Kat wrote:
In message , Paul
writes
On Sun, 21 Dec 2003 01:09:08 GMT, (Neil
Williams) wrote:
Yes. All Oyster customers are required to enter a photocard number
when buying online. If you would like to purchase further tickets on
Oyster, such as 7-Day or Monthly you can do so right away without the
need to get another photocard.
This strikes me as rather odd when I'm sure I recall earlier
promotional material for Pre-Pay stating that it was (unlike proper
seasons) transferable.
I'd imagine having all Oystercards linked to a photocard doesn't
prevent it from being transferable when used for pre-pay, if you are
only required to produce a photocard when using the card as a season
ticket.
However, I think one area where the 'transferable' option could cause
huge confusion is the situation where an Oystercard contains both a
season ticket, AND some pre-pay credit.
If you then lend (transfer) your Oystercard to someone, how do they
insure that their ticket is taken from the Pre-pay balance and not
just authorised as part of the owners season ticket (which could
result in a prosecution!)?
If the Oyster card contains a season ticket as well as Pre Pay, then it
is no longer transferable.
But, eventually, you will be able to buy a magnetic ticket for another
person using the Pre Pay element of your Oyster card.
Maybe they should have just issued 2 separate types of Oystercard,
pre-pay and season ticket.
AFAICS, there is nothing to stop you from buying another Oyster card for
Pre Pay only. Of course, then you'd have to pay the £3.00 deposit too
and remember which was which.
Yes - in fact I was thiking that having say a blue one for seasons and a
green one for prepay (or whatever) would have been a good idea just for
all these reasons.
But I picked up a leaflet at Walthamstow Central last night which gave a
scenario where one multi-card would be better.
The leaflet contained two bits of info:
(1) Ticket Extensions
If you have an Oyster season, and are travelling to an underground or
DLR station outside the zone covered by your ticket, the additional fare
(Ticket Extension) will be automatically calculated and deducted from
any Pre-Pay balance you may have.
(2) New anti-fraud feature
If you have an Oyster season and it is used outside the zones for which
the ticket is valid, it will be debited with the cost of any extra
travel made. Customers will be unable to enter any tube station until
the negative balance has been cleared.
(The suggestion is that if you keep a few quid on pre-pay, it will
enable (1) automatically, but without Pre-Pay on the card too, you will
get (2).
If the season and pre-pay were on different cards, then the above system
(which I think sounds good) couldn't work, I don't think.
dave