On Sun, 21 Dec 2003 23:58:09 +0000, Kat
wrote:

Just out of interest, I'd like to know if anyone reading this group has
or is planning to get a purely Pre Pay oyster. From what I've gathered
(and I realise it's early days) there hasn't been that much demand for
them so far.
Is lure of 2003 single fare prices greater than the disadvantage of
paying a £3.00 deposit and locking an amount of cash away on an Oyster
card?

I bought a pure Pre Pay last Monday.

For me, the biggest lure was the convenience of never again having to
fiddle about buying a ticket from a machine (long queues, not having
change, machines not working, late nights with unsavourys lurking near
by, etc etc).

The 2003 fares were also an incentive to get one, especially
eventually being able to get the 'bus saver' discount, without the
little books!

I kind of viewed the £3 deposit as more of a one off charge. I think
the fact that it is refundable is probably more important to tourists
than Londoners.

I have used the equivalent Octopus system in Hong Kong though, and
fell in love with it there, so I was relatively easy to convince to
convert!