Whats the minimum Oyster card value to get through a gate?

"Paul Corfield" <aooy65@dsl.pipex.com> wrote in message
news:fpvi541uhcn1d35qrtnaglej1qnhta01pf@...
> On Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:12:48 -0700 (PDT), thagor2008@
> wrote:
>
>>Anyone know?
>
> It's the minimum fare at that station - £1 outside Z1 and £1.50 in Z1.
>
<big snip>
> --
> Paul C
>
>

So will the gate at the destination let you out, if after deducting the
correct fare, the balance on the card is negative?

The reason I ask is that I infrequently visit London, and on my last journey
I commenced with £3.00 on the card (Z1 to Waterloo) (eurostar was there in
early November)
and now I have £1.50 sitting on card which won't be used for a year or two
(it is a registered card-- dunno how long they will allow it to remain
inactive)

The card previously had a 7 day Travelcard on it, so it has no £3 deposit.

I suspect to avoid giving Tfl a long term interest free loan, :-) I should
try to commence my last journey with only £1.50 on the card.

Cheers

Peter
Sydney

On 22 Jun, 10:10, thagor2...@ wrote:
> On 22 Jun, 03:39, "peter" <pe...@junk.com.au> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > "Paul Corfield" <aoo...@dsl.pipex.com> wrote in message
>
> >news:fpvi541uhcn1d35qrtnaglej1qnhta01pf@.. .
>
> > > On Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:12:48 -0700 (PDT), thagor2...@
> > > wrote:
>
> > >>Anyone know?
>
> > > It's the minimum fare at that station - £1 outside Z1 and £1.50 in Z1.
>
> > <big  snip>
> > > --
> > > Paul C
>
> > So will the gate at the destination let you out, if after deducting the
> > correct fare, the balance on the card is negative?
>
> Always has done for me. Possibly theres some limit but if there is I
> don't know what it is.
>
> B2003- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

It won't let you start a journey with zero or a negative balance.

On 22 Jun, 03:39, "peter" <pe...@junk.com.au> wrote:
> "Paul Corfield" <aoo...@dsl.pipex.com> wrote in message
>
> news:fpvi541uhcn1d35qrtnaglej1qnhta01pf@...
>
> > On Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:12:48 -0700 (PDT), thagor2...@
> > wrote:
>
> >>Anyone know?
>
> > It's the minimum fare at that station - £1 outside Z1 and £1.50 in Z1.
>
> <big  snip>
> > --
> > Paul C
>
> So will the gate at the destination let you out, if after deducting the
> correct fare, the balance on the card is negative?
>
> The reason I ask is that I infrequently visit London, and on my last journey
> I commenced with £3.00 on the card (Z1 to Waterloo) (eurostar was there in
> early November)
> and now I have £1.50 sitting on card which won't be used for a year or two
> (it is a registered card-- dunno how long they will allow it to remain
> inactive)
>
> The card previously had a 7 day Travelcard on it, so it has no £3 deposit.
>
> I suspect to avoid giving Tfl a long term interest free loan,  :-)  I should
> try to commence my last journey with only £1.50 on the card.

Or you could just take it to a ticket window and say "gimme my money".
As it's registered I dont think there's an issue.

On Jun 24, 1:33 pm, Paul Weaver <use...@isorox.co.uk> wrote:
> On 22 Jun, 03:39, "peter" <pe...@junk.com.au> wrote:
>
>
>
> > "Paul Corfield" <aoo...@dsl.pipex.com> wrote in message
>
> >news:fpvi541uhcn1d35qrtnaglej1qnhta01pf@.. .
>
> > > On Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:12:48 -0700 (PDT), thagor2...@
> > > wrote:
>
> > >>Anyone know?
>
> > > It's the minimum fare at that station - £1 outside Z1 and £1.50 in Z1.
>
> > <big snip>
> > > --
> > > Paul C
>
> > So will the gate at the destination let you out, if after deducting the
> > correct fare, the balance on the card is negative?
>
> > The reason I ask is that I infrequently visit London, and on my last journey
> > I commenced with £3.00 on the card (Z1 to Waterloo) (eurostar was there in
> > early November)
> > and now I have £1.50 sitting on card which won't be used for a year or two
> > (it is a registered card-- dunno how long they will allow it to remain
> > inactive)
>
> > The card previously had a 7 day Travelcard on it, so it has no £3 deposit.
>
> > I suspect to avoid giving Tfl a long term interest free loan, :-) I should
> > try to commence my last journey with only £1.50 on the card.
>
> Or you could just take it to a ticket window and say "gimme my money".
> As it's registered I dont think there's an issue.

Unless you've used both cash and a credit card to top it up. Then you
can only get the money back by cheque, posted to your address.

Bit of a bugger if your usual currency isn't GBP.

Tim.

<google@woodall.me.uk> wrote in message
news:b69270eb-619a-457a-bfe4-e93cf781cef8@p25g2000hsf..com...
> On Jun 24, 1:33 pm, Paul Weaver <use...@isorox.co.uk> wrote:
>> On 22 Jun, 03:39, "peter" <pe...@junk.com.au> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> > "Paul Corfield" <aoo...@dsl.pipex.com> wrote in message
>>
>> >news:fpvi541uhcn1d35qrtnaglej1qnhta01pf@.. .
>>
>> > > On Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:12:48 -0700 (PDT), thagor2...@
>> > > wrote:
>>
>> > >>Anyone know?
>>
>> > > It's the minimum fare at that station - £1 outside Z1 and £1.50 in
>> > > Z1.
>>
>> > <big snip>
>> > > --
>> > > Paul C
>>
>> > So will the gate at the destination let you out, if after deducting the
>> > correct fare, the balance on the card is negative?
>>
>> > The reason I ask is that I infrequently visit London, and on my last
>> > journey
>> > I commenced with £3.00 on the card (Z1 to Waterloo) (eurostar was there
>> > in
>> > early November)
>> > and now I have £1.50 sitting on card which won't be used for a year or
>> > two
>> > (it is a registered card-- dunno how long they will allow it to remain
>> > inactive)
>>
>> > The card previously had a 7 day Travelcard on it, so it has no £3
>> > deposit.
>>
>> > I suspect to avoid giving Tfl a long term interest free loan, :-) I
>> > should
>> > try to commence my last journey with only £1.50 on the card.
>>
>> Or you could just take it to a ticket window and say "gimme my money".
>> As it's registered I dont think there's an issue.
>
> Unless you've used both cash and a credit card to top it up. Then you
> can only get the money back by cheque, posted to your address.
>
> Bit of a bugger if your usual currency isn't GBP.
>
> Tim.

Ok thanks for the replies.. I want to keep the card, so in future I will
just run it down to zero.
It's useful as I can add funds from here (Sydney) prior to any trip to
London and don't have to pay the £3 deposit

cheers
Peter