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Free London tubes,buses,some trains 14th+28th Nov (w.contactless Mastercard)


Yaffa

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This Friday (14th Nov) and 28th November, unlimited journeys on most London tubes, buses, Tramlink and some trains are free if you use a contactless MasterCard (instead of Oyster) to pay. You can travel between 4:30 a.m. on Friday to 1 a.m. on Saturday. You pay with the Mastercard, and get a refund up to £21.80 within 28 working days. Further details and exclusions on the moneysavingexpert.com site: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/mastercard?utm_source=MSE_Newsletter&utm_medium=oneliner-three&utm_term=11-Nov-14-lt&utm_campaign=deals&utm_content=5

 

 

Yaffa (no connection to any of the above, just passing on the info. NB: Mods: I'm putting this deal as a separate thread as it could be useful for people who might not read the Oyster thread, but please move if appropriate.)

 

Yaffa

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PS: You can check if your card is contactless and should work, on the TFL site:

https://www.tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payments/contactless/what-is-contactless
According to the site, most contactless Mastercards from outside the UK should be ok, but probably not those from the US, Canada and Netherlands.

You sometimes have to do a pin and chip transaction on a particular card before you can use it for the first time for contactless payments.

Apps, keyfobs etc. with the contactless symbol should work but best to try them out first.

 

I assume that the two dates a couple of weeks apart are to encourage people to get a contactless MasterCard. If you need to get one in a hurry, pre-paid contactless Mastercards (which you can buy over the counter in many shops) can also be used.  These differ quite widely in their charges, minimum load balance, transaction/conversion fees for using money overseas etc. You can read more at: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/prepaid-cards and http://www.moneysupermarket.com/prepaid-cards/.

I've found that prepaid cards can be useful when you have security concerns about giving someone your regular card number, and also to avoid/minimise bank and ATM transaction and conversion fees when overseas. More about this at:  http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money#prepaid

 

Yaffa (no connection to the above sites)

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Thanks, Yaffa. Unfortunately, all the travel I'm planning on doing tomorrow would be covered by a friend giving me a lift, but I'll bear it in mind for the 28th. Gotta to stock up if Boris' plans to cut Oystercard peak payment caps come to fruition: METRO is implying that it will be at the expense of the off-peak cap, in which case my travel costs will SOAR!

 

By the way, is anyone still *without* a contactless payment card? I run my business account off a Nationwide current account, and was looking forward to getting one when my debit card ran out last month, so I could stop messing around having to refund my personal account every time I went on business trips, but the new one's non-contactless as well :(

Perhaps I could use this Mastercard and keep topping it up?

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By the way, is anyone still *without* a contactless payment card? I run my business account off a Nationwide current account, and was looking forward to getting one when my debit card ran out last month, so I could stop messing around having to refund my personal account every time I went on business trips, but the new one's non-contactless as well :(

Perhaps I could use this Mastercard and keep topping it up?

 

Some prepaid cards expire when you've used up all the funds. Others can be recharged, with methods and costs varying considerably.  Cards also have very different cashback agreements, 'special offers' and signup bonuses. For example, the Pockit prepaid MasterCard charges a 99p application fee, and currently has a special offer where you get £5 of credit when you load your first £10. See: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/prepaid-cards#pockit. Haven't yet checked if it is contactless, but since it's cheaper than free and has no dormancy fee (some cards charge a monthly fee if you don't use them for a certain number of months), it might be worth getting anyway.

 

BTW, I'd guess that if  you accidentally swipe in with a contactless Mastercard and swipe out with an Oyster, you'd get a huge debit on one or both cards for uncompleted (i.e. charged at maximum rate) journeys. In general, it's probably not a good idea to keep multiple contactless cards in the same wallet while you swipe. 

 

Yaffa

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As well as the contactless Mastercard deal, American Express contactless card holders can get £5 off the tubes etc. (after they have spent at least £5) by registering at:  https://merchantgeo.secure.force.com/enroll/EnrollmentSitePage?offer=TFLspend5get5 The offer is valid for the first 25,000 users who register and spend £5 on contactless travel by 30th November.

 

Yaffa (with no connection with any of the above)

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