On Mon, 10 Apr 2006 01:46:01 +0100, "Tim Roll-Pickering"
wrote:

MIG wrote:

Non-Oyster Underground fares have been put up punitively, but if you
live near a National Rail station you don't have the option of Oyster
for your travelcard. Walking to the nearest place that you can get an
Oyster travelcard on the morning when you need to renew is not exactly
practical, although it may be practical to have some prepay credit on
your Oyster to use when needed.

Aren't there the options to renew in advance/over the phone/online?

Yes, although with the latter two, you have to nominate a Tube/DLR
station to collect the renewal from when you touch in, so it's not
much use if you don't start your journey at one.

However, there are over 2200 Oyster Ticket Stops (newsagents etc which
sell Oyster cards) in the capital, where you can renew your ticket. I
expect most people live within walking distance of at least one.

And the barriers warn you when your ticket is about to expire, which
helps you to remember to renew it in advance so you don't end up
having to renew it on the morning.

(Mind you the latter two weren't available for the student discounted Oyster
when I last tried to renew that way. I got a rude email from TfL whining on
about fraud prevention when these methods perform identical security checks
to turning up to the ticket hall in person or using the card in practice.
Contrast with National Rail who generally have no problems selling railcard
discounted tickets online or at machines...)

Yes, it's annoying that you can't buy Railcard discounted Travelcards
from Tube ticket machines, even when the ticket office is closed
(meaning you have to either pay the full price, or travel without a
ticket and hope you get treated sympathetically at your destination).