Oyster card condundrum

[Roland Perry]

I went to London last Friday and used my Oyster. So I thought I'd look
up my Oyster account online to see how much it had cost.

Says it was capped at £5.60 which I can't immediately see on the TfL
price list. (And a balance of £8.85)

But that's not the main thing, because I thought that I'd also download
the app to my phone, for future reference.

With the same card number [I only have one], username and password, it
says I have a balance of £14.45 and my last recorded usage was on 7th
April.

Huh??

{14.45 minus 5.60 is 8.85 so at least that's consistent}

[Graeme Wall]

Post by Roland Perry
I went to London last Friday and used my Oyster. So I thought I'd look
up my Oyster account online to see how much it had cost.
Says it was capped at £5.60 which I can't immediately see on the TfL
price list. (And a balance of £8.85)
But that's not the main thing, because I thought that I'd also download
the app to my phone, for future reference.
With the same card number [I only have one], username and password, it
says I have a balance of £14.45 and my last recorded usage was on 7th
April.
Huh??
{14.45 minus 5.60 is 8.85 so at least that's consistent}

Obviously slow in updating the app, what does it say now?

[Roland Perry]

Post by Graeme Wall

Post by Roland Perry
I went to London last Friday and used my Oyster. So I thought I'd
look up my Oyster account online to see how much it had cost.
Says it was capped at £5.60 which I can't immediately see on the TfL
price list. (And a balance of £8.85)
But that's not the main thing, because I thought that I'd also
download the app to my phone, for future reference.
With the same card number [I only have one], username and password,
it says I have a balance of £14.45 and my last recorded usage was on
7th April.
Huh??
{14.45 minus 5.60 is 8.85 so at least that's consistent}

Obviously slow in updating the app, what does it say now?

Half an hour later, it's still saying the same.

Any delay is of course between last Friday and today. I'd only expect a
delay of minutes, otherwise what's the point of having an app showing
your balance on the phone in your hand?

[Graeme Wall]

Post by Roland Perry

Post by Graeme Wall

Post by Roland Perry
I went to London last Friday and used my Oyster. So I thought I'd
look  up my Oyster account online to see how much it had cost.
 Says it was capped at £5.60 which I can't immediately see on the TfL
price list. (And a balance of £8.85)
 But that's not the main thing, because I thought that I'd also
download  the app to my phone, for future reference.
 With the same card number [I only have one], username and password,
it  says I have a balance of £14.45 and my last recorded usage was on
7th  April.
 Huh??
 {14.45 minus 5.60 is 8.85 so at least that's consistent}

Obviously slow in updating the app, what does it say now?

Half an hour later, it's still saying the same.
Any delay is of course between last Friday and today. I'd only expect a
delay of minutes, otherwise what's the point of having an app showing
your balance on the phone in your hand?

Exactly! Sounds very strange, I assume your device has had access to the
internet in the intervening period?

[Roland Perry]

Post by Graeme Wall

Post by Roland Perry

Post by Graeme Wall

Post by Roland Perry
I went to London last Friday and used my Oyster. So I thought I'd
look  up my Oyster account online to see how much it had cost.
 Says it was capped at £5.60 which I can't immediately see on the
TfL price list. (And a balance of £8.85)
 But that's not the main thing, because I thought that I'd also
download  the app to my phone, for future reference.
 With the same card number [I only have one], username and
password, it  says I have a balance of £14.45 and my last recorded
usage was on 7th  April.
 Huh??
 {14.45 minus 5.60 is 8.85 so at least that's consistent}

Obviously slow in updating the app, what does it say now?

Half an hour later, it's still saying the same.
Any delay is of course between last Friday and today. I'd only
expect a delay of minutes, otherwise what's the point of having an
app showing your balance on the phone in your hand?

Exactly! Sounds very strange, I assume your device has had access to
the internet in the intervening period?

Yes, it's been permanently online [recently modulo the occasional tunnel
on the ECML, and the Piccadilly Line, last Friday] for months.

[Recliner]

Post by Roland Perry
I went to London last Friday and used my Oyster. So I thought I'd look
up my Oyster account online to see how much it had cost.
Says it was capped at £5.60 which I can't immediately see on the TfL
price list. (And a balance of £8.85)

£5.60 is the off-peak Z12 daily cap less your railcard discount.

[Roland Perry]

Post by Recliner

Post by Roland Perry
I went to London last Friday and used my Oyster. So I thought I'd look
up my Oyster account online to see how much it had cost.
Says it was capped at £5.60 which I can't immediately see on the TfL
price list. (And a balance of £8.85)

£5.60 is the off-peak Z12 daily cap less your railcard discount.

I did wonder about that, but why does the railcard discount only apply
to that, not the fares which added up, might be capped.

Also 2/3 of £8.50 is £5.67, or do they round it down to the nearest 10p?

[In fact I stayed entirely in Z1, but the cap for that is the same]

[Recliner]

Post by Roland Perry

Post by Recliner

Post by Roland Perry
I went to London last Friday and used my Oyster. So I thought I'd look
up my Oyster account online to see how much it had cost.
Says it was capped at £5.60 which I can't immediately see on the TfL
price list. (And a balance of £8.85)

£5.60 is the off-peak Z12 daily cap less your railcard discount.

I did wonder about that, but why does the railcard discount only apply
to that, not the fares which added up, might be capped.

I suppose it shows the fares as registered, before applying the back office
discount. You can find out by doing a day's travelling when you don't hit
the cap.

Post by Roland Perry
Also 2/3 of £8.50 is £5.67, or do they round it down to the nearest 10p?

Yes, it looks like that. It also effectively applies the discount to bus
fares, if you'd charged any to your Oyster card (presumably not).

[Roland Perry]

Post by Recliner

Post by Roland Perry

Post by Recliner

Post by Roland Perry
I went to London last Friday and used my Oyster. So I thought I'd look
up my Oyster account online to see how much it had cost.
Says it was capped at £5.60 which I can't immediately see on the TfL
price list. (And a balance of £8.85)

£5.60 is the off-peak Z12 daily cap less your railcard discount.

I did wonder about that, but why does the railcard discount only apply
to that, not the fares which added up, might be capped.

I suppose it shows the fares as registered, before applying the back office
discount. You can find out by doing a day's travelling when you don't hit
the cap.

I have a time machine (courtesy of the TfL app), so I can see from what
my phone still claims is my most recent trip - in April - 2 x £1.75

2/3 of £2.70 is £1.80 (more numbers that don't quite match).

Post by Recliner

Post by Roland Perry
Also 2/3 of £8.50 is £5.67, or do they round it down to the nearest 10p?

Yes, it looks like that. It also effectively applies the discount to bus
fares, if you'd charged any to your Oyster card (presumably not).

Was going to walk rather than get a train two stops, but having set off
it was a bit hot and I felt tired, so caught a bus.

Slightly surprised that was as much as £1.75 though. I can travel for an
hour and a half to Cambridge for £2! [If too early for my concession
card].

[Recliner]

Post by Roland Perry

Post by Recliner

Post by Roland Perry

Post by Recliner

Post by Roland Perry
I went to London last Friday and used my Oyster. So I thought I'd look
up my Oyster account online to see how much it had cost.
Says it was capped at £5.60 which I can't immediately see on the TfL
price list. (And a balance of £8.85)

£5.60 is the off-peak Z12 daily cap less your railcard discount.

I did wonder about that, but why does the railcard discount only apply
to that, not the fares which added up, might be capped.

I suppose it shows the fares as registered, before applying the back office
discount. You can find out by doing a day's travelling when you don't hit
the cap.

I have a time machine (courtesy of the TfL app), so I can see from what
my phone still claims is my most recent trip - in April - 2 x £1.75
2/3 of £2.70 is £1.80 (more numbers that don't quite match).

Post by Recliner

Post by Roland Perry
Also 2/3 of £8.50 is £5.67, or do they round it down to the nearest 10p?

Yes, it looks like that. It also effectively applies the discount to bus
fares, if you'd charged any to your Oyster card (presumably not).

Was going to walk rather than get a train two stops, but having set off
it was a bit hot and I felt tired, so caught a bus.
Slightly surprised that was as much as £1.75 though. I can travel for an
hour and a half to Cambridge for £2! [If too early for my concession
card].

You could travel for longer than that for £1.75 in London, as that price
covers all bus touch-ins for the next hour

For example, let's say you wanted to go from Bromley North to Heathrow by
bus:

Depart Bromley North Rail Station - SL5 at 10:06 to East Croydon Station
Journey time: 30 min

Depart East Croydon Station - at 10:46 on SL7 Superloop bus to Heathrow
Central Bus Station
Journey time: 1 h 43 min

Total journey time: 2:23, cost up to £1.75, or free to bus pass holder.

Of course, you could do it about 40 minutes quicker, at a much higher
price, if you also used SE, the Victoria Line and the Liz.