oyster cards in Euston ?

[stephen owen]

Where can i buy Oyster cards in Euston, and can i pay by cash ?

 

[Chriso]

TFL visitor centre on main concourse or larger ticket machines in the tube station

 

[Chriso]

And yes you can pay cash

 

[stephen owen]

And yes you can pay cash

thank you

 

[LMS 4F]

I don't have an Oyster Card so on a trip to Heathrow last week I used my Debit card, checking in and out. From the Cross to Terminal 3 I was charged £3.10. Would it have been less with an Oyster Card? If it isn't what is the point of having an Oyster Card?

 

[100andthirty]

The visitor centre has closed, but in addition to being able to buy an Oyster card in the tube station you might be able to do so at the sweet shop in the passage way from the main station to the Doric Arch pub

 

[ainsworth74]

I don't have an Oyster Card so on a trip to Heathrow last week I used my Debit card, checking in and out. From the Cross to Terminal 3 I was charged £3.10. Would it have been less with an Oyster Card? If it isn't what is the point of having an Oyster Card?

Oyster would have also been £3.10. The only reason to use Oyster these days is for people who have railcards to get their railcard discount on Pay as You Go fares or for those who want a Travelcard season ticket that's for longer than a week (contactless has a weekly cap so you won't pay more than the weekly season ticket for the zones you use). If you're only doing the odd journey or don't have a railcard then there isn't really an advantage to having an Oyster vs using contactless.

 

[Tetchytyke]

If it isn't what is the point of having an Oyster Card?

Unless you're entitled to a railcard discount, or you buy monthly/annual Travelcards, there isn't one.

 

[jfollows]

If it isn't what is the point of having an Oyster Card?

Oyster requires you to lend TFl money before you travel, debit card + contactless means you pay at the time of use, credit card + contactless means you don't pay until your card statement.
So, no, little point if you're an occasional traveller who doesn't live in London, like me. I use contactless with a credit card all the (occasional) time.

 

[Dent]

The only reason to use Oyster these days is for people who have railcards to get their railcard discount on Pay as You Go fares or for those who want a Travelcard season ticket that's for longer than a week (contactless has a weekly cap so you won't pay more than the weekly season ticket for the zones you use). If you're only doing the odd journey or don't have a railcard then there isn't really an advantage to having an Oyster vs using contactless.

Unless you're entitled to a railcard discount, or you buy monthly/annual Travelcards, there isn't one.

That's not strictly true. The weekly cap applies Monday to Sunday, whereas a 7 day travelcard can start on any day, so Oyster is still necessary for anyone needing a 7 day travelcard starting on a day other than a Monday. There are also other advantages of a travelcard over the cap, such as being able to combine a travelcard with other tickets.

 

[jfollows]

I know it's off topic, but I found it interesting that, reported in July 2018,

• There are 76 million active Oyster cards
• 73% of these, 53 million, have not been used for a year or more
• The credit balances on the total 76 million cards amounts to some £321 million
• The advent of contactless cards has significantly increased the number of "dormant" Oyster cards
• The average balance on these "dormant" cards is £2.86 which probably explains why most people don't bother trying to get their money refunded
• So some £151 million held in credit on Oyster cards which haven't been used for a year or more, and quite probably never will be used again

https://theconversation.com/unused-...-time-may-be-running-out-to-get-it-back-99558

(I'll be very happy to have my figures corrected from a more authoritative source than the article and my interpolation of what it doesn't quite say)

 

[LMS 4F]

I'm glad being a Yorkshire dweller that I got the cheapest fare I could, thanks for all the info.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I know it's off topic, but I found it interesting that, reported in July 2018,

• There are 76 million active Oyster cards
• 73% of these, 53 million, have not been used for a year or more
• The deposit and credit balances on the total 76 million cards amounts to some £321 million
• The advent of contactless cards has significantly increased the number of "dormant" Oyster cards
• The average balance on these "dormant" cards is £2.86 which probably explains why most people don't bother trying to get their money refunded

https://theconversation.com/unused-...-time-may-be-running-out-to-get-it-back-99558

TfL will probably regret not having put an expiry on cards after which the money would not be refunded - what they've done is created themselves an unlimited duration liability...oops!

 

[jfollows]

Oh, and I don't think the figures I quoted can include the £5 deposit per card either, and if not this represents a further £265 million held by TFl on "dormant" cards and £380 million held across all cards!

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Oh, and I don't think the figures I quoted can include the £5 deposit per card either, and if not this represents a further £265 million held by TFl on "dormant" cards and £380 million held across all cards!

Not quite that much. The deposit used to be £3 per card. And it's a fair bet that dormant cards will mainly be older ones, and so will have a high proportion of £3-deposit ones. I myself have several such cards, which I guess I really should return to get the deposit back at some point.

By the way, talking of reasons to use Oyster: One reason I still mainly use Oyster rather than contactless is that I find it easier to keep the card in its own Oyster holder - much more convenient to touch in and touch out with that than it would be with a wallet full of several cards. Plus I can keep any rail tickets I happen to be using with it. If I went to contactless, I'd have to put one of my debit cards in the Oyster holder instead - and since the Oyster holder is much easier to lose than my (considerably larger) wallet, I don't really want to take that risk with a debit card.

 

[Joe Paxton]

I don't have an Oyster Card so on a trip to Heathrow last week I used my Debit card, checking in and out. From the Cross to Terminal 3 I was charged £3.10. Would it have been less with an Oyster Card? If it isn't what is the point of having an Oyster Card?

Unless you're entitled to a railcard discount, or you buy monthly/annual Travelcards, there isn't one.

Not everyone has a contactless payment card or device of course.

Also I think some organisations prefer reimbursing travel expenses made on Oyster, rather than travel done using people's personal debit/credit cards.

Edit ... another very good reason for using Oyster is that many visitors from overseas have payment cards that will charge them currency conversion fees for each transaction. Using contactless in London, all the day's travel is collated and charged for in one lump sum at the end of the day, but this could still potentially result in unfavourable forex fees and charges for each day that contactless was used for travel. Using an Oyster card avoids this.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Also I think some organisations prefer reimbursing travel expenses made on Oyster, rather than travel done using people's personal debit/credit cards.

That is true. It also allows organisations to keep their own topped up Oyster cards if they wish for staff travel - so then, no need to reimburse anyone - and with the bonus that the firm gets access to all the logs of what journeys the Oyster cards were used for!

 

[Joe Paxton]

Not quite that much. The deposit used to be £3 per card. And it's a fair bet that dormant cards will mainly be older ones, and so will have a high proportion of £3-deposit ones. I myself have several such cards, which I guess I really should return to get the deposit back at some point.

Indeed - and there were various promotional activities in the early days of Oyster where cards were given out for free.

Also in the early years, when buying a period Travelcard or Bus Pass (even just a weekly) on Oyster, if you needed an Oyster card it would be thrown in for 'free' (i.e. nil deposit). I ended up with quite a few cards because of that, and whilst I gave several away to those in need of one I'm pretty sure I still have more than I could have any need for (just not quite sure where though!).

 

[AlbertBeale]

One advantage of an Oyster - providing you pay in cash and don't register it - is that you don't have your movements tracked.

Much of the convenience of electronic ways of doing things is actually being paid for - in a general loss of privacy and in giving to large corporations a vast amount of data about us which they profit from.

Which is why some of us never touch Facebook, Google, etc.

 

[Tetchytyke]

One advantage of an Oyster - providing you pay in cash and don't register it - is that you don't have your movements tracked.

The card can be tracked- the touches in and out are recorded- and if The Authorities wanted to know who was using it they'd just have to look at CCTV. If you want privacy you best move to Taransay.

 

[PeterC]

SNIP
By the way, talking of reasons to use Oyster: One reason I still mainly use Oyster rather than contactless is that I find it easier to keep the card in its own Oyster holder - much more convenient to touch in and touch out with that than it would be with a wallet full of several cards. Plus I can keep any rail tickets I happen to be using with it. If I went to contactless, I'd have to put one of my debit cards in the Oyster holder instead - and since the Oyster holder is much easier to lose than my (considerably larger) wallet, I don't really want to take that risk with a debit card.

Same here, I really don't want to be waving my wallet around to get out one of my several contactless cards somewhere like the Camden Town gateline. The Oyster card sits in a holder in an accessible outside pocket, the wallet with may credit and debit cards in a buttoned up inside pocket.

 

[AlbertBeale]

The card can be tracked- the touches in and out are recorded- and if The Authorities wanted to know who was using it they'd just have to look at CCTV. If you want privacy you best move to Taransay.

Yes, of course a given card is tracked, but the card isn't linked to me. And of course there's CCTV and so on, which could be used to try to link the card number to a mugshot if that were relevant (CCTV is normally used if there's a crime at the gateline). But there's not a routine record of my movements kept; the police have access to traceable users' records (as a condition of having a registered Oyster Card), without their needing a warrant. The less information is freely given to large organisations - corporate or state - for them to amass and correlate, the safer we all are. (In my view.)

 

[Hadders]

Also I think some organisations prefer reimbursing travel expenses made on Oyster, rather than travel done using people's personal debit/credit cards.

The process for reimbursement is identical whether you use Oyster or contactless, you simply submit a journey history with your expenses claim. With contactless you don't even need to register to get your journey history.

 

[Joe Paxton]

The process for reimbursement is identical whether you use Oyster or contactless, you simply submit a journey history with your expenses claim. With contactless you don't even need to register to get your journey history.

I'm well aware of that. However.I think some organisations just prefer as clear a deliniation as possible when it comes to expenses.

 

[jfollows]

By the way, talking of reasons to use Oyster: One reason I still mainly use Oyster rather than contactless is that I find it easier to keep the card in its own Oyster holder

I totally agree with your problem - my solution is to use an Apple Watch with my contactless card details

 

[Puffing Devil]

The process for reimbursement is identical whether you use Oyster or contactless, you simply submit a journey history with your expenses claim. With contactless you don't even need to register to get your journey history.

My Corporate Amex passes each line (journey) to the expense claims system and needs to be itemized, a recurring £50 top-up on my Oyster makes life a lot easier.

 

[paddington]

I get marginally more reward points by topping up my oyster in amounts ending in 50p (only possible at NR machines) than paying odd amounts for a day's travel. I also have a railcard so that's the main reason I continue to use Oyster though.

 

[MikeWh]

With contactless you don't even need to register to get your journey history.

You don't, but it's a lot more hassle. Far easier to register on the TfL site and then print the history off yourself.

 

[Hadders]

You don't, but it's a lot more hassle. Far easier to register on the TfL site and then print the history off yourself.

Absolutely agreed. A colleague of mine who rarely visits London used contactless for an underground journey that was work related. He didn't think he'd be able to put on an expenses claim until I sent him the link to the TfL website. Little point in him registering an account, he's unlikely to need a journey history again for at least a year.

 

[bhb]

Yes, the Sunday start for weekly capping is very inflexible. Also, if you use contactless ‘too much’, you have to use your PIN every so often. No problem in Tesco, but, if it happens at an underground station, you get a declined transaction, no help from the staff, and no weekly cap. So, I use Oyster for all journeys.

That's not strictly true. The weekly cap applies Monday to Sunday, whereas a 7 day travelcard can start on any day, so Oyster is still necessary for anyone needing a 7 day travelcard starting on a day other than a Monday. There are also other advantages of a travelcard over the cap, such as being able to combine a travelcard with other tickets.