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The Official European JWFAN Pre-Concert Meetup Thread (London, October 26, 2018)


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3 minutes ago, Jay said:

We both have credit and debit cards with the chip in them, I assume that is what "contactless" means.

 

What is the point of them instituting a weekly cap?  After a certain amount, they just say no to taking your money?

 

The weekly cap stops you paying more than the cost of the equivalent weekly travel card, however many journeys you make.  Once you have reached the cap you effectively travel free; when you touch your card out on the Oyster readers the display will show a deduction of 0.00 and the barriers will still open to let you through.  This also applies to the daily cap, which is the same for both Oyster cards and contactless payment cards.

 

I am sure I covered contactless cards earlier in one of these threads, but I will see if I can dig out the link again.

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1 hour ago, Stefancos said:

I might get one just to be sure. In case my debit card doesnt work, or doesnt work on every check-in machine.

 

That's exactly what i think will happen the early morning i have to get to the airport.

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Better safe then sorry, right?

 

58 minutes ago, Quintus said:

I'm just going to go contactless for the whole visit, it's less hassle than Oyster and weekly caps.

 

Are you sure your card is contactless though, it's not necessarily the same as having a chip. Though opbviously all contactless cards have a chip.

 

Have you ever used your cards for contactless payments in stores? 

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1 hour ago, Jay said:

We both have credit and debit cards with the chip in them, I assume that is what "contactless" means.

 

 

@Jay

 

Here is some useful information about contactless payment cards and travel in London.  Obviously I cannot tell you for definite if your bank card can be used or not, but hopefully there is enough information there to help you decide if it is for you.

 

Contactless payment cards and Oyster cards are valid for almost all public transport in London.  You can even use them on River Buses and on the Emirates Airline (the cable car which crosses the River Thames in Docklands).

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Well, mine are Maestro, and they are contactless, so that should be fine.

 

Another question, would there be any point in using a credit card over a debit card in the UK? Are both equally accepted in pubs and restaurants for example?

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5 hours ago, Incanus said:

Would you say the Heathrow Express is the quickest and easiest way to get to London from the airport?

 

It really depends on where in London you want to get to, how much time you have and how much money you want to spend.  If you are heading to Paddington or somewhere near there, the Heathrow Express is definitely the quickest because it takes about 16 or 17 minutes and does not stop anywhere else once it leaves the airport.  However, it is much more expensive than using TfL Rail or the Tube (Piccadilly line) and, as mentioned previously, you cannot use Oyster or contactless cards to pay for journeys on the Heathrow Express.  I have never used the Heathrow Express myself but a quick look at their website suggests that a peak single fare is an eye-watering £27.

 

Unless time is a factor for you, the journey time to central London on the Piccadilly line is not exactly arduous (only 40 minutes to South Kensington with no changes, for example).  Alternatively, TfL Rail services run the same route into London Paddington as the Heathrow Express but stop at six or seven stations, so the journey takes about 28 minutes.  Again, that's hardly the Trans-Siberian express.

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10 minutes ago, Omen II said:

 

It really depends on where in London you want to get to, how much time you have and how much money you want to spend.  If you are heading to Paddington or somewhere near there, the Heathrow Express is definitely the quickest because it takes about 16 or 17 minutes and does not stop anywhere else once it leaves the airport.  However, it is much more expensive than using TfL Rail or the Tube (Piccadilly line) and, as mentioned previously, you cannot use Oyster or contactless cards to pay for journeys on the Heathrow Express.  I have never used the Heathrow Express myself but a quick look at their website suggests that a peak single fare is an eye-watering £27.

 

Unless time is a factor for you, the journey time to central London on the Piccadilly line is not exactly arduous (only 40 minutes to South Kensington with no changes, for example).  Alternatively, TfL Rail services run the same route into London Paddington as the Heathrow Express but stop at six or seven stations, so the journey takes about 28 minutes.  Again, that's hardly the Trans-Siberian express.

Thanks! TfL looks like the more reasonable option then pricing-wise.

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6 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

£27? You 'avin' a laugh?

 

I am actually, my mistake.  I have rechecked and it's 'only' £25 single during peak hours or £37 return.

 

A single fare using an Oyster card from Heathrow to Paddington during peak hours is £5.10, or £3.10 off peak.

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24 minutes ago, Incanus said:

Thanks! TfL looks like the more reasonable option then pricing-wise.

 

Just to be clear, a single fare on TfL Rail between Heathrow and Paddington in peak hours using an Oyster or contactless card is £10.20, or £10.10 off peak.  It is therefore more expensive than the Tube but cheaper than the Heathrow Express.

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34 minutes ago, Omen II said:

 

Just to be clear, a single fare on TfL Rail between Heathrow and Paddington in peak hours using an Oyster or contactless card is £10.20, or £10.10 off peak.  It is therefore more expensive than the Tube but cheaper than the Heathrow Express.

Hmmm. Since I am arriving next Saturday with no particular hurry to get to town I might consider the cheaper Tube option then even if it takes more time.

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1 hour ago, Stefancos said:

Better safe then sorry, right?

 

 

Are you sure your card is contactless though, it's not necessarily the same as having a chip. Though opbviously all contactless cards have a chip.

 

Have you ever used your cards for contactless payments in stores? 

 

All the time. I'd be very surprised to have an issue paying with a visa debit card.

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8 hours ago, Stefancos said:

I was talking to Jason. I dunno if contactless payment is already a thing over there.

They still use cheques, you know.

 

I used a Canadian contactless visa to pay in the US last summer and the clerk looked at me like "woah!! I didn’t know you could do that!". 😮 So yeah it’s coming but not quite there yet. Australia and Canada have some of the highest contactless usage.

 

Also from the TFL website:

MasterCard 
Nearly all MasterCard and Maestro contactless payment cards issued outside the UK are accepted.

Some cards issued in the USA, Canada and the Netherlands are not accepted. If your card is rejected on our services, please contact your card issuer.

 

AmEx, on the other hand, has the same proprietary closed-loop system worldwide, so the country of issuance is less of an issue if you have one.

 

So try first and see if it opens the gates. If it works great, if not get an Oyster, but I’m a huge fan of the contactless system in London. Wish every city in the world would adopt it. Reloadable cards aren’t refundable if lost, and the queues to reload them at certain stations in London can be painstakingly long!

 

Note that your card having a chip doesn’t mean it’s contactless-enabled. Not all chip cards are contactless. It should have a little "wi-fi" symbol printed on it, meaning it’s got a wire circuitry embedded all around the card that’s tuned to a specific frequency linked to your credit card number when read at close range.

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13 hours ago, Foxfan said:

Reloadable cards aren’t refundable if lost, and the queues to reload them at certain stations in London can be painstakingly long!

 

 

If you set up an account and register your Oyster card at the Transport for London website, then you will be refunded the outstanding credit by TfL if your card is lost or stolen.

 

You are right however about the queues for topping up Oyster cards at the busiest stations, which is why many Londoners who travel frequently also opt for auto top-up.  This means that whenever the pay-as-you-go credit on your Oyster card drops below £10, it automatically tops up with your choice of either £20 or £40 when you next touch the card on the reader.  As much as we love to queue in Britain, I have not had to top up my Oyster card at a ticket machine for donkey's years.  I receive an e-mail every time it has topped up and the amount is charged to the credit card I have registered with my TfL account.

 

P.S. I like John Williams. 🦄

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Yes Omen II, you've been so helpful in this thread, but I see you're not attending the meetup dinner or anything?

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Thank you, that is kind of you both.  Yes, I will be attending the concert (try stopping me!) but as I will be coming straight from work the meet up beforehand will be too early for me.  I might be up for a nightcap afterwards.

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23 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

Cool!

 

Anyone know a good weather app for the UK?

 

I use the BBC Weather app, but the Met Office Weather Forecast app is also very good.  The Met Office (http://www.metoffice.gov.uk) is based in Exeter and is the UK's national weather service.

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4 hours ago, Stefancos said:

Hope the weather will be decent, or at least dry.

 

I've been in London 6 times so far. As far as I remember, it only rained once, slightly and briefly.

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14 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

I've been in London 6 times so far. As far as I remember, it only rained once, slightly and briefly.

That's it. You had to jinx it!

 

Karol

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8 hours ago, publicist said:

Google weather is usually wrong, though..BBC says:

 

image.png

They are optimistic.

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Anyone else desperately trying not to get a cold? I have no fancy to be strolling around London with a head full a snot or a throat infection.

 

Actually been rudely avoiding people who look like they may be under the weather this week.

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I dont get why people bother to join long Oyster topup queues if we can alternatively pay contactless with our bank cards. As far as I can tell, everyone in the UK pays contactless for literally everything where they can these days. 

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