Boris bikes

[Freds Dad]

Which one of you is going to replicate this?

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HUWCeAzkc2Q

 

[Tin Pot]

Nice.

But, no.

 

[caesar]

I bought a couple of keys last year but haven't actually used one yet. We came close after the Nocturne, but by the time we could find two together that weren't broken it seemed a pointless distance to pay money for (our fault for trying on one of the busy nights for them to be honest). At some point I'll use one and stop the key just being a funky keyring.

Not sure if it's still the case but you used to get charged for every key on the account each time you used one. i.e. if you had 4 keys on one account and used one to hire a single bike for one journey, you would be charged £8. Serco tried to explain this away as a feature rather than a bug IIRC.

 

[w00hoo_kent]

I'll watch for that when I get round to using them. Not something I'd consider a positive. Surprised no one has mentioned the upcoming change to red (Santander have taken over from Barclays, unless I dreamt the announcement.).

 

[jonny jeez]

Not used one in a year or so, I have a key but don't I need to pay something like £90 a year to charge it up...it used to be £45 and I stopped bothering when the cost went up.

Is this no longer the case?

 

[jonny jeez]

I'll watch for that when I get round to using them. Not something I'd consider a positive. Surprised no one has mentioned the upcoming change to red (Santander have taken over from Barclays, unless I dreamt the announcement.).

Yep, got an email from them a week or so ago announcing the swap.

I shall feel like the Red Baron...or The postman, I shall let you know.

 

[Tin Pot]

Not used one in a year or so, I have a key but don't I need to pay something like £90 a year to charge it up...it used to be £45 and I stopped bothering when the cost went up.

Is this no longer the case?

No.

£2 is all you need to charge it with to get a key.

Then you're debited £2 each journey, +£2 if it's a longer ride than 20mins.

£90 is for annual use as much as you like.

 

[Lurker]

Not sure if it's still the case but you used to get charged for every key on the account each time you used one. i.e. if you had 4 keys on one account and used one to hire a single bike for one journey, you would be charged £8. Serco tried to explain this away as a feature rather than a bug IIRC.

That was the original set up but is no longer the case, fortunately.

 

[Lurker]

No.

£2 is all you need to charge it with to get a key.

Then you're debited £2 each journey, +£2 if it's a longer ride than 20mins.

£90 is for annual use as much as you like.

Yep, you can have a 24 hour membership which is much cheaper if only an occasional user - if you set it up for 'auto-renew' it renews your membership at the start of every 24 hour period you use the scheme, when you place the key in the docking point. Ride time limit is 30 minutes, not 20 minutes.

 

[Tin Pot]

Yep, you can have a 24 hour membership which is much cheaper if only an occasional user - if you set it up for 'auto-renew' it renews your membership at the start of every 24 hour period you use the scheme, when you place the key in the docking point. Ride time limit is 30 minutes, not 20 minutes.

Do you know if it's 24hrs or 00:00 to 23:59?

I'm thinking I could hire a bike at 8:30, ride for fifteen minutes, then do it again at 08:00 the next day without charge..?

(Cheapskate I know)

 

[mjr]

Do you know if it's 24hrs or 00:00 to 23:59?

Putting your card into a monolith gets you 24hrs not a calendar day, so I'd expect the keys to be the same - but check if it's important to you.

 

[jonny jeez]

No.

£2 is all you need to charge it with to get a key.

Then you're debited £2 each journey, +£2 if it's a longer ride than 20mins.

£90 is for annual use as much as you like.

Ah right, so now I have my key (from my old annual contract) how do I use it, do I plug the key into the pay station or something like that?

Sorry I know I could probably Google this but as you have experience...

 

[jonny jeez]

Yep, you can have a 24 hour membership which is much cheaper if only an occasional user - if you set it up for 'auto-renew' it renews your membership at the start of every 24 hour period you use the scheme, when you place the key in the docking point. Ride time limit is 30 minutes, not 20 minutes.

I'm confused now, why do I need a 24 hour pay as I pedal membership. If it charges me £2 for the day PLUS a charge for every ride over 30 minutes, what's the benefit. It seems to be the same cost as just renting a bike for 30 minutes.

I know I'm missing something but don't get it?

 

[w00hoo_kent]

I don't know if it's cheaper paying that way (by some pence) but I think the main benefit is that you have a lot less faff getting the bike as you don't need to bother with the obelisk. As mentioned, there are multiple ways to pay for the tag, at one level you just use it as an easy way to get the bike, at the other you pay an annual fee and don't get charged the base rental. In between I think there are weekly and monthly tariffs. In all cases you're only getting the bike free for 30 minutes (with a 5 minute gap before your next rental) anything over that always costs extra because they want to put you off using the bike for long journeys/periods.

 

[jay clock]

I'm confused now, why do I need a 24 hour pay as I pedal membership. If it charges me £2 for the day PLUS a charge for every ride over 30 minutes, what's the benefit. It seems to be the same cost as just renting a bike for 30 minutes.

I know I'm missing something but don't get it?

the saving is the time to stand at the machine, type in your card details etc. Much easier with the PAYG key