Chaos likely when they close ticket windows at King's Cross St. Pancras
 

On 2015-03-30 15:46:47 +0000, Matthew Dickinson said:

SWT and London Midland have recently withdrawn Oyster at their ticket
windows, so they can't value any commission that much.

Possibly confirmation that Oyster is going to become much more niche -
only really for those of limited means, tourists and children, as
everyone else will use contactless instead.

Neil
--
Neil Williams
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Chaos likely when they close ticket windows at King's Cross St. Pancras
 

On 2015-03-30 22:43:54 +0000, Richard said:

I've had a few moments like that... with the male urge to see if empty
really does mean empty, and the last last last petrol station only
taking cards.

The one at Milan Linate airport (just outside) doesn't take UK cards
and doesn't give change...right nuisance when bringing a hire car back.

Neil
--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the @ to reply.

Chaos likely when they close ticket windows at King's Cross St. Pancras
 

On 2015-03-30 16:39:58 +0000, Mizter T said:

Do you remember Neil Williams asking FCC about their sales desk at
Luton Airport, and getting a response from an FCC CS rep saying they
knew nothing about it - of course it turned out that CS department
simply weren't clued up about it and it was an FCC operation after all!

Yes, I remember that with some amusement. I bet they forgot their TVM
in the baggage hall, too (used that a few times).

Neil
--
Neil Williams
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Chaos likely when they close ticket windows at King's Cross St. Pancras
 

In message , at 11:23:13 on Tue, 31
Mar 2015, Roland Perry remarked:
[1] Hidden rather a long way down the list of what does and doesn't
work, they suddenly introduce the concept of 'pre-pay' cards.

Pre-paid cards

If you have a prepaid card (issued in the UK or outside the UK), it
may be accepted for travel on our services. Contact your card issuer
for more information

And I should have added that this aspect is much more important for
tourists, because they are aggressively marketed pre-paid cards by
various Bureau-de-Change as a means of delivering "foreign" (to them)
currency such as pounds.

It would be a great disappointment if perhaps the first time they wanted
to use such a card on arrival in the UK (to travel on TfL) that it
didn't work.

This, and other, newsgroups commonly have people moaning about the lack
of acceptance of UK cards by Dutch TVMs, for example.
--
Roland Perry

Chaos likely when they close ticket windows at King's Cross St. Pancras
 

In message , at 11:39:11 on Tue, 31
Mar 2015, Neil Williams remarked:
SWT and London Midland have recently withdrawn Oyster at their ticket
windows, so they can't value any commission that much.

Possibly confirmation that Oyster is going to become much more niche -
only really for those of limited means, tourists and children, as
everyone else will use contactless instead.

What about commuters in London? Will they all migrate their in-boundary
Travelcards to ITSO, or is there a plan to link them to a contactless
card, and have it work throughout the Travelcard-valid estate?
--
Roland Perry

Chaos likely when they close ticket windows at King's Cross St. Pancras
 

On 2015-03-30 22:22:55 +0000, Mizter T said:

Might as well just give up then, shut down the transport system, forget
about this modern living lark and go back to hunting on the savannah.

I thought goat ownership was the solution? :)

Neil
--
Neil Williams
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Chaos likely when they close ticket windows at King's Cross St.
 

On 2015-03-31 08:33:57 +0000, d said:

Modern living being people happily allowing TfL to raid their bank accounts
so they can have a slightly-slower-an-less-reliable-than-oyster service?

Or not having to lend TfL a load of money on a topped-up Oyster for
occasional use, instead being able simply to use your card?

I like it, personally, and have "cashed in" my Oyster card.

Neil
--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the @ to reply.

Chaos likely when they close ticket windows at King's Cross St. Pancras
 

In message , at 23:16:35 on Mon, 30 Mar
2015, Mizter T remarked:

The agent at the airport in the case of Stansted Express is StEx
itself - they've a counter after customs for arrivals.

StEx is just a brand of Abellio GA. Are you sure this is an AGA sales
office, and not some sort of travel agent?

Almost certain, yes.

See:
https://www.stanstedexpress.com/about-us/latest-news/2013/01/25/buy-stansted-express-tickets-at-the-airport

There's nothing in that announcement which persuades me it's an
AGA-staffed operation.

Well, if you want to be pedantic (and, come on, you love it!), I didn't
say anything about it being "AGA-staffed"!

So what are you claiming then - that it's an AGA "owned" booth with
airport-handling-agency staff inside?

I recall getting no-where with the KLM ticket desk at Birmingham
Airport, where the KLM-uniformed staff eventually said "you'll have to
take that up with KLM, we don't work for them..."
--
Roland Perry

Chaos likely when they close ticket windows at King's Cross St.
 

On Tue, 31 Mar 2015 11:52:32 +0100
Neil Williams wrote:
On 2015-03-31 08:33:57 +0000, d said:

Modern living being people happily allowing TfL to raid their bank accounts
so they can have a slightly-slower-an-less-reliable-than-oyster service?

Or not having to lend TfL a load of money on a topped-up Oyster for
occasional use, instead being able simply to use your card?

There is that. However I'd sooner lend TfL a tenner than have the chance of
my bank account details going walkies or being cleaned out because of a bug
or hack of the paywave system. Plus I like being anonymous while I travel.
My oyster was paid for in cash and its topped up in cash and until face
recognition is good enough that we can be tracked by face alone I like being
able to travel without the possibility of anyone knowing where I'm going
or have been unless I want them to.

--
Spud

Chaos likely when they close ticket windows at King's Cross St.Pancras
 

On 31/03/2015 12:20, Roland Perry wrote:

In message , at 23:16:35 on Mon, 30 Mar
2015, Mizter T remarked:

The agent at the airport in the case of Stansted Express is StEx
itself - they've a counter after customs for arrivals.

StEx is just a brand of Abellio GA. Are you sure this is an AGA sales
office, and not some sort of travel agent?

Almost certain, yes.

See:
https://www.stanstedexpress.com/about-us/latest-news/2013/01/25/buy-stansted-express-tickets-at-the-airport


There's nothing in that announcement which persuades me it's an
AGA-staffed operation.

Well, if you want to be pedantic (and, come on, you love it!), I
didn't say anything about it being "AGA-staffed"!

So what are you claiming then - that it's an AGA "owned" booth with
airport-handling-agency staff inside?

I'll turn that around and ask 'what are you claiming'?