Hey Mike
Thanks for the reply. I think I understand, and that because I will be hitting the zone 1-2 caps as a tourist, means that the surcharges do not matter so much, but are relevant (as well as other weird price increases) for people who commute/make two journeys a day).
Hopefully the automated refund process to apply the daily cap/extension fare works out of gatwick on the oyster card, as having a zone 1-2 travelcard attached provides better value than using contactless.(customised weekly cap + 1/3 off Thames Clipper.)
I was reading on your forum that if the oyster card is not touched on for six months then the refund from the last usage day is not processed and one has to call up manually . This would happen to me since I would be flying out . In that case is there a record of the refund due in the opal app/website or does it only appear once the refund is processed? Prob best to use contactless on the last day of one’s stay in london to avoid this. Cheers 🙂