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Old April 10th 06, 08:20 AM posted to uk.transport.london
MIG MIG is offline
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First recorded activity at LondonBanter: Jun 2004
Posts: 3,154
Default Another Oyster Query


Tim Roll-Pickering wrote:
asdf wrote:

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.


How good are these at a) handling the discounts; and b) taking credit/debit
cards for huge sums in one go?

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.


Yeah but one goes through the barriers so fast, especially in the peak
morning, that this often doesn't register with you. And of course someone
based at a National Rail station has a strong prospect of not having
barriers to go through when they return at the end of the day.



And the ticket office not being open at that time.

I can't be the only person who lives within walking distance of a
Ticket Stop which is in completely the opposite direction to the
nearest NR station, more than doubling the time it takes to get to the
station, if I remember to walk a different way that day. It may not be
the worst thing in history, but it is a significant reduction in
convenience.



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).


Can you get Railcard discounts on any tickets from tube stations then? The
information at them is utterly unclear.