From next Saturday, 2nd January 2016, holders of 5-10 zip cards will no longer need to pay for any National Rail journeys within the zones. This is good news, but what if you already have some credit on your card. The helpdesk can arrange a refund, but a side-effect is that the card will be cancelled. As you need the card to benefit from the free travel that is obviously no good. There appear to be two options available at the moment:
- Take the 5-10 zip card to an Underground station and ask one of the staff on the concourse for assistance. They can (I am informed) refund PAYG credit using staff functions on the ticket machine without cancelling the card.
- Leave the credit on the 5-10 zip card and when you apply for an 11-15 zip card it will be transferred to that.
If you rarely visit an Underground station and/or your child is nearer to 5 than 10 then you appear to be stuck. This is not ideal and I have asked the helpdesk to pass the issue back to see if anything can be put in place for the next few months.
There are a few cases where PAYG credit will still be required.
From https://tfl.gov.uk/campaign/new-fares?intcmp=34454#on-this-page-10
*Child-rate pay as you go fares will be charged on:
Southeastern high speed services between St Pancras International and Stratford International if you have a 5-10 Zip Oyster photocard
All services between Merstham and Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Express services between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport”
as well as the Emirates Air Line and river boat services.
Hi Matt,
Thanks for that. They are a quite select group of situations though. Many people won’t want to keep credit on the off-chance that they use a boat or the cable car.
Hi
I have just found this website whilst looking for some answers regarding the 11-15 Zip Oyster Photocard. I have just applied for one of these for my daughter who is 11 next month. I have an Oyster card and would like to link her card to my account and also apply auto top-up. Can you advise if I can do both of the above as I can find no answers on TfL’s website. I’d love to get this cleared up. Thanks
Hi Marcus,
Yes, both are possible. Indeed I’ve done both myself in the past. You may need to contact the helpdesk for assistance linking the zip card to your account, but once there you can add auto top-up easily.
Can my child go on train with 5-10 zip card
Hi Millie,
Yes. Train travel is free with a 5-10 zip card (apart from Merstham to Gatwick Airport and St Pancras International to Stratford International).
I have just changed my sons 5-10 Zip card to a new 11-15 zip card. How do I change the balance over.? There is no help on the TFL website or FAQs.
Hi Andrew,
Usually the balance at the time of ordering the new card is copied to the new card before it is sent out. If you added new money which is still on the old card then a call to the helpdesk should sort things out.
I am slightly curious as to why you needed a balance on the 5-10 Zip card. You are only charged when using HS1 (St Pancras to Stratford) or between Coulsdon South and Gatwick Airport.