Charged a Zone 1-3 when 1-2 should apply?

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  • #6407
    Selbstlader
    Participant

    Hi there,
    I use Railcard discounted oyster card. Yesterday I performed a return Zone 2–>3 (through Z1) journey. Outward leg was charged £1.95 off-peak
    and return was £3.70 evening peak. Total 5.65.

    Then after that point I did exclusively Zone 1/2 Journeys, but the first Z1/2 journey was charged £0.95 leading to the total of £6.60.

    £6.60 is the Railcard Z1-3 Cap
    £5.60 is the Railcard Z1-2 Cap

    As I had already payed over the Z1-2 Cap (5.65 vs 5.50) why was I charged up until the Z1-3 Cap if all my journeys in the later day were Z1/2.

    Many thanks!

    #6408
    Mike
    Moderator

    Hi,

    Oyster always charges up to the cap of the highest zone used. This sometimes can cause a perceived overcharge (when you come in from zone 6 and don’t return beyond zone 2 for instance), but in this case you’re still better off. The single zone fare with a railcard is £1.15 off-peak and £1.90 peak, so if you want to use the zone 1-2 cap you would have paid £5.60 + £1.90 + £1.15 = £8.65. Instead you’ve been capped at £6.60.

    #6409
    Selbstlader
    Participant

    Thanks for the reply.

    But as i made the Z3 journeys before (or during when) I hit the 1/2 cap I don’t understand why I’d have to pay a higher cap because of journeys made later in a lower zone.

    I’d understand if it was the other way round e.g. reaching 1/2 cap then doing a journey in Z3. So cap gets expanded.

    But in this instance the Z3 return contributed to filling my Z1/2 cap correct? And once 1/2 cap was reached travel within 1/2 is free.

    Any thoughts? Cheers!

    #6410
    Mike
    Moderator

    The zone 1-2 cap is a cap on charges for travel solely within zones 1-2. If you use zone 3 then your cap becomes zone 1-3. Yes, your single fares between zones 1-3 have contributed towards a zone 1-2 cap, but you still have to pay for the zone 3 bits. These are called extension fares and are calculated at the same rate as the fares just for the extension bit. If the extension fares plus the smaller cap end up being more than the larger cap then the larger cap is charged.

    It doesn’t matter when the zone 1-3 journeys are made, they will never fully contribute to the zone 1-2 cap.

    #6411
    Selbstlader
    Participant

    Ahh that’s what I was missing, I just assumed the whole fare would go into the 1/2 cap. Obviously the oyster system is a lot more technical then I thought! Seems fair enough to distribute money spent across the zones properly haha

    Thanks for the help

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