We got back from our trip last week and have a decent amount of money left on our Oyster Cards. We flew out of London City airport and went from Tube to DLR, and we were informed we couldn’t get the money back at the DLR station, so they said we could get it from home. I’m seeing conflicting info about being able to get the money refunded online being in the US, does anyone have experience here lately of doing it online vs. mailing it back?
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
34152 posts
Is it a Visitor Oyster (are they Visitor Oysters) or normal Pay as You Go Oyster bought here?
Posted by
Denver, Colorado, USA
713 posts
If it's not a Visitor Oyster Card, try registering it at the TfL website. Act fast, since you're no longer using the card and IIRC the account will get locked/inactive X days after the card's last use. You'll need a UK address; TfL IIRC says you can enter theirs. The page I linked to says that when your card is registered you can apply for a refund.
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
TFL recently added an annoying restriction. Now you can only access an account on the TFL website (which you need to register the card) from a computer in the UK. What address you put in is irrelevant, you can't even get that far, it blocks you if you are outside the UK (technically, if your IP address is non-UK).
Posted by
OP
Nashport, OH
12 posts
They are the "regular" blue Oyster cards, not Visitor Cards. I started down the process last night online, successfully entered the card number, last use, etc. and got to the point where I was entering my info, and I figured there was an issue because it had street number, street, county, but no "State" or "Country" and figured that's where I was going to have a problem so I stopped. Should I keep going as far as I can, or are you saying I'm stuck/not able to do so online since I'm doing it from the States? Can I mail it and still get a refund? Then I'm dealing with a refund check in pounds, right?
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
Jared, if you got as far as entering anything, then the block has been removed. The block was when you tried to login.
Posted by
Denver, Colorado, USA
713 posts
I started down the process last night online, successfully entered
the card number, last use, etc. and got to the point where I was
entering my info, and I figured there was an issue because it had
street number, street, county, but no "State" or "Country" and figured
that's where I was going to have a problem so I stopped. Should I keep
going as far as I can, . . . ?
Why not keep going? What's the worst thing that could happen?
Posted by
Troy, Oh, USA
2806 posts
Like what Suz ask, what not keep it? You can use it on your next trip.
Posted by
Washington DC
28388 posts
A refund in pounds will probably not be worthwhile because of US banking fees. You might give or sell the card to someone you know who is going to London.
Posted by
Denver, Colorado, USA
713 posts
I agree, Robin, that keeping the card is an option.
What I was trying to ask, though, was why the OP didn't just keep on at the TfL website by continuing to try to get a refund there, instead of stopping and asking us.
It's not like he was going to harm his computer or break the internet if he kept entering info and clicking through the TfL page. I think the worst that could happen would be that he wouldn't succeed in getting a refund processed. So I just don't understand why he stopped and posted on this forum instead.
Posted by
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
8293 posts
How much money would the refund be? “A decent amount” is pretty vague. Is it worth all the time and trouble?