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To give context both last Saturday and Sunday I went to visit London. In both days I've travelled from relatively "early" morning (before 10am) to late evening (8:00pm), which I think falls under "off-peak" (from Staines-upon-Thames to say Westminster).

According to TFL from Zone 9 to Zone 1 for pay as you go the cap is £16.30 per day but I ended up paying £22.40 per day.

I cannot quite work out how this happened, also how to ask a refund and further info on the calculation is a bit of a mystery.

In one of the two days mentioned from 9:44 to 20:46 the journey was

Staines -> Waterloo (National Rail)
Waterloo -> Baker Street (Underground)
GreenPark -> London Bridge (Underground)
London Bridge -> Waterloo (Underground)
Waterloo -> Staines (National Rail)

Everything tapped, there's no indication of missed station.

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  • It is a bit unclear what you are confused about here. The cap you are referring to (16.30£) is per day, but you write that you were travelling on two days. There is nothing strange about paying more for travel on two days than the daily cap. Commented 2 days ago
  • @Tor-EinarJarnbjo, I've tried to clarify. The 16.30£ is per day and my 22.40£ was per day as well, but with as pay as you go I would not expect to pay that much for the times I've travelled. Commented 2 days ago
  • Charging errors can be caused by eg mixing a phone/watch and physical card, forgetting to tap out or in (means you are charged a maximum fare, which doesn’t count toward the daily cap properly), or using different devices (e.g., phone in the morning, card in evening) which treats you as two users, preventing the cap from applying. Are you sure none of the above apply? Commented 2 days ago
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    Is Staines actually in Zone 9, or is it outside the zones? It's off the edge of the standard Tube and Rail map. Commented 2 days ago
  • 3
    @NateEldredge ah, yes, I think you're right, Staines is listed as a non-Oyster station where contactless is accepted but the zone concept does not apply at this wikipedia page Commented 2 days ago

2 Answers 2

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Off-peak fares apply all day on Saturdays and Sundays, so you are right that any relevant caps which apply to your journey would be the off-peak caps.

However, there seems to be a bit of confusion about what cap, exactly, is the right one. £16.30 is the cap for journeys entirely within the TfL zones 1–9. But Staines station is, as South Western railway attempts to explain, a non-Oyster pay as you go contactless station outside of the TfL zone concept, so you must consult the National Rail contactless caps page to learn how much your fare cap is. And that page shows that, for travel starting at Staines and including London zones 1–6, the off-peak daily fare cap is £22.40, exactly what you were indeed charged.

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  • So the travel card might be more convenient then in this case (assuming you move by train a lot in london). Commented 2 days ago
  • @user8469759 if you did that, you would need to pay separately for a ticket from Staines to Feltham (the first SWR station on that line covered by the TFL zone system), which I suspect would cost the same as the cap and just give you more pieces of paper). Commented 3 hours ago
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The TFL ‘Apply for a refund’ webpage states:

If you're unsure whether you were charged the correct amount, check your journeys on your contactless and Oyster account.

If you don't have an online account, you can check your journeys at any Tube station ticket machine. For contactless, you can also use our 7-day unregistered card service (for journeys within the past 7 days only).

Or call on 0343 222 1234 (charges may apply between 08:00-20:00, 7 days a week.

Mixing a phone/watch and physical card, forgetting to tap out or in, or using different devices (e.g., phone in the morning, card in evening) which treats you as two users, are all common mistakes made by travellers that mean the cap does not apply. See How to pay the right fare

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