"Nick Cooper 625" wrote in message
om...
Okay, so having to get my next monthly travelcard via Oyster is now a
foregone concslusion, but I want to clarify a couple of points that
the web-site is characteristically vague about.


[snip]

i had asked exactly the same two questions that you have just now when i got
mine a few months ago. ive found that, since you can renew them at machines
and over the counter, im using them exactly as i would paper tickets, which
is a shame really. i thought oysters would allow me to renew and use them on
a bus that same morning. now, im doing the same thing that i was with
paper - walking to the station the day i want to renew my ticket. internet
renewals are a bit silly if you dont know which station youll be travelling
from for sure, or if you dont know when your start date will be.

i wonder if bus conductors allow you to board their bus if its clear you
will renew at the station?

On Fri, 3 Oct 2003 14:38:26 +0100, spammy wrote:
i had asked exactly the same two questions that you have just now when i got
mine a few months ago. ive found that, since you can renew them at machines
and over the counter, im using them exactly as i would paper tickets, which
is a shame really. i thought oysters would allow me to renew and use them on
a bus that same morning. now, im doing the same thing that i was with
paper - walking to the station the day i want to renew my ticket. internet
renewals are a bit silly if you dont know which station youll be travelling
from for sure, or if you dont know when your start date will be.

Can't you renew your ticket at a pass agent somewhere? I belive
they have Oyster capable machines and the extra functionality is
about to be enabled.

David

"David Walters" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 3 Oct 2003 14:38:26 +0100, spammy wrote:
i had asked exactly the same two questions that you have just now when i
got
mine a few months ago. ive found that, since you can renew them at
machines
and over the counter, im using them exactly as i would paper tickets,
which
is a shame really. i thought oysters would allow me to renew and use
them on
a bus that same morning. now, im doing the same thing that i was with
paper - walking to the station the day i want to renew my ticket.
internet
renewals are a bit silly if you dont know which station youll be
travelling
from for sure, or if you dont know when your start date will be.

Can't you renew your ticket at a pass agent somewhere? I belive
they have Oyster capable machines and the extra functionality is
about to be enabled.

David


Apparently you can only "load" your tickets onto your card at the stations
in the dropdown menu on the sales site, ie. tube stations I believe. This is
a bitch for me since I live in Greenwich and therefore I have to either
travel without a ticket to a compatible station or buy a single ticket to
there and (as I was advised on the Oyster helpline) claim a refund back for
the single ticket.

I mean really, what a palaver, as if I can be arsed to claim back that
single ticket!!

This is a true case of users having to work round a system's inadequacies
rather than the system meeting needs in the first place.

In Rob wrote:

Apparently you can only "load" your tickets onto your card at the
stations in the dropdown menu on the sales site, ie. tube stations I
believe. This is a bitch for me since I live in Greenwich and
therefore I have to either travel without a ticket to a compatible
station or buy a single ticket to there and (as I was advised on the
Oyster helpline) claim a refund back for the single ticket.

I'm also looking at this problem, as I live in Lewisham. I'm on my first
Oyster monthly at the moment. If I buy my next monthly well in advance,
will it load onto my card at my selected station (probably London Bridge)
before my old season expires, or does it wait until the first day of my
new season?

I know the Oyster cards can store more than one ticket (up to three?),
so it would make sense to me to have both my current season and my next
one stored on there at the same time to get a smooth changeover. But
whether they're doing this or not I don't know.


Mark

On Thu, 09 Oct 2003 08:23:08 GMT, Mark Etherington wrote:
I'm also looking at this problem, as I live in Lewisham. I'm on my first
Oyster monthly at the moment. If I buy my next monthly well in advance,
will it load onto my card at my selected station (probably London Bridge)
before my old season expires,

Yes, you get a flashing green light at the barrier to show the new
ticket has loaded.

David