Roland Perry wrote:
In message
, at 15:51:59 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014, Recliner remarked:

I didn't use the TfL journey planner. Much less of a faff to look at the
three dedicated websites (Tube, Connect and HEx).

Why? It just took seconds to find the last trains on all three services
using one app, and as we saw, it was more accurate, too. Plus it would take
note of any planned maintenance work.

I find the TfL planner fiddly to use, and because I don't know the exact
destination, what should I put in (it seems to be extremely pedantic
about narrowing down locations to the nearest 50ft).

I used Acton Town as the destination and correctly guessed that T3 was the
starting point, as that's where most A380s go. Acton Town is handy because
it's step-free, handy for those with luggage, and has a minicab office
right in the station. Even if you have to wait for an available cab, at
least it's under cover.

In message

, at 16:20:25 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014, Recliner
remarked:
I find the TfL planner fiddly to use, and because I don't know the exact
destination, what should I put in (it seems to be extremely pedantic
about narrowing down locations to the nearest 50ft).

I used Acton Town as the destination and correctly guessed that T3 was the
starting point, as that's where most A380s go.

It's also the stop for the 23.48 HEx I mentioned.

Acton Town is handy because it's step-free, handy for those with
luggage, and has a minicab office right in the station. Even if you
have to wait for an available cab, at least it's under cover.

Another good tip, thanks.
--
Roland Perry

On Saturday, 14 June 2014 12:35:06 UTC+1, Roland Perry wrote:
I have a colleague on a delayed flight who looks as if they'll be

landing Heathrow at 10.45pm Sunday night, and probably looking for ways

to get to West London at about midnight.



I think the chances of getting the 11.48pm last HEx are slim to none;

they aren't an EU citizen, will have hold baggage, and it's an A380. The

last tube is at 11.28pm



What does the team think?



(My initial thought is bonding with a few fellow-countryman delayed pax

en-route and sharing a cab for three.)

--

Roland Perry

Don't forget that soon T4L buses wont take cash payments even on the N9 late at night. This will really screw late arriving in bound tourists because they wont have the opportunity to purchase an Oyster card late at night.

Even paying by cash on the ex-N97 and now N9 buses at Heathrow was a problem for tourists because they usually only had notes fresh out of an ATM and the bus drivers never carried a float large enough to give them change. Time and again I have seen tourists with luggage abandoned at the Bust Station because the drivers refused to take them.

At least with the Heathrow FreeFlow Zone extending to North Heathrow and Harlington Corner and Hatton Cross tourists can get out of the Airport late at night - but that's no use to them when they can't then get into Central London.

Welcome to Britain - NOT.

In message , at
05:11:18 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014, CJB remarked:
Don't forget that soon T4L buses wont take cash payments even on the N9 late at night. This will really screw late arriving in bound tourists
because they wont have the opportunity to purchase an Oyster card late at night.

Unless there are machines selling Oyster cards, perhaps ones for the
tube stations but still accessible even after the tube has closed.

If they don't have some sort of solution then surely their patronage
will fall off a cliff.

Even paying by cash on the ex-N97 and now N9 buses at Heathrow was a problem for tourists because they usually only had notes fresh out of an
ATM and the bus drivers never carried a float large enough to give them change. Time and again I have seen tourists with luggage abandoned at
the Bust Station because the drivers refused to take them.

I've had very similar problems all over the world, surviving the first
24hrs without enough local coinage, and vendors (both real and
mechanical) not accepting notes.

It's not just a UK thing. The best solution I ever saw was at Lisbon
airport where they had a booth that sold 10-Euros of mixed change.
--
Roland Perry

In article , (Roland Perry)
wrote:

In message ,
at 05:11:18 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014, CJB remarked:
Don't forget that soon T4L buses wont take cash payments even on the
N9 late at night. This will really screw late arriving in bound tourists
because they wont have the opportunity to purchase an Oyster card late
at night.

Unless there are machines selling Oyster cards, perhaps ones for the
tube stations but still accessible even after the tube has closed.

If they don't have some sort of solution then surely their patronage
will fall off a cliff.

Even paying by cash on the ex-N97 and now N9 buses at Heathrow was a
problem for tourists because they usually only had notes fresh out of an
ATM and the bus drivers never carried a float large enough to give them
change. Time and again I have seen tourists with luggage abandoned at
the Bust Station because the drivers refused to take them.

I've had very similar problems all over the world, surviving the
first 24hrs without enough local coinage, and vendors (both real and
mechanical) not accepting notes.

It's not just a UK thing. The best solution I ever saw was at Lisbon
airport where they had a booth that sold 10-Euros of mixed change.

Another solution is to keep your change for the next trip (and remember to
take it with you).

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In message , at 08:26:13
on Sun, 15 Jun 2014, remarked:
Even paying by cash on the ex-N97 and now N9 buses at Heathrow was a
problem for tourists because they usually only had notes fresh out of an
ATM and the bus drivers never carried a float large enough to give them
change. Time and again I have seen tourists with luggage abandoned at
the Bust Station because the drivers refused to take them.

I've had very similar problems all over the world, surviving the
first 24hrs without enough local coinage, and vendors (both real and
mechanical) not accepting notes.

It's not just a UK thing. The best solution I ever saw was at Lisbon
airport where they had a booth that sold 10-Euros of mixed change.

Another solution is to keep your change for the next trip (and remember to
take it with you).

I used to hoard quarters for return trips to the USA, and also coins for
most of the countries in Europe I visited regularly. This was much more
onerous pre-Euro of course.

I've still got a bag of Swiss coins I might perhaps use one day, not to
mention all the pre-Euro stuff. I changed all the pre-Euro notes before
they 'expired' but you can't change coins.

Luckily, Brazilian 50c coins are sufficiently similar to £1 that I can
use them to release supermarket trolleys.
--
Roland Perry

It's not just a UK thing. The best solution I ever saw was at Lisbon
airport where they had a booth that sold 10-Euros of mixed change.

I like the solution in Geneva, where there is a machine in the airport
baggage claim that dispenses free transit tickets. Geneva has a
unified fare scheme ("unireso") so the ticket is good on any
combination of train, bus, trolleybus, tram, and cute little ferry for
80 minutes.

When you check in, most hotels will give you a transit pass good for
the period of your stay.

Admittedly, if you get in after the last bus at 0143 you're stuck with
a taxi, but the city's not that big.

R's,
John
--
Regards,
John Levine, , Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies",
Please consider the environment before reading this e-mail. http://jl.ly

In article , (Roland Perry)
wrote:

In message , at
08:26:13 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014, remarked:
Even paying by cash on the ex-N97 and now N9 buses at Heathrow was a
problem for tourists because they usually only had notes fresh out of
an ATM and the bus drivers never carried a float large enough to give
them change. Time and again I have seen tourists with luggage
abandoned at the Bust Station because the drivers refused to take
them.

I've had very similar problems all over the world, surviving the
first 24hrs without enough local coinage, and vendors (both real and
mechanical) not accepting notes.

It's not just a UK thing. The best solution I ever saw was at Lisbon
airport where they had a booth that sold 10-Euros of mixed change.

Another solution is to keep your change for the next trip (and remember
to take it with you).

I used to hoard quarters for return trips to the USA, and also coins
for most of the countries in Europe I visited regularly. This was
much more onerous pre-Euro of course.

I've still got a bag of Swiss coins I might perhaps use one day, not
to mention all the pre-Euro stuff. I changed all the pre-Euro notes
before they 'expired' but you can't change coins.

Swiss coinage seems to have been longer-lasting in my lifetime than any
other. Apart from changing some of the metals they seem to have the same as
50-odd years ago when I first went there. Maybe the USA is similar but their
money is so dysfunctional I'm not sure it's so useful.

Luckily, Brazilian 50c coins are sufficiently similar to £1 that I
can use them to release supermarket trolleys.

I've got a key ring thing for that. Much easier.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In article ,
says...



Don't forget that soon T4L buses wont take cash payments even on the N9 late at night. This will really screw late arriving in bound tourists because they wont have the opportunity to purchase an Oyster card late at night.

Even paying by cash on the ex-N97 and now N9 buses at Heathrow was a problem for tourists because they usually only had notes fresh out of an ATM and the bus drivers never carried a float large enough to give them change. Time and again I have seen tourists with luggage abandoned at the Bust Station because the drivers refused to take them.

At least with the Heathrow FreeFlow Zone extending to North Heathrow and Harlington Corner and Hatton Cross tourists can get out of the Airport late at night - but that's no use to them when they can't then get into Central London.

Welcome to Britain - NOT.


'Twas ever thus.

When I lived in Snorbans many times I had to help people with Scottish
banknotes the Green Line drivers wouldn't accept.

Swiss coinage seems to have been longer-lasting in my lifetime than any
other. Apart from changing some of the metals they seem to have the same as
50-odd years ago when I first went there. Maybe the USA is similar but their
money is so dysfunctional I'm not sure it's so useful.

US coins haven't changed much in a century, and all old bills and
coins remains legal tender. The last major change to coins was in
1965, when they switched from silver to base metal for the 10c, 25c,
and 50c coins. The silver coins will work in vending machines, but
since the silver content is now worth about 15 times the face value,
you'll never see them in circulation.

In 1979 they introduced a base metal dollar coin, sized to make it
easy to adjust vending machines to accept them, which they all do. It
was close enough in size to the 25c coin that people didn't like them.
In 2000 there was a new series the same size but gold colored with a
smooth rim. The new dollar coins still are not popular, other than in
the vending industry. Now and then I get a roll of them and spend
them to weird people out.

Most US vending machines accept paper $1 and $5 currency, which is
likely to be more useful for transit tickets. Those also haven't
changed much since 1928 when the size was reduced. Older issues
rarely circulate since they're worth more than face value to
collectors, but the $1 bill hasn't been redesigned since 1963 and any
$1 bill since then should work in vending machines.

--
Regards,
John Levine, , Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies",
Please consider the environment before reading this e-mail. http://jl.ly