On 9 Jun, 20:59, asdf wrote:
On Sat, 9 Jun 2007 18:44:47 +0100, ocoro02 wrote:
Got some Oyster Travelcard questions.
I need to travel from Twickenham to Wimbledon on South West Trains on a
regular basis.
It looks like I need to buy a zone 5 to a zone 3 travelcard.

You will need a Zones 3-6 Travelcard, if you wish to travel on the
through train service. A 3-5 will only do if you go via Putney and
East Putney.

When I 'renew' or 'recharge' the travelcard for the first time - is
this done by simply pinging your Oyster card on a reader at the
designated pick-up station,

Yes.

Will this work on any reader at the designated station?

I think so, apart from the ones on the ticket machines (if any).

I had to choose Wimbledon as the pick-up station because Twickenham
doesn't provide renew/recharge. I guess I have to pay for the very
first journey on the first day (Twickenham - Wimbledon)?

Yes.

Seems a bit
unfair as I'll be paying for the same journey twice (I've paid for the
travelcard for that day already).

You could cancel the transaction, and do one of the following:

- have the Travelcard season on Oyster delivered to your home
- buy your Travelcard season on Oyster from an Oyster Ticket Stop
(newsagent) in Twickenham (see TfL website for locations)
- buy a paper Travelcard season from the ticket office at Twickenham.

Really depends what route you are going to use.
Zones 3-6 if you take the direct train from Twickenham to Wimbledon.
This isn't a very frequent route and no great saving of time.
But if a train is on the platform then I guess you'r rather take it.

Zones 2-5 you'll take the more frequent trains to Clapham Junction and
then change
to the frequent trains to Wimbledon. Using that route all the time
means you wont risk being labelled a fare dodger if caught in zone 6.

Depending on what you do with your time, having a card with zone 2
will probably be more helpful when you travel into London for leisure.
As you just need to pay the zone 2 to zone 1 extension. Not sure if
having zone 6 is a benefit to you.
Remember you can use the buses in any zone with either of these season
tickets.

As for buying the Oyster. You can buy seasons at a newsagents.
Buying online and nominating a station is a right pain if you don't
live near a station with Oyster. And of course you are stuck if you
don't have a local newsagents nearby or for instance it is not open.