Wow, can someone tell me what exactly the benefit of having PAYG Oyster card is?

To me, the overly complex rules are actually designed to catch people out and make extra money for TfL from people who forget to touch in and/or touch out. Not forgetting the inconvenience of Forest Hill Station unable to top up your card.

Booking a Ryanair flight and avoiding all their extra charges seems a piece a cake compared to understanding and negotiating the TfL rules.

How do you check to see how much money you have on your card? Are there Oyster readers conveniently located that offer printout/summaries just like the mini-statements you can get from cash machines?

Or what if there is an emergency and a station has to be evacuated? Will I have to wait while all PAYG customers check out so they don't get fined?

I will stick with my annual Zones 1-3 season ticket. I'm happy to buy a Forest Hill to Croydon return for ?2.10 after flashing my Goldcard at the ticket office. I know what I paid.

Call me a cynic, but the Oyster PAYG business model seems to be built on deliberately making the customer dodge their fare and being fined automatically.