Graham J wrote:

(snip)

When you validate your Oyster on entry to that station your PAYG balance
will be topped up by an amount you nominate when you order auto top-up (you
have to buy some 'manual' top-up at the same time as ordering auto top-up
for some reason) and your Oyster card will be programmed with the auto
top-up instruction. From then on auto top-up will work for you.

You have to buy some 'manual' top-up when you sign up for auto top-up
as TfL needs to ensure that the credit/debit card details you've given
them are legit - the best way to do this is to put through an initial
transaction on your nominated card, which then establishes it as
trustworthy (to an extent at least).

(p.s. I like the phrase "'manual' top-up", as opposed to auto top-up,
I'll use it in the future!).


The gotcha is, of course, that if you aren't intending to make a tube, DLR
or tram journey using Oyster then you can't get the auto top-up on your
existing card. I had this problem but because I was using the tube now and
again, only with a paper travelcard, I was able to make a short journey
using the Oyster card and get it programmed (and because there was a free
£10 top-up promotion at the time it didn't actually cost me anything).
Another option I know quite a few people use is to touch in at their
nominated station so the card gets programmed and then go straight to the
ticket office and get the journey cancelled.

This is a bit of a messy 'workaround' in my mind, and it does presume
that the ticket office staff will both understand and be compliant in
your endeavour. I'd advise just making an Underground journey instead -
perhaps take a different route home from work/wherever that takes in a
Tube journey. After all a two zone Tube journey *outside of zone 1*
costs £1 at any time. One could argue that it's a small cost for
having the convenience of auto top-up.


I seem to remember that TfL belatedly realised this is a bit of a stopper
and that you can now order Oyster cards online with the auto top-up already
enabled. So it might be easiest to just get a new one. Unless of course I
was just dreaming that bit.

You're not dreaming it - you can now buy an Oyster online with auto
top-up already configured from the word go.