Oyster card confusion

londonman81

I have started commuting in London using the PAYG Oyster card.

However, I am very confused as to how it is charging me because I was under the impression that it caps the daily running cost of journeys to the price of a daily travelcard (around £6.50 for zones 1 to 6?). But, I have been using around £10 per day according to my online Oyster journey history!

How exactly does the price capping work?

Thanks

P.S
And am I being cynical in thinking that the Oyster card is a marketing con because they claim it's a huge saving over the equivalent cash fare - but at £4 for a single journey , it's a discount to an already grossly overpriced cash fare!

dzug1

The price cap you quote is for off peak travel - after 0930

If you travel at peak times it's £13.30.

londonman81

And does anyone know at what point the peak/off peak fare is measured? Is it at the point of touching in or touching out?

For example, if I start my journey at off-peak 06:45am (15 mins before peak time starts at 7am), and complete the journey at 07:15am (peak time), does this count as a peak journey or off-peak? i.e is it the time at touch in that counts or the time at touch out?

I called Oyster helpline twice and got two different answers! Classic!

AirlieBird

It is the point at which you touch in that determines whether you are travelling peak or off-peak.

How does the system know which cap to apply?

dzug1

londonman81 wrote: »

And does anyone know at what point the peak/off peak fare is measured? Is it at the point of touching in or touching out?

For example, if I start my journey at off-peak 06:45am (15 mins before peak time starts at 7am), and complete the journey at 07:15am (peak time), does this count as a peak journey or off-peak? i.e is it the time at touch in that counts or the time at touch out?

I called Oyster helpline twice and got two different answers! Classic!

That's coz there ARE two different answers:

From the capping point of view 0645 is peak - off peak doesn't start until 0930 for capping purposes

From the Oyster single fare point of view 0645 is off peak.

And yes it's the touch in time that counts.

chuckley

are you by any change starting from a greater london station that doesnt operate paug oyster?!