London Banter - View Single Post

Bob Wood · May 2nd 06, 09:52 AM posted to uk.transport.london

wrote:

Scenario: a friend of mine from Dublin was coming across to do the
London Marathon and asked me what ticket he should get. He was
arriving at Heathrow, then had to go across London to Custom House to
pick up his marathon stuff. He then had to come back to Leicester
Square to meet me for dinner, then we were heading back to New Cross
afterwards. All tube or DLR journeys apart from the very last one,
which was on National Rail.

Mindful of the fact that Oyster prepay doesn't work on NR, I told him
to get a one day travelcard for Zones 1-6 at Heathrow. As you can
see, I didn't realise that you can't put one day travelcards onto
Oyster!

Result: my friend's journey goes smoothly until we get to Charing
Cross to catch the New Cross train. He's not allowed through the
barrier and the guards just keep yelling "Prepay is not valid on
National Rail", without explaining the one day travelcard issue (we
were protesting that he had a travelcard).

I now understand why it didn't work, but have some questions:

1. What was my friend sold at Heathrow when he asked for a Zone 1-6
one day travelcard to be put onto his Oyster card?

It's impossible to know what he was sold without knowing what he paid.
Are you saying that whatever he bought was pit onto the Oystercard? He
could take the Oystercard to an LT ticket office and ask what was put
on. He could take it a ticket machine and lokk for himself. He could
look at the record of what has been put on his card on the Oyster
website.

2. Would he have been able to buy a paper ticket at Heathrow for the
same price, thus being able to use National Rail on a one day
travelcard?

A paper ticket is the only way to get a One-Day TravelCard. It can be
bought at Heathrow.

--
Bob