Hi! Just back from the UK. In London I remembered what someone mentioned
here -- that there's a little screen at the gates to the Underground
where you can see your Oyster balance as you're about to pass through.
Yes. And no. My first station had it. I was overjoyed (well...). After
that it was iffy. Some stations had screens, some had them but they
didn't work, and some didn't have them at all.

At Queensway one evening I hesitated while peering at the little screen
and then the gate wouldn't let me through. I compounded this sin by
touching the sensor with my Oyster again. I was still stuck, only now I
had about 100 tired commuters behind me saying to go see the station
master.

Really long story short, I got electro-charged 2 more fares by the time
I was liberated, but I had the money put back by the fare booth man up
the road at Bayswater. (Something told me to check my balance.) He
printed out a slip of paper with all my underground journeys!

Trains ran very smoothly, btw, and I lucked out with timing, hardly
having to wait for them at all. Was I just fortunate? Or have things
improved? I notice the Oyster no longer works to save you money. It's
now L1.80 per journey (in zone 1&2 for me)each and every time. Last year
I seem to recall you wouldn't go over a certain amount of money on a
given day within your zones.

Cat

"redcat" wrote in message
m


Trains ran very smoothly, btw, and I lucked out with timing, hardly
having to wait for them at all. Was I just fortunate? Or have things
improved? I notice the Oyster no longer works to save you money. It's
now L1.80 per journey (in zone 1&2 for me)each and every time. Last
year I seem to recall you wouldn't go over a certain amount of money
on a given day within your zones.

Yes, there's usually a pretty frequent service on all the central London
lines. It's sparser on the more distant branches (eg, every ten minutes
or so).

Oyster definitely saves you money. Not only are Oyster fares much lower
than cash fares, but there is still day capping. However, the rules are
complex and the cap is now higher than before, as Oyster is now valid on
more NR routes. This means you're less likely to benefit from it than in
the past.

On Thu, May 20, 2010 at 07:29:54PM -0400, redcat wrote:

At Queensway one evening I hesitated while peering at the little screen
and then the gate wouldn't let me through. I compounded this sin by
touching the sensor with my Oyster again. I was still stuck, only now I
had about 100 tired commuters behind me saying to go see the station
master.

Really long story short, I got electro-charged 2 more fares by the time
I was liberated, but I had the money put back by the fare booth man up
the road at Bayswater. (Something told me to check my balance.) He
printed out a slip of paper with all my underground journeys!

But remember, Oyster is easy to use and so much more convenient than
proper tickets!

--
David Cantrell | London Perl Mongers Deputy Chief Heretic

comparative and superlative explained:

Huhn worse, worser, worsest, worsted, wasted

Recliner wrote:
"redcat" wrote in message
m

Trains ran very smoothly, btw, and I lucked out with timing, hardly
having to wait for them at all. Was I just fortunate? Or have things
improved? I notice the Oyster no longer works to save you money. It's
now L1.80 per journey (in zone 1&2 for me)each and every time. Last
year I seem to recall you wouldn't go over a certain amount of money
on a given day within your zones.

Yes, there's usually a pretty frequent service on all the central London
lines. It's sparser on the more distant branches (eg, every ten minutes
or so).

Oyster definitely saves you money. Not only are Oyster fares much lower
than cash fares, but there is still day capping. However, the rules are
complex and the cap is now higher than before, as Oyster is now valid on
more NR routes. This means you're less likely to benefit from it than in
the past.


Thanks, that makes sense. I guess the peak fare capping was triggered
each day by us travelling after 4 pm. Well, who doesn't? :-) That daily
cap for us was £7.20. I see the bus cap is really reasonable. I enjoy
the buses. But it seems the one I want is always zooming by, yet when I
get to the stop to wait for the same number bus it never comes. The 38
along Piccadilly - Victoria comes to mind.

rc

David Cantrell wrote:
On Thu, May 20, 2010 at 07:29:54PM -0400, redcat wrote:

At Queensway one evening I hesitated while peering at the little screen
and then the gate wouldn't let me through. I compounded this sin by
touching the sensor with my Oyster again. I was still stuck, only now I
had about 100 tired commuters behind me saying to go see the station
master.

Really long story short, I got electro-charged 2 more fares by the time
I was liberated, but I had the money put back by the fare booth man up
the road at Bayswater. (Something told me to check my balance.) He
printed out a slip of paper with all my underground journeys!

But remember, Oyster is easy to use and so much more convenient than
proper tickets!


It is. I like it. As long as don't get stuck again. But now I know --
just touch the Oyster and keep walking! :-)

rc

"redcat" wrote in message
m
Recliner wrote:
"redcat" wrote in message
m

Trains ran very smoothly, btw, and I lucked out with timing, hardly
having to wait for them at all. Was I just fortunate? Or have things
improved? I notice the Oyster no longer works to save you money.
It's now L1.80 per journey (in zone 1&2 for me)each and every time.
Last year I seem to recall you wouldn't go over a certain amount of
money on a given day within your zones.

Yes, there's usually a pretty frequent service on all the central
London lines. It's sparser on the more distant branches (eg, every
ten minutes or so).

Oyster definitely saves you money. Not only are Oyster fares much
lower than cash fares, but there is still day capping. However, the
rules are complex and the cap is now higher than before, as Oyster
is now valid on more NR routes. This means you're less likely to
benefit from it than in the past.


Thanks, that makes sense. I guess the peak fare capping was triggered
each day by us travelling after 4 pm. Well, who doesn't? :-) That
daily cap for us was £7.20.

No, the peak fare capping is triggered if you travel before 9:30 (or
such trips are left out of the off-peak cap).

On May 21, 12:29*am, redcat wrote:
Hi! Just back from the UK. In London I remembered what someone mentioned
here -- that there's a little screen at the gates to the Underground
where you can see your Oyster balance as you're about to pass through.
Yes. And no. My first station had it. I was overjoyed (well...). After
that it was iffy. Some stations had screens, some had them but they
didn't work, and some didn't have them at all.

Newer style gates show the cost of the journey and balance info on the
large screen. Older style gates don't have this capability - however
next to the Oyster pad when exiting there is a little LED display
which shows this information, though the LED display is tiny and it's
pretty difficult to see it (and easy to overlook it even exists).


At Queensway one evening I hesitated while peering at the little screen
and then the gate wouldn't let me through. I compounded this sin by
touching the sensor with my Oyster again. I was still stuck, only now I
had about 100 tired commuters behind me saying to go see the station
master.

Really long story short, I got electro-charged 2 more fares by the time
I was liberated, but I had the money put back by the fare booth man up
the road at Bayswater. (Something told me to check my balance.) He
printed out a slip of paper with all my underground journeys!

It sounds as though you might have been hit by the out-of-station
interchange maximum journey time-out problem (sorry haven't the time
or energy to explain that one now, others here will know of what I
speak) - without knowing the details of your journeys on that day,
it's impossible to say what might have happened.


Trains ran very smoothly, btw, and I lucked out with timing, hardly
having to wait for them at all. Was I just fortunate? Or have things
improved? I notice the Oyster no longer works to save you money. It's
now L1.80 per journey (in zone 1&2 for me)each and every time. Last year
I seem to recall you wouldn't go over a certain amount of money on a
given day within your zones.

Daily price capping is still very much in effect - however the
potential problem I mentioned earlier might have meant that you ended
up paying more than the cap.

The daily price caps are shown on this rather epic page of fare
tables:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14416.aspx

On the Tube, zone 1 journeys are UKP1.80 at any time, zone 1&2
journeys are UKP2.30 peak and UKP1.80 off-peak - note that the peak
times for PAYG fares include an evening peak on weekdays, though for
capping purposes only the morning peak counts. Confused?

Recliner wrote:
"redcat" wrote in message
m
Recliner wrote:
"redcat" wrote in message
m

Trains ran very smoothly, btw, and I lucked out with timing, hardly
having to wait for them at all. Was I just fortunate? Or have things
improved? I notice the Oyster no longer works to save you money.
It's now L1.80 per journey (in zone 1&2 for me)each and every time.
Last year I seem to recall you wouldn't go over a certain amount of
money on a given day within your zones.
Yes, there's usually a pretty frequent service on all the central
London lines. It's sparser on the more distant branches (eg, every
ten minutes or so).

Oyster definitely saves you money. Not only are Oyster fares much
lower than cash fares, but there is still day capping. However, the
rules are complex and the cap is now higher than before, as Oyster
is now valid on more NR routes. This means you're less likely to
benefit from it than in the past.


Thanks, that makes sense. I guess the peak fare capping was triggered
each day by us travelling after 4 pm. Well, who doesn't? :-) That
daily cap for us was £7.20.

No, the peak fare capping is triggered if you travel before 9:30 (or
such trips are left out of the off-peak cap).


Hmmmmmm. OK, I see. Travelling at rush hour in the evening I would pay
the peak oyster fare for that time. Still, take a couple of trips at
that time and you're up to the £7.20, anyway, even if you started your
Underground day after 9:29 am. Correct?

Mizter T wrote:
On May 21, 12:29 am, redcat wrote:
Hi! Just back from the UK. In London I remembered what someone mentioned
here -- that there's a little screen at the gates to the Underground
where you can see your Oyster balance as you're about to pass through.
Yes. And no. My first station had it. I was overjoyed (well...). After
that it was iffy. Some stations had screens, some had them but they
didn't work, and some didn't have them at all.

Newer style gates show the cost of the journey and balance info on the
large screen. Older style gates don't have this capability - however
next to the Oyster pad when exiting there is a little LED display
which shows this information, though the LED display is tiny and it's
pretty difficult to see it (and easy to overlook it even exists).

At Queensway one evening I hesitated while peering at the little screen
and then the gate wouldn't let me through. I compounded this sin by
touching the sensor with my Oyster again. I was still stuck, only now I
had about 100 tired commuters behind me saying to go see the station
master.

Really long story short, I got electro-charged 2 more fares by the time
I was liberated, but I had the money put back by the fare booth man up
the road at Bayswater. (Something told me to check my balance.) He
printed out a slip of paper with all my underground journeys!

It sounds as though you might have been hit by the out-of-station
interchange maximum journey time-out problem (sorry haven't the time
or energy to explain that one now, others here will know of what I
speak)


Sounds like this should be in an episode of Doctor Who.



The daily price caps are shown on this rather epic page of fare
tables:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14416.aspx

It's a good thing I'm one of those who enjoys time tables and such.



On the Tube, zone 1 journeys are UKP1.80 at any time, zone 1&2
journeys are UKP2.30 peak and UKP1.80 off-peak - note that the peak
times for PAYG fares include an evening peak on weekdays, though for
capping purposes only the morning peak counts. Confused?

No, I got it. I think what was making me resist was seeing just how high
these fares are! But nearly everything's expensive in London. Got great
theatre tix for less than I would have in nyc (and this show would never
come here. So, double joy.)

rc

"redcat" wrote in message
m
Mizter T wrote:
On May 21, 12:29 am, redcat wrote:


On the Tube, zone 1 journeys are UKP1.80 at any time, zone 1&2
journeys are UKP2.30 peak and UKP1.80 off-peak - note that the peak
times for PAYG fares include an evening peak on weekdays, though for
capping purposes only the morning peak counts. Confused?

No, I got it. I think what was making me resist was seeing just how
high these fares are! But nearly everything's expensive in London.

Just wait till the £ has fallen further, and London may start to look
better value...