On 3 Jan, 03:17, Mudchute wrote:
I have a Zone 1 and 2 Travelcard on my Oyster and wanted to travel
from Charing Cross to Catford Bridge this Saturday evening and was
hoping to be able to put an Oyster Extension Permit on at one of the
ticket machines at Charing Cross but this option wasn't available. I
did manage to top up my PAYG balance though. I decided then to go to
the ticket office and (surprise, surprise) nobody in the ticket office
knew what an Oyster Extension Permit was. I told them my situation and
one of them said I could just touch in and touch out at the other end
while someone else told me it would be cheaper if I bought a paper
ticket extension. The TfL website still mentions OEPs so it amazes me
that at a big mainline station like Charing Cross the staff haven't
been trained properly for the launch. Has anyone had similar issues on
other routes?

In the meantime - I reckon the advice was sound - you will be charged
correctly if you simply touch in and out. (No penalty fare would be
enforceable even if they dared to issue).
If you have an annual Z1-2, the advice re paper extension would also
be sound (I think?). You would benefit from the Gold Card discount
applied to the paper ticket(s) that don't apply to your Oyster
extension fare.