for any unused credit.
- according to the Oystercard website FAQ, the auto-top up feature only works when you use your Oystercard at the gate to enter or leave a tube station. The feature doesn't work on buses or trams.
You can register here: https://sales.oystercard.com/oyster/lul/entry.do
Anyone who uses the tube, buses or trams in London on an occasional basis should get a prepay Oystercard, as the fares it charges are cheaper than standard single fares. It's also good for those who would normally get a one-day travelcard - the Oystercard 'caps' your single journey costs when they reach the equivalent of a daily bus pass or one-day travelcard in any given day. Those who don't have a prepay Oystercard can get one online and qualify for the free £10 auto top-up prepay credit at the same time.
For those of you that have an Oystercard (a smartcard for travelling on London's tubes, buses and trams) you can get a free £10 prepay credit!
Here's how:
You have to be one of the first 10,000 people to register online for a new Oystercard feature called 'auto top-up.' This is a service which automatically tops-up the balance of your card when it falls below £5. The top-up amount can either be £20 or £40 (you choose when registering for the service). The auto top-ups are charged to a credit or debit card that you specify when signing up - basically you authorise a recurring transaction to be charged to the card.
You can cancel the auto top-up feature using the Oystercard website, and I can see nothing in the T&C's that would prevent you from doing so after collecting your free £10 prepay credit!
I have just registered my Oystercard for auto top-up, and found out a bit more about it in the process:
- during the online registration process, you have to purchase a minimum £20 top-up for your card. The promotional £10 prepay credit is given as a discount on the top up amount that you choose. i.e. if you choose a £20 top-up, you will only be charged £10.
- once you order the prepay, you have to 'activate' your Oystercard for the auto top-up service by using it at a tube station of your choice within seven days of registering. You have to specify which tube station you will use to activate your card when you register for auto top-up. If you don't activate your card within seven days of registering for auto top-up online, your purchase is cancelled and you have to re-register for the service.
- there is no time limit on using up your free £10 credit, but if you surrender your card before you use it up, you don't get a refund for any unused credit.
- according to the Oystercard website FAQ, the auto-top up feature only works when you use your Oystercard at the gate to enter or leave a tube station. The feature doesn't work on buses or trams.
You can register here: https://sales.oystercard.com/oyster/lul/entry.do
Anyone who uses the tube, buses or trams in London on an occasional basis should get a prepay Oystercard, as the fares it charges are cheaper than standard single fares. It's also good for those who would normally get a one-day travelcard - the Oystercard 'caps' your single journey costs when they reach the equivalent of a daily bus pass or one-day travelcard in any given day. Those who don't have a prepay Oystercard can get one online and qualify for the free £10 auto top-up prepay credit at the same time.
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Comments
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Just gone for this.. Thanks!! The free 10quid is appreciated, but the auto top-up will also save time queuing at the ticket machines
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Thanks, just done this for my OysterCard, my flat mate's and soon to be three of the family too!0
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Don't you worry that one of the points of this card is that if you lose it it's not too big a deal as only the money on it is lost - but if you have auto-top-up a criminal would run it down and it would keep getting topped-up automatically from your bank until you noticed?
(BTW I'm moving to London in a year which is why I am looking at a thread about a London-only card)0 -
gizmoleeds wrote:Don't you worry that one of the points of this card is that if you lose it it's not too big a deal as only the money on it is lost - but if you have auto-top-up a criminal would run it down and it would keep getting topped-up automatically from your bank until you noticed?
(BTW I'm moving to London in a year which is why I am looking at a thread about a London-only card)
Well I suppose what matters is how long it takes you to notice that you have lost it! I keep mine in my wallet, so if the wallet goes, I know my Oystercard has gone too!
That said, you can cancel an Oystercard online or by phone. Provided that you have registered the card, they will stop it and transfer any credit to a new card. The daily price capping scheme means that a theif could only spend up to the value of a one-day travelcard each day, until you stopped the card when you noticed it was missing!0 -
Update: I collected my first credit when I used my Oystercard on the tube yesterday - and got mt free £10 credit!0
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Very nice thank you. This also works when ordering a new Oystercard with pre-pay and auto-topup.0
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Note there is no reason why you cant add several Oyster cards to your account and get a £10 discount on each one (assuming you are still one of the first 10,000 people)
So, buy 5 pre-pay cards, with £20 credit on each (£100 of travel in total) and only pay £65, with £15 being card deposits you get back, meaning the total cost to you is £50.
So, half price travel in London!
Cheers,
/Neil/0 -
spellinn wrote:Note there is no reason why you cant add several Oyster cards to your account and get a £10 discount on each one (assuming you are still one of the first 10,000 people)
So, buy 5 pre-pay cards, with £20 credit on each (£100 of travel in total) and only pay £65, with £15 being card deposits you get back, meaning the total cost to you is £50.
So, half price travel in London!
Cheers,
/Neil/
That's a blinding idea!!!
Isn't there an Egg deal at the mo' where you get #10 back if you charge #50 to your Egg card?
So if you bought one of the Oysters with an Egg, could you put #60 quid on it plus the #3 for the card; get billed #53 after the deduction of the #10 freebie; then get a further #10 back from Egg, for having spent more than #50; use up the Oyster card, then cancel it and get your #3 back?
Meaning you'd get #60 of travel for #40??
If you factor in the extra bonus that Oyster fares are less than standard fares, I make it that doing the above is a discount of over 40%.0 -
Just a thought that's occured to me.
If you register online with Oyster you have to give your address. They will know every time you use the card and be able to track all of your journeys. Is this a bit sinister or am I having a paranoid moment here?:smileyhea "here, hare, here" :smileyhea0 -
thanks people! it works for current oyster cards as well! not just new ones! just registered mine for autotopup!0
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