TfL does not publish a fixed price for a missed touch out, it charges a maximum fare instead. TfL confirmed on 17 September 2026 that maximum fares don't count towards the daily cap, so the rest of your day loses its protection. Not touching in or out can also draw a £100 penalty fare, cut to £50 within 21 days.
If you touch in at the start of a journey on the Tube, DLR, London Overground, Elizabeth line, National Rail or River Bus and never touch out, TfL cannot work out where you went. It charges a maximum fare instead of the fare for the journey you actually made. TfL's touching in and out page, read on 17 September 2026, states plainly that it cannot work out the right fare for an incomplete journey and will charge a maximum fare as a result.
That page does not publish a pound figure for the maximum fare itself. Third-party sites quote their own numbers, but none of them is TfL, and the actual figure changes with the fares update every January. The more useful fact, and the one almost nobody prints, is what a maximum fare does to the rest of your day, a question we track across every fare rule on the Fareband blog.
Touching in without ever touching out, or touching out without ever touching in, leaves TfL seeing only half the journey, so it charges a maximum fare for the half it can see. Running over the maximum journey time for your route works the same way. TfL's guide to paying the right fare confirms that going over the time limit between touch in and touch out can be charged as two maximum fares, not one, because the system treats the gap as a second, separate journey.
A short trip through the gates and back out, to use a cash machine, meet someone, or drop a bag at left luggage, is not free. TfL's how-to-pay-the-right-fare page sets out a same-station exit charge with three bands, read on 17 September 2026.
| Time between touch in and touch out | What you're charged |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 minutes | A maximum fare. It's refunded automatically if you re-enter the same or a different station within 45 minutes, unless you take a bus or tram first |
| 2 to 30 minutes | The minimum pay as you go fare from that station |
| Over 30 minutes | Two maximum fares. TfL assumes you made two separate, incomplete journeys |
The daily cap exists so a run of journeys never costs more than a fixed ceiling for the zones you travelled in. A maximum fare sits outside that system entirely, so a single missed touch does not just cost one maximum fare, it can mean every other tap that day is charged at the full single fare because the cap never activates.
TfL's adult caps and Travelcard prices table, read on 17 September 2026, shows what is at stake for a typical day of travel. Southeastern high-speed and Heathrow Express services are excluded from caps and Travelcards altogether, so a missed touch on those routes, including on the way to or from the airport, is never capped at all. Our guide to airport transfers versus a taxi covers the rest of that Heathrow run, and the same logic on avoiding surprise charges on the way into the city applies at Gatwick, see Gatwick short stay beats the kerb.
| Zones | Peak daily cap | Off-peak daily cap |
|---|---|---|
| Zone 1 only | £8.90 | £8.90 |
| Zones 1-4 | £12.80 | £12.80 |
| Zones 1-6 | £16.30 | £16.30 |
| Zones 1-9 | £23.30 | £16.30 |
The two are separate and TfL can apply either. A maximum fare is what you pay when TfL cannot calculate your real fare, it is a charge, not a punishment. A penalty fare is a separate enforcement action for not touching in or out at all, or for travelling without a valid ticket or enough pay as you go credit.
TfL's penalty fares page, read on 17 September 2026, sets the penalty fare at £100, reduced to £50 if paid within 21 days. Persistent fare evasion is a criminal offence and can lead to prosecution, which is a harder outcome than either charge. We re-read pages like this one on the day we publish, the process is on our methodology page.
Most incomplete-journey refunds are automatic, so the first move is to wait, not to call. TfL's guide to applying for an incomplete journey refund, read on 17 September 2026, sets out the process for contactless and Oyster. If your trip also mixes in London's cycle hire, the charging rules are different again, see what a Santander Cycles day pass actually covers.
TfL cannot work out where your journey ended, so it charges a maximum fare instead of your real fare. It does not publish a fixed pound figure for that charge on its touching in and out page as of 17 September 2026, and the bigger cost is that maximum fares don't count towards your daily cap, so the rest of the day is not protected.
No. TfL's touching in and out page, read on 17 September 2026, states that maximum fares don't count towards capping. That means a single missed touch can leave every other journey that day priced at the full single fare instead of being covered once you hit the cap.
£100, reduced to £50 if you pay within 21 days, according to TfL's penalty fares page read on 17 September 2026. This is separate from a maximum fare, which is what you're charged when TfL cannot calculate your real fare rather than a punishment for fare evasion.
TfL charges a maximum fare if you exit within 2 minutes of entering, refunded if you re-enter within 45 minutes without taking a bus or tram first, the minimum pay as you go fare from that station if you exit between 2 and 30 minutes, and two maximum fares if you take longer than 30 minutes.
Wait 48 hours, since most incomplete-journey refunds are automatic. If nothing lands, sign in to your contactless and Oyster account and apply for an incomplete journey refund, you have up to 8 weeks from the journey date. You can appeal by phone if an automatic decision looks wrong.