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On 07/01/2014 22:19, Mizter T wrote:


On 07/01/2014 22:10, wrote:

In article ,
(Richard J.) wrote:
[...]
Well, at least the funny foreign coins show the value as a number. I
feel sorry for foreigners trying to decipher "TWENTY PENCE" in
letters 1.5mm high on the edge of our 20p coin.

The old 20p design before me as I write has the figures "20" on it.
The new
designs are so naff that it doesn't surprise me to find they don't have
figures. The 20p even managed to appear without a date because the
date was
switched from reverse to obverse and some were minted with the old
head side.


I quite like the 'new' (2008) designs, but must admit it hadn't dawned
on me until now that none of them feature the value in numerals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:New_British_Coinage_2008.jpg

Anybody ever find a 20-pence coin from St. Helena and Ascension in their
change?

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On 06/01/2014 21:01, Mizter T wrote:

On 06/01/2014 17:16, David Cantrell wrote:

On Thu, Jan 02, 2014 at 08:46:47PM +0000, Clive Page wrote:

It could be that some of them are conditioned by the near impossibility
of using ticket machines at stations in France (and for that matter in
the Netherlands) if you are a non-native.

The only problem I've had with ticket machines in Paris is that they use
funny foreign coins that I don't recognise very quickly, which makes it
hard to figure out what to put in. If only Europe would adopt a single
currency, such as the pound.


Paris TVMs (both RATP and SNCF Transilien) don't take notes, which is a
bit annoying.

Using a credit card won't take a surcharge, compared with using a debit
card.

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On 07/01/2014 21:31, tim...... wrote:

"Richard J." wrote in message
...
Mizter T wrote on 06 January 2014 21:01:28 ...

On 06/01/2014 17:16, David Cantrell wrote:

On Thu, Jan 02, 2014 at 08:46:47PM +0000, Clive Page wrote:

It could be that some of them are conditioned by the near
impossibility
of using ticket machines at stations in France (and for that matter in
the Netherlands) if you are a non-native.

The only problem I've had with ticket machines in Paris is that they
use
funny foreign coins that I don't recognise very quickly, which makes it
hard to figure out what to put in. If only Europe would adopt a single
currency, such as the pound.

Well, at least the funny foreign coins show the value as a number. I
feel sorry for foreigners trying to decipher "TWENTY PENCE" in letters
1.5mm high on the edge of our 20p coin.

when we still have the old 10p pieces, I can recall an American putting
one on the counter and asking the assistant is this (huge) coin worth
one, or two of your pounds?

tim

Clearly he did not understand the difference between pounds and
shillings/florins.

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On 02/01/2014 19:02, Phil wrote:
Mizter T writes:

On 02/01/2014 16:24, tim...... wrote:
[snip]
If TfL are expecting your average foreign tourist to start paying for
tickets using "pay wave" credit cards I think that they are tilting at
windmills

You only have to look at the number of suitably "qualified" individuals
who don't go through the self service passport check (at no risk and
sometimes considerable time cost) to see how "frightened" the average
person is of such technology

They might not have a chipped passport yet. (Or have no passport - the
gates don't work with Euro national identity cards.)

Can't be many non-chip UK passports left now.

My passport issued in 2006 doesn't have one so that means roughly a
third will not.

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On Mon, 06 Jan 2014 21:01:28 +0000, Mizter T
wrote:

Paris TVMs (both RATP and SNCF Transilien) don't take notes, which is a
bit annoying.

With cards at least, Paris is better now. So is Brussels. It seems
to me that "city" operators are often more tourist-friendly than the
national rail operator when it comes to accepting foreign cards. TMB
vs. RENFE, STIB vs. SNCB...

Germany is a problem for me, now that my debit card is a Visa. DB
machines (and the diminishing number of shops that only take debit
cards) consider it to be a credit card and the computer says no for
smaller transactions. When it was a Maestro, there was no problem.

Richard.

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In message , at 09:35:46 on Sat, 11 Jan
2014, Someone Somewhere remarked:
Can't be many non-chip UK passports left now.

My passport issued in 2006 doesn't have one so that means roughly a
third will not.

Even taking into account the 5yr passports issued to minors, and those
replaced for various reasons (lost/stolen/damaged/full)?
--
Roland Perry

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"Oyster refund at LRH"? That is surprising, given that LRH is the code for La Rochelle airport in France - somewhat outside the zonal area ....

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On Sat, 04 Jan 2014 13:47:21 +0000, "
wrote:

I wonder if TfL would eventually do away with and accept either thumb
prints or have ceiling mounted readers that can read your face or
irises. Fares would be directly deducted from people's accounts.

We should all have barcodes tattooed on our foreheads.

--
jhk

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On 11/01/2014 13:18, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 09:35:46 on Sat, 11 Jan
2014, Someone Somewhere remarked:
Can't be many non-chip UK passports left now.

My passport issued in 2006 doesn't have one so that means roughly a
third will not.

Even taking into account the 5yr passports issued to minors, and those
replaced for various reasons (lost/stolen/damaged/full)?

Yes, but also those replaced abroad would probably not have a chip in
them either until much later so it probably evens out.

In my case the replacement was to get a machine readable passport as my
previous one issued in 2000 in Budapest due to damage was not.

Anyway, even if it's only a quarter or a fifth then that's still a
substantial number of passports and larger than "can't be many"

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"Roland Perry" wrote in message
...
In message , at 09:35:46 on Sat, 11 Jan
2014, Someone Somewhere remarked:
Can't be many non-chip UK passports left now.

My passport issued in 2006 doesn't have one so that means roughly a third
will not.

Even taking into account the 5yr passports issued to minors, and those
replaced for various reasons (lost/stolen/damaged/full)?

and the fairly reasonable statistic that the newer a passport is, the more
likely it is to be used.

(I wonder how skewed that really is. I wouldn't be at all surprised to find
that it is very significant)

tim