Oyster extension fare/negative balance

[-Liam-]

I made a journey from Heathrow T1/2/3 to a zone 3 station on the tube earlier today. I have a zones 1-3 travel card, so I was rightly charged a peak extension fare of £2.40 to cover the portion of the journey between zone 6 and zone 4.

I was, however, aware that I only had an Oyster balance of £2.20, so I went to a machine at Heathrow and pressed the extension fare button (or whatever it's called) and entered my destination station. It told me that I had sufficient balance to make the journey, when this wasn't the case. I'm therefore wondering firstly why it said that I had sufficient balance to make the journey when I obviously didn't, and also whether I would have been liable for a penalty fare if there was a ticket inspection in zone 4 or 3 and I hadn't topped up.

 

[Romilly]

I had always understood that the Oyster system checks to see whether you have the minimum fare required for a journey from your starting station, which at peak times at Heathrow T1-3 would be £1.70 for a single to Hounslow West (Zone 5). If you in fact take a more expensive journey, you can end up with a negative balance on your Oyster card after you have touched out at the end of the journey. From a ticket inspection point of view, what matters (if you are outside the Zones covered by any travelcard held on your Oyster Card) is simply that you touched in at the start of your current journey.

 

[Feathers44]

Agreed. I’ve never heard of the concept of penalty fares under Oyster since it’s self correcting in as far as you won’t get another journey out of a card without topping up to pay off the negative balance.

It’s also part of the reason why there’s a deposit on the cards. It reduces the temptation to simply run up a debt and then throw the card away.

 

[MikeWh]

... so I went to a machine at Heathrow and pressed the extension fare button (or whatever it's called) and entered my destination station. It told me that I had sufficient balance to make the journey, when this wasn't the case. I'm therefore wondering firstly why it said that I had sufficient balance to make the journey when I obviously didn't

I might be wrong here but I thought that the extension fare button was used when within your zones. You were enquiring the wrong way round. I've never tried this before, so I might be wrong, but the fact that your destination was within your zones might explain why it said you had enough.

and also whether I would have been liable for a penalty fare if there was a ticket inspection in zone 4 or 3 and I hadn't topped up.

You would have been fine if checked on the train. Technically you could have been liable for a penalty fare at your destination, but TfL staff are pretty much guaranteed to just let you touch out. I am aware of issues at National Rail stations in similar circumstances.

I had always understood that the Oyster system checks to see whether you have the minimum fare required for a journey from your starting station, which at peak times at Heathrow T1-3 would be £1.70 for a single to Hounslow West (Zone 5). If you in fact take a more expensive journey, you can end up with a negative balance on your Oyster card after you have touched out at the end of the journey. From a ticket inspection point of view, what matters (if you are outside the Zones covered by any travelcard held on your Oyster Card) is simply that you touched in at the start of your current journey.

Correct in almost every respect. The cheapest fare from any Heathrow station is £0.00 as that is what would be charged if just travelling between terminals.

Agreed. I’ve never heard of the concept of penalty fares under Oyster since it’s self correcting in as far as you won’t get another journey out of a card without topping up to pay off the negative balance.

It’s also part of the reason why there’s a deposit on the cards. It reduces the temptation to simply run up a debt and then throw the card away.

Correct on the deposit and the self correction. Sadly the Conditions of Travel for Oyster do state that you must have the correct balance before starting your journey and NR RPIs have been known to enforce this.