Oyster card users: always touch in and out or get fined!

isasmurf

From the outside, it's very easy. All I have to do is look at the FAQ on the TFL website?

Do I need to have at least £5 on my Oyster card to start a Tube/DLR journey using pay as you go?

No. The amount you must have on your Oyster card before you can start a pay as you go journey at a station depends on the zone you start your journey in and how close you are to reaching a daily price cap.

which I read as you need at least enough to cover the maximum Oyster fare or to reach the cap from the zone you are starting in.

Saffie_2

wendy_ann1983 wrote:

From November 19th PayG customers must ensure that they not only touch in & out but that they have a minimum of £4 on their cards per journey.

PayG customers are currently charged the minimum fare of £1 when they enter a station, if you don't have £1 then you cannot enter.
This will become £4 so you must ensure you have £4 on your card before you travel (rip off I know) then when you touch your card out the computer corrects this to whatever it should be. For example the current fare for going 1Zone is £1, so touch in and it takes £4, touch out and it credits back the £3. Don't touch out and the card will keep the £4 charge.
It will also charge you £4 if you touch out but did not touch in.

The minimum entry fee of £1.50 within zone 1 and £1 within any other zone will not change, you do not need to have a minimum of £4 on your card when you start your journey.

wendy_ann1983

My apologies, we had really confusing training on it, its the same as it currently is, you must have the minimum fare for the zone you are entering. £1 for entering zones 2-6, £1.50 for entering zone 1, the Oyster then works out how mush to take off when you touch out, dependant on where you travel.

If you have £10 on your card and touch in in zone 2 it will take £1 off to come in, forget to tap out and it will charge £4 to your card. This will leave you with £6 on your card. Again you tap in at zone 2 and it takes off the starting £1, somehow you forget again to tap out, it will take another £4 off your card so your balance is now £2. Your having a bad day and not only have you not noticed that your pre pay seems to be disapearing but you've made another journey and forgotten to tap out again your balance is now -£2. DOH.
You can be charged up to 3 times.
These charges will not count towards your daily cap.

If you exit a station and think Uh-Oh I don't think it read my card, you can check by going to the touch screen machines, tap your Oyster on the pad and then touch 'View Oyster Usage' this brings up the last few journeys and will show if your last journey completed. If it hasn't you may be able to do it by asking the staff if they can tap it on an exit pad (or if the gates are open you can do it yourself).

Tiggerwoos

Well the Oyster capping starts today and as I'm on nights and work for the Blunderground and just now on the last trains have already seen a load of people not bother touching their card on the reader as they barged through the manual gate.

Will be plenty of unhappy customers in the morning shouting at us!

wendy_ann1983

tiggerwoos, i know the feeling, im just on my way in for a late shift, oh what fun thats going to be.

wendy_ann1983

Well after the first day of the £4 charge I am still alive. However I really do need to find a new job, I have a soul and a conscience.
A poor woman came through, she had £3.80 on her card, tapped in at a station, got to her destination and it wouldn't let her out, so we checked her card and it had taken the £4 off. Leaving her -£0.20. We couldn't work out why it had done it. So for a £1 journey she ended up paying £4, just because the card decided it didn't want to play. Another guy mad 1 journey, tapped in at A- charged £4, got to station B- got charged £4 so for the 1 journey thats £8, should have only been £1, could see no reason for the card to have done it.
So beware, to be honest if youre using pre pay to get the daily cap, you may as well spend the extra 50p and buy a paper ticket, less hassle in the long run.

puritycontroller

Can anyone help?

I'm going to London next Monday (27th), staying for 5 days and travelling within zones 1 & 2 using the tube and buses.
Bearing in mind that I will also be there in January for another five days, what's the cheapest thing to do with regards to an oyster card?
Would pay as you go be cheaper than a travelcard?
Can I just put £25 on a PAYG oyster - would that last 5 days ? I've been reading all the comments here about oyster and all my initial enthusiasm about the card had decreased!
Any suggestions? I would appreciate your comments!

Starfish

puritycontroller wrote:

Can anyone help?

I'm going to London next Monday (27th), staying for 5 days and travelling within zones 1 & 2 using the tube and buses.
Bearing in mind that I will also be there in January for another five days, what's the cheapest thing to do with regards to an oyster card?
Would pay as you go be cheaper than a travelcard?
Can I just put £25 on a PAYG oyster - would that last 5 days ? I've been reading all the comments here about oyster and all my initial enthusiasm about the card had decreased!
Any suggestions? I would appreciate your comments!

Not sure what the price of a weekly zone 1 and 2 travelcard is but if you PAYG you won't pay more than £4.40 per day for travel within those zones provided you travel after 09:30 Monday to Friday. Can't say how much you will pay in January as most likely fares will go up then.

puritycontroller

Thank you starfish! That sounds reasonable :-)

wendy_ann1983

puritycontroller wrote:

Can anyone help?

I'm going to London next Monday (27th), staying for 5 days and travelling within zones 1 & 2 using the tube and buses.
Bearing in mind that I will also be there in January for another five days, what's the cheapest thing to do with regards to an oyster card?
Would pay as you go be cheaper than a travelcard?
Can I just put £25 on a PAYG oyster - would that last 5 days ? I've been reading all the comments here about oyster and all my initial enthusiasm about the card had decreased!
Any suggestions? I would appreciate your comments!

Oyster does have its problems but if used properly will work out cheaper.
The initial card will cost £3, you can then put up to £90 PAYG on it (though I wouldn't suggest it). If travelling after 09:30 then £25 should be enough. If you end up not using it all, anything left over will stay on the card for you to use on your next trip.
Hope you don't want to use the bus too much on 27th, as there is a strike, Metroline drivers, approx 70 different routes, though keep an eye on the news as it may change.

Just remember to ALWAYS TOUCH IN & OUT. Oh and enjoy your trip.

PS there are 2for1 deals that you can make the most of with your Oyster, look out for the leaflet in stations.