Originally Posted by
ajax
Oooh - very interesting. I have a monthly but travel out of zone quite frequently. What's it to be replaced with? Anything?
p.s. I almost never bothered with the OEP and took my chances. But I always get off at stations where you can touch out. Have I been overcharged?
Afternoon.
No, it's not to be replaced with anything. You will just touch in and out in the normal way. The site I linked to above did mention that people were being charged penalty fares, especially by SWT, who are as you know the spawn of the devil, if people went out of zone without having set an OEP, so I'd personally advise setting one until they're abolished.
You haven't been overcharged, but have you considered getting an annual travelcard? That counts as a network gold card, which gives one third off off peak travel for you +1 in the South East; £5 first class upgrade at weekends; and most important one-third off tube and rail fares (and a third off the off peak caps) in London when you register the gold card on your Oyster. This might make sense if you travel out of zone a bit and might make use of the other benefits.
ETA: PS You could always try the Isle of Wight trick, depending on your travel patterns.