Mizter T wrote:
Something that can help one out of a 'not enough money on my Oyster' fix
is the new 'one more journey' feature of Oyster (introduced shortly
before buses went cashless) - basically you can make one more journey
even if you don't have enough money on your Oyster (so currently £1.45),
you just need a positive balance or a zero balance:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/modes/buses/cash-free-buses#on-this-page-1

That is useful. Do Bad Things happen if I don't clear my negative balance
for 6 months (my next trip to London, for instance)?

Coming back to the earlier point of this thread, I agree with you that
auto-topup means one can neatly sidestep all such top-up worries. The
only point to make is that it's not for everyone - for instance, some
people's finances are incredibly finely balanced, and £20 being taken
from their bank account at an inopportune moment can lead to all sorts
of problems.

I agree, and I don't actually do autotopup because it's too much hassle for
an occasional visitor, and I find it more useful to say to people 'oh,
you're visiting London? Borrow my Oystercard' without risking anything more
than the balance on my card.

Theo