Contactless travel on TFL- did we do something wrong?

[TreacherousPissFlap]

Just back from an amazing but exhausting weekend in London. In a bid to be modern and streamlined I have ensured each of us is equipped with ApplePay, each with our own card registered.

We have happily tapped our way in and out of stations and our simple country minds have been blown by the ease of it all we don't get out much!

Checking my bank account however, it seems we have been charged much more than I was expecting. Admittedly I have not travelled much round London for about twenty years, so was prepared that all day travel would be more than £2.50 or whatever it used to be. We have however been charged £14, £22, £11 and varying other amounts per day.

If that's the correct amount then fine, we had a great time and it's a lesson learnt. If we've done something wrong then I'd like to know what it was! The TFL site indicates that our fares should have been capped, but not why they haven't.

What zones are you travelling in they usually try to cap it below the travel card price and the time you travel

Which zones did you go into and out of and did you always use the same cards? If you travelled on Friday it’s more expensive if you travelled in peak time. I would try and follow it up as it does sound a bit odd

For me a zone 1 to 6 off peak cap is 12.80 peak does not have a cap but a peak day travel card is 18.60

If you go to the tfl website you can enter your card details and it will show you your journey and payment history so you can work it out. And if you think you have been charged incorrectly they are pretty good at refunding if you call them.

Zone one and two cap for one day is £7, so £14 could be right, depending on where you went

Capping depends on the zone that you are travelling - more details here: tfl.gov.uk/fares/find-fares/tube-and-rail-fares/pay-as-you-go-caps

If you went as far as Watford the the daily cap is more than £20 but for zones 1/2 it should only be £7.

Did you touch out everytime and always use the same card / device?

You can log on to TFL and check. You may have made incomplete journeys then get charged the maximum

Sorry, just seen those are your charges per day. Definitely check your journey history online, you can do it without registering if it's within seven days

That sounds too much - daily cap is £8:20 (1-3) £10:10 (1-4) £12 (1-5) £12:80 (1-6)

So I could understand if you had a mixture of those figures, but can't make sense of the others.

Did you use Oyster on any non-TfL services?

Checking your journey history might explain it. If not, ring up - I've always found staff to be very helpful

You may have been charged a max fare if you didn't properly tap out somewhere. This particularly happens where there are no barriers. If this has happened you can get a refund. If you try registering the card online it should show incomplete journeys. I don't know if this works if it was not registered when you made the journeys but you could call and ask. The other thing that is more expensive is the cable car if you went on that, and possibly the Thames Clippers (boats) if you used them.

Also though caps I think depend on off peak travel - starting outside of that could easily give £22

I didn't realise I could check, thanks.

Only one card each, DS paid adult fares as we hadn't done the required witchcraft to prove he was a child, I was happy to pay that for the convenience.

We didn't go any further than East Croydon and only used trains and the Underground. Didn't travel on Friday until approx 8pm, then travelled all day Saturday and Sunday.

We didn't go any further than East Croydon and only used trains

If you didn’t tap out they may have charged you the max. I know if I travel from Guildford in the morning peak and don’t tap out, I can be charged something like £20

Yes your daily cap should be £12 if you did it correctly - so our both showing the same

Did you go from East Croydon to central or out further each way

Into London quartz.
We did use the Emirates cable car but that was charged separately.

I have found them really helpful when we were overcharged.

How many over £12 do you have (as that would be the correct daily cap)

If you go again you only need to ask a TfL employee to add a young visitor discount onto an oyster card for your child.

If you used Apple Pay sometimes and the actual card other times the cap would apply to each separately.

Please report back with your TFL history

led we only used ApplePay, neither DS or I have contactless cards and DH's is not activated.

I will try and access TFL history now...

You get charged more if your journey is on National Rail services than on the tube. This may be a part of it.

Well in total we spent £126.10 for three adults over two days

I was mistaken in thinking that the Emirates was paid for separately, it turns out it looks like DH has been given two lots of charges on one day- I will extract his card from the depths of his wallet and investigate further.

Are all of the journeys complete?

No
DH (and in all likelihood my DM as well as they were drifting aimlessly around the DLR for a while after a lazy breakfast) has not tapped in at some and out at others. He's just revealed that at a couple he "just wandered out as there was no gates"

He seems bemused (and slightly affronted) that he would be charged the maximum fare for doing this this is why we leave him at home

Yep even if no gate there is always a touch out at the side you need to use

That is why though