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Oyster cards on buses
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. |
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