Oyster Card

Bennah · 16 Sep 2009 at 12:56

Can they only be purchased online?

Anyone used them? Are they worth it?

Thanks

[DOD]Asprilla · 16 Sep 2009 at 12:58

You can get them from any TfL ticket office.

They are well worth it. Discounted rates for tube and bus, and they self cap at the price of a daily travel card if you sepnd that much.

J.B · 16 Sep 2009 at 13:01

I purchased mine online and it came through the post.

Only had to go to London once to make the £3 deposit back in savings, well worth even if you are a seldom London visitor like myself.

MarkDavis · 16 Sep 2009 at 13:09

You'd be mad not to travel on the Tube and not use one - much cheaper than buying tickets.

randomshenans · 16 Sep 2009 at 13:10

deffo thumbs up from me, so much better than buying normally if you go there even a few times!

dekez · 16 Sep 2009 at 13:17

Like the others have said they are all good.

If you plan to use one regularly you can set up an online account and register the card, that way if you lose it you don't lose the money you paid for travel cards.

Also if you plan to use pay as you go regularly you can set up an auto-top-up system where it takes a set amount of money from you account when it runs low. I use this as it saves you from getting caught out on buses and having to queue to top it up.

But even for a trip to London it's worth getting one.

Dj_Jestar · 16 Sep 2009 at 13:20

I bought mine on-line, but can also buy in a tube station. They are good, and are cheaper than paper tickets, but at times are frustrating. If you are adding money to/topping up online you have to nominate which station you can "pick-up" from.. rather than it just being on your card because it's an electronic RFID system and IS BLOODY WELL DONE ONLINE /rant. Just for an example.

Mind you, I'm biased as I've seen the atrocity that is the Oyster card system from behind the scenes. It is appallingly put together.

NeoNemesis · 16 Sep 2009 at 13:57

Dj_Jestar said:
I bought mine on-line, but can also buy in a tube station. They are good, and are cheaper than paper tickets, but at times are frustrating. If you are adding money to/topping up online you have to nominate which station you can "pick-up" from.. rather than it just being on your card because it's an electronic RFID system and IS BLOODY WELL DONE ONLINE /rant. Just for an example.

Don't you have to 'pick up' from a station because the balance is actually stored in memory on the card - not in a central database?

If the money was stored in a central database then you would be able ot link a new card ot the account in the event it gets lost / stolen?

[DOD]Asprilla · 16 Sep 2009 at 14:01

I think he means that you have to pick up from a specific station, not from any station, that's the issue.

Bennah · 16 Sep 2009 at 15:02

Thanks for the info guys.

So you pretty much just put money on the card instead of having to fork out for individual fairs everytime you get on the tube or bus etc?

mjt · 16 Sep 2009 at 15:06

Bennah said:
Thanks for the info guys.

So you pretty much just put money on the card instead of having to fork out for individual fairs everytime you get on the tube or bus etc?

fares*

and yes. just pre-load it, and then tap in (and out) where ever you go.

Dj_Jestar · 16 Sep 2009 at 15:08

NeoNemesis said:
Don't you have to 'pick up' from a station because the balance is actually stored in memory on the card - not in a central database?

If the money was stored in a central database then you would be able ot link a new card ot the account in the event it gets lost / stolen?

It's stored on a central DB, as well as the card (is on card for buses). Superfluous functionality ahoy!

And yeah, I meant how you have to go to a certain station (of your designation) to 'collect' your top-up/travel-card, instead of it just being on your card regardless of where you next use it.

darubio · 16 Sep 2009 at 15:09

what about the octopus cards?

bigredshark · 16 Sep 2009 at 15:11

Dj_Jestar said:
It's stored on a central DB, as well as the card (is on card for buses). Superfluous functionality ahoy!

And yeah, I meant how you have to go to a certain station (of your designation) to 'collect' your top-up/travel-card, instead of it just being on your card regardless of where you next use it.

It's actually asynchronous as I understand, the card is the only authoritative source but the data is stored in a back end database which gets updated a bit afterwards. I believe it's done that way so that the readers on buses don't have to maintain a constant connection to the central system...

Dj_Jestar · 16 Sep 2009 at 15:12

Other way round.

It's only on cards for buses (and in the event of station gates losing connection). The DB is the 'primary' source.

misterPK · 16 Sep 2009 at 16:05

I was talking to someone the other day about oyster cards and removing the chips inside them and putting them in something else. They said they had seen someone put the chip in the end of a fairy wand and prance through the turnstiles.

PK!

Scam · 16 Sep 2009 at 16:14

misterPK said:
I was talking to someone the other day about oyster cards and removing the chips inside them and putting them in something else. They said they had seen someone put the chip in the end of a fairy wand and prance through the turnstiles.

You see a lot of women just dump their handbags onto the reader on a morning, it looks quite odd until you realise what they're doing. There's a few jackets designed with a pouch down the bottom of the arm for your card, too.

Oyster cards are good, but i dont like the way you are essentially forced to use one by the exorbitant cash prices. I really feel sorry for any tourists that come to London. Who would pay £4 for a single from zone 1 to 1? It's daylight robbery :confused:

I have mine to auto topup from my credit card which is good. It seems to cost me £100-120pcm at the moment (zone 1-3) which is still expensive for a 7 mile commute. I might start getting the monthly ticket.

Dj_Jestar · 16 Sep 2009 at 16:20

1-3 travel cards are about £110pcm. Oddly, it's cheaper to buy a travel card on your oyster card in a station than it is online. By about £10 for the 1-3.

Scam · 16 Sep 2009 at 16:40

Dj_Jestar said:
1-3 travel cards are about £110pcm. Oddly, it's cheaper to buy a travel card on your oyster card in a station than it is online. By about £10 for the 1-3.

I just checked and it says £116 on the website. How much is it in a station then? I might ask on my way home tonight. If that's true it's really bizarre :confused:

Also, what happens if you have say a zone 1-3 travel card and travel out to zone 4 and back? Do you get charged for the whole journey (1-4) as two singles, or does it use your travel card to get you from 1-3, then add the singles from 3-4 onto it? :confused:

Dj_Jestar · 16 Sep 2009 at 16:44

I'm not sure about that. Never had cash and a travel card on mine.

I was surprised about the online vs in station costs as well. I used to trust that online was cheaper, so did that for a few months, but after forgetting to update it had to buy in station, and it was £10 cheaper. Have always done it since.