Tubes

[CAM]

I'm not a fan of Oyster, I prefer paper tickets. I only use my Oyster card if it is the only fare available. Don't use it unless you are familiar with how it works, it isn't actually as simple as touch in and out in my experience.

 

Also note if you use a 16-25 railcard, get your tickets and travelcards from the national rail station. When I went to buy a ticket to get home one weekend, I found DLR and Tube stops will not accept them and you pay full whack.

[somabc]

Hi Dom

If you take the Victoria Line to Euston which is one stop you can then get the Northern line Direct to Waterloo, which is 7 stops.

 

Make sure that you take the right branch of the Northern Line as it splits at Euston.

 

Have a pleasant and safe journey

 

BarneyrR

 

I know this is too late but any excuse to talk about the tube.

 

Kings Cross -> Bank (Northern Line) 4 Stops

 

Bank -> Waterloo (Waterloo & City Line) 1 Stops

 

Total 5 Stops!

[creese]

Mornington Crescent!!!

[sted]

I'm not a fan of Oyster, I prefer paper tickets. I only use my Oyster card if it is the only fare available. Don't use it unless you are familiar with how it works, it isn't actually as simple as touch in and out in my experience.

 

Also note if you use a 16-25 railcard, get your tickets and travelcards from the national rail station. When I went to buy a ticket to get home one weekend, I found DLR and Tube stops will not accept them and you pay full whack.

 

cant say mines ever given me any issues and apart from topping up all ive done is touch in and out.

[SpuffMonkey]

Mornington Crescent!!!

 

Beat me to it!

[creese]

Beat me to it!

 

RIP Humph.

[john]

I'm not a fan of Oyster, I prefer paper tickets. I only use my Oyster card if it is the only fare available. Don't use it unless you are familiar with how it works, it isn't actually as simple as touch in and out in my experience.

 

Also note if you use a 16-25 railcard, get your tickets and travelcards from the national rail station. When I went to buy a ticket to get home one weekend, I found DLR and Tube stops will not accept them and you pay full whack.

I've had no issues and I go to London about half a dozen times a year, just top up and go. My railcard is attached to it as well so it discounts the travelcards on it as well which is great and it sorts itself out and I can check whats occuring online and its been no issues for the past 3 years or so that I have had it.

[CAM]

I've had no issues and I go to London about half a dozen times a year, just top up and go. My railcard is attached to it as well so it discounts the travelcards on it as well which is great and it sorts itself out and I can check whats occuring online and its been no issues for the past 3 years or so that I have had it.

 

Once travelled through London with a rather large suitcase. Touched in at the rail station, went through London Bridge and the staff member on the gate had it wide open and his mates standing around the reader. Eventually got to the reader, touched out, overcharged as the gate was open. Then entered the tube station, staff member smiles, opens the gate for me. On my way through, touched in. Touched out at the other end, overcharged again for the gate being open at the start (bear in mind I have now travelled on the Tube with an invalid card and no warnings!)

 

On realising that there were problems the station staff told me to ring the Oyster Hotline. I rang them and they said speak to the station manager after half an hour on hold. Cue me eventually getting a refund off of the station manager. Then he says "Because you have penalties on that card, it won't cap out at travelcard costs." "Uhh so the refund you just gave me will be sunk straight back into your coffers?" "Err yeah."

 

I bought a paper ticket to get home and used them ever since with the exception of departing from one station that has an Oyster reader and no ticket machine. I've since had situations such as cancelled trains, changes and waits that would far exceed the PAYG timelimit where I was glad I wasn't using it. Risk a fine or flash a ticket you know is valid, easy choice.

[somabc]

If you touch in before you go through the barrier and touch out at the exit barrier it is very straightforward. However when there are no barriers I get very confused. Eg. Tube to Wimbledon then onto a Tram (all oyster). Touch in at start of journey but then do I touch the oyster reader at wimbledon or leave it and just get on the tram inside the station. Then which platform do I touch in/out of?

[sted]

If you touch in before you go through the barrier and touch out at the exit barrier it is very straightforward. However when there are no barriers I get very confused. Eg. Tube to Wimbledon then onto a Tram (all oyster). Touch in at start of journey but then do I touch the oyster reader at wimbledon or leave it and just get on the tram inside the station. Then which platform do I touch in/out of?

 

as far as i remember touch out on the last leg of the journey (assuming you havnt left tfl premises)so when i did highbury to wherever the motorshow was a few years back i touched in at higbury went to king cross then some station to go on dlr and touched out at the last station diddnt touch card anywhere else

[CAM]

But then you get stations like West Brompton where you have to spot the pink readers to change from Overground to Undeground and vice versa. And we can't forget Extension Permits and stations with no readers!

 

That brings me to another perk of travelcards that few people know. Take your Z1-6 Travelcard, walk up to a ticket office and ask for a Boundary Extension to your destination outside of the TravelCard zones. Then you don't pay the journey through Z1-6 twice, only for the journey from the edge of the zone to your destination. Very few people I have spoken to know this.

[srochford]

I'd guess very few people know it because very few people need to know it. I don't even understand it (if you've got a 1-6 travelcard then surely you only pay once however many times you go through those zones ???)

 

The pink readers are also only relevant for people who regularly use the overground and don't go via central London. If you do it regularly then you'll work out what they're for; if you don't then just ignore them - Oyster readers are yellow for about 99.99% (made up random stat) of users :-)

[CAM]

OK, you have a Zone 1-6 TravelCard. You travel into London from Zone 6 to Zone 1 and have a good night out. You miss the last train home to your Zone 6 station, time for the backup plan. The plan B station is just outside the TravelCard zone though so your ticket doesn't cover it. Two (legal) options:

 

1) Buy a single fare ticket from your current location in Central London to your station on the outskirts. This will charge you for travelling through zones 1-6 and onward to the outlying station. Let's put the cost at about £7 as an example.

 

You have already paid to travel through Zones 1-6 with your TravelCard though, what a ripoff! That's where the Boundary Extension Tickets come in.

 

2) Pop into the ticket office (queues are short at about midnight) and ask for a boundary extension. Present the Z1-6 TravelCard and the clerk will give you a ticket saying Boundary Z6 to . He will then charge you a whopping... £1.50 or something. Depends on where you go. your TravelCard has now been extended with this extra paper ticket to take you home and you haven't been charged to cover the distance already covered by your TravelCard. They are not available at ticket machines.

 

Let's just say I've had to use this a few times since my line closes early. Normally to lower the extortionate cab fares home so I travel from a nearby town with trains still running instead of Central London.