Money saving tips for London train commuters

Since about now is a popular time to renew season tickets to miss the Jan fare rise, two - hopefully useful - tips. 
1. If your season is an Annual Travelcard costing GBP 1500 or more, buy it at Marylebone Station from the Chiltern ticket office. It then counts as a qualifying season for unlimited weekend travel on the entire Chiltern network. 
2. If your season is an Annual Travelcard, it'll come with a Network Gold card giving you a third off some fares on trains in the South East. However, it won't be coded onto your Oyster card, so you won't get a third off cash Oyster fares (eg the extension fare charged when travelling beyond your Zones). Go to an Underground ticket office (where they exist) or a roving member of staff (where they don't), ask nicely and they'll sort you out.

Lost Oyster Cards

If you lose your Oyster card and find yourself buying a new one, do not transfer any products from the old card to the new. Report it as lost/stolen and get a replacement (free), then redeem the new card when the replacement arrives.

As you may gather I have fallen into this trap. I transferred the balance and the auto top up from the lost card to the replacement, and TfL won't send out a replacement for the lost card now.

Bank cards insttead of Oyster Cards. Oyster outside London

"TfL an train companies are also to work to complet plans to extend Oyster PAYG outside London, and to evaluate the extension to National Rail services of payment using contactless bank  cards, for introduction in 2012. TfL has confirmed that, by the end of 2012, card readers across its whole network will have been upgraded so that a contactless bank card can be used  ... for PAYG travel." [Modern Railways April 2011]

Oyster Extension Permit

Inquisitive, I added one to my Oystercard at Barking Station (using a machine of course). It showed up on my account as "PAYG enabled" or similar, with "Bus" (which puzzled me as I hadn't been on one. Some time later, I noticed I was being charged £4.20 entry each morning and evening at Barking. I never bother swiping at S Tottenham or Harringay Green Lanes as I have a zones 3 & 4 annual travelcard loaded onto the Oystercard. I resumed swiping. The first time the system deducted £4.20 at Barking and credited £4.20 at S Tottenham, and then the problem was fixed.

So that's how an OEP works.

New Ticket Machines London Overground

I've noticed the new ticket machine at Harringay Green Lanes. Couldn't see the make, or find anything on Google. Not sure why such new machines (2007) have been replaced (if they have) may just be HGL?

Oyster Card Helpline

An alternative number to 0845 330 9876 the published number is 020 7227 7886. Thanks to www.saynoto0870.com for this information.

Oyster discounted daily price capping - Railcards

Taken from www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/faresandtickets/singlefares/6769.aspx:

"If you hold a National Rail Railcard, you can get an Oyster card and have the Railcard discount entitlement loaded on to it. You can then use Oyster to pay as you go at adult-rate, but your off-peak Oyster daily price cap will be 34% lower than the equivalent adult-rate cap.

Holders of the following National Rail Railcards can benefit from the discounted daily price capping:

• Disabled Persons
• HM Forces,
• Senior
• Young Persons.

You will need to get an Oyster card and have your Railcard discount concession loaded on it."