Do you need to take the most direct route with an Oyster Card?
I understand when calculating the cost of a train journey using an Oyster Card, the rate is based on the assumption that you have taken the most efficient route. As a train enthusiast however, who is content with travelling around London on all the different lines while never leaving the platform, I was wondering if taking really indirect routes is allowed. If I want to spend more time on the train, can I wait until it gets to the terminating station and then ride it back to my intended stop?
Best Answer
There are time limits. See
As long as you stay below the maximum time for your route, you are fine. If you exceed it you may get charged twice the max fare for that zone combination.
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How far does the Oyster card cover?
You can use your Oyster card on all Southern trains within the London Zones 1-6 \u2013 as well as on buses, Tubes, Trams, The Docklands Light Railway, London Overground, TfL Rail and most National Rail services in London.Does an Oyster card cover all zones?
You can use a Visitor Oyster card in any zones, but your fare will vary depending on which zones you travel in. The card automatically calculates the cheapest fare for the zones you use.What stations does an Oyster card cover?
Oyster cards You can pay as you go to travel on bus, Tube, tram, DLR, London Overground, most Elizabeth line, Emirates Air Line and Thames Clippers River Bus services. You can also travel on most National Rail services in London and some outside London.Is it cheaper to use an Oyster card or contactless?
There is a very small financial advantage to using a contactless card if you're in London for more than a week and travel extensively every single day (weekly capping) but otherwise it's no cheaper than using an Oyster.More answers regarding do you need to take the most direct route with an Oyster Card?
Answer 2
As long as you stay within the maximum permitted journey time as described in the other answers, you can take any route you like within the Oyster network.
One additional point not mentioned in the other answers is that for journeys across London, TfL will by default assume that you have travelled through zone 1 and will therefore charge you a zone 1 fare, unless you swipe on one of the pink oyster card readers that are located in certain stations around zone 2 to prove that you took the longer way round.
Answer 3
Just to add what others have said when using the Oyster card there are time limits of travel after which the system will not link your "touch in" to your "touch out" and effectively charge you twice the applicable maximum fee.
How this works in practice is that whenever you touch in with your Oyster card, the system will immediately deduct the maximum travel fee from your card (this fee depends on multiple things, including whether you are on a National Rail based station or TFL based station as well as on whether it's the on-peak or off-peak period). Whenever you touch out the system will calculate how much you travelled (including if you avoided Zone 1 by using the pink readers), and refund you the difference in your balance.
In case your travel time is longer than the maximum allowed (which depends on multple things, like how many zones you travel through as well as on whether you use National Rail services only, TFL only or both), then the system as mentioned above will not link the two trips together, so it will deduct the maximum funds from you when you touch in, then (without giving you a refund) also deduct the maximum applicable fare for the second trip when you touch out.
However even if that happens you can still get a refund. First make sure you register your Oyster card online on the TFL website, after which you'll be able to see your trips. Once there you can see the errorneus trips, and you can ask customer service to merge/fix the problematic ones. You will likely have to describe to them what route you have taken, and they will usually apply a proper refund onto your Oyster card. Do note that since Oyster cards are "offline" in order for you to receive that refund you actually have to touch in at a station (and then do a proper, full trip to somewhere else - checking out immediately will cause extra trouble) to get that refund onto your card, so if you are leaving the London/Oyster area you could be out of luck.
Some of the issues above can be fixed by using a Contactless credit/debit card (or any other contactless payment menthod, like Apple or Google Pay) instead of an Oyster. When using these cards there are some automated systems that can automatically fix up your journey history and immediately give you a refund in case you touch in or out incorrectly or spend too much time travelling. Even if it doesn't fix it up immediately, similarly to an Oyster card, you can also register your Contactless card online, and ask for a refund. This refund will be applied to your credit/debit card without any extra interaction, so you can even get it you have left the London area already.
Note: you should usually raise travel disputes like above on the website within two weeks.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Brady Knoll, Erik Mclean, Tim Samuel, Tim Samuel