New Amex statement credits including £5 back on £5 London transport spend

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• flyforfun says:

  26 Oct26 October 12:34

  I think the death of Oyster cards is premature. TFL is keen to move as many PAYG customers onto it as possible because they didn’t develop the system and pay royalties to the owner of Oyster.

  However, there’s no benefit for those on season tickets as yet. If they can magically tot up my journeys for a year from a given start date and then work out the best fares for me, then I may be impressed, but I can’t see them wanting to alert people that the Annual tickets probably aren’t as good value as they used to be as working patterns change. I can work from home or an office I can walk to as well as in the City or West End. I also get more holidays too, so the “6 weeks free” isn’t really a saving on the full ticket.

  Using contactless cards helps those on PAYG from the UK, but as an overseas visitor, would you want to see a load of transaction charges each time you went through the turnstiles?

  • Dave says:

    26 Oct26 October 12:48

    A credit doesn’t appear everytime you go through a turnstile (or tap in on a bus, etc). What happens is the system works out the total cost at the end of the day and applies any price caps before making the charge.

  • Mark2 says:

    26 Oct26 October 15:08

    I was tipped off by a colleague some years ago that annual/monthly season tickets are not good value. Spend a little time with the calendar and reduce the number of weekends for which you pay. Five week tickets Monday to Friday are usually best but you may have to extend this to account for bank holidays and your holidays. You should save at least six weeks per year and if your circumstances change the penalties on cancellation are minimised.
    (this works on FGW; probably on other companies as the season ticket calculator is the same for all/most).

    • JQ says:

      27 Oct27 October 21:09

      Monthlies are 3.84x weekly, Annuals are 40x weekly.

      You can buy any length from 1 month to 10 months 13 days pro rata (10m13d is equivalent to annual)

      If you know when your leave is going to be and not going out on weekends, then it makes more sense to buy pro-rated 5 weekly etc.

• Jason says:

  26 Oct26 October 12:43

  I synced the foursquare whsmith credit but it hasn’t shown on my statement 🙁

  • Sophie says:

    26 Oct26 October 15:29

    Me, neither. I am using a MBNA Amex and synced on foursquare

• Dave says:

  26 Oct26 October 13:15

  One thing that TFL reminds me is how backward the rest of the UK is with ticketing. Most areas haven’t even caught up with where Oyster was 10 years ago. Edinburgh have launched a brand new tram network this year, it should have accepted contactless cards from the start. The closest thing they have to a PAYG smartcard is citysmart but is not valid on journeys to/from Edinburgh Airport! Instead they encourage you to buy tickets in advance using an m-ticket app which then involves opening the app and scanning a barcode, a contactless card would be so much easier.

  Same on Tyne and Wear. Their version of Oyster (Pop card) still hasn’t launched PAYG, they should really be looking towards contactless payments too. Instead they’re 10 years behind London. As there’s only 4 ticket machines at Newcastle Airport Metro station it can take a while to get your ticket.

  Glasgow is a weird one. Even their paper tickets have a chip in them on the Subway (same as the Netherlands) so you tap the barriers even with a single ticket. Because of this the barriers on the Subway don’t have a magnetic strip reader which means if you buy a national rail ticket that includes Subway travel you can’t get through the barrier! The solution for me involved queuing up at the ticket desk and they issued a free ticket to open the barrier.

  • Jeff says:

    26 Oct26 October 15:38

    “Edinburgh have launched a brand new tram network this year”

    Really? Where is this network? They introduced HALF a single line, nothing more.

    Whats more, it’s even slower than the bus.

• sqills says:

  26 Oct26 October 14:26

  Last day to use XXMHNN 1000 Tesco points on £60 Wine

  • sqills says:

    26 Oct26 October 14:31

    Memo to staff:
    Good evening. This is a heads up on the Christmas Clubcard Boost that starts on Monday. Here’s the details:

    – £5 in Clubcard vouchers can be converted to £10 vouchers to spend online/instore.
    – Starts 27th October 2014 and vouchers must be exchanged by 14th December, and converted tokens must be redeemed by 24th December.
    – Tesco are also changing the way the voucher is issued. Rather than selecting a department, it’s now going to be a “Christmas boost token” which will work across all 10 boost departments.

    Departments included in the Boost:

    * Gaming
    * Toys & Bikes
    * Christmas Trees, Lights & Decorations
    * Phones & Accessories
    * Electricals
    * Health & Beauty Gift Sets
    * Clothing
    * Cook, Dine & Home
    * Opticians
    * Hudl 2 tablets & Accessories

    • Rob says:

      26 Oct26 October 16:54

      Would be good if new iPad was included but not holding breath!

      • sqills says:

        26 Oct26 October 17:26

        If you’re buying something on Direct, remember TDXR-WRTP for £15 off £75 or
        TDX-TFNG Get £10 off Technology, Gaming and Home Electrical Orders Over £75 at Tesco Direct

      • Anon says:

        27 Oct27 October 14:25

        Thanks squills, both not able to use those, one was expired the other locked for another customer…

  • Thomas says:

    26 Oct26 October 18:32

    And already in my account, 12 hours after the order was made, and despite delivery a week away..

• Aliks says:

  26 Oct26 October 15:33

  Dave,

  Whats so good about contactless – I cant see much value for the consumer and its not particularly obvious way forwards.

  Generally contactless has failed to take off so the card companies are now paying people to try it.

  • andy stock says:

    26 Oct26 October 15:52

    Contactless has failed to take off??? Its increasing massively in London. Waitrose, Tesco, Starbucks, Weatherspoons, Young’s pubs, Pret, Eat, Greene King pubs. Even my local indepantant cafe has it and my local pub as it. To the consumer its the fastest way yo pay.

    • Aliks says:

      26 Oct26 October 16:03

      I know its offered in all the places you list, but I rarely, if ever, see anyone using it.

      In the pubs in the City mostly you see people being handed the chip and pin reader and tapping in their PIN.

      Maybe its so fast to pay that I just dont notice it?

      • Peter says:

        26 Oct26 October 16:56

        I use it all the time. I have to hold my card to the machine of course so to the casual observer it may look like I’ve done standard chip and pin maybe? Also, my older cards do not yet offer contactless. I assume they will do when the need replacing.

      • JQ says:

        27 Oct27 October 21:12

        Most people don’t realise that you can use it.

        Also, contactless means that the waiter has to type in the amount, let you see it, then you tap your card. I wouldn’t give my card to the waiter to tap on a machine hidden behind a bar. Most of the time contactless is available but when I hand my card to the waiter, he just inserts it into the machine.

  • Rob says:

    26 Oct26 October 16:52

    It is incredibly convenient, saves at least 30 seconds per transaction vs a PIN.

    On the tube, tho’, all they are doing is swapping co tactless Oyster for contactless credit card.

• David says:

  26 Oct26 October 17:39

  I switched from Oyster PAYG to contactless a few weeks back to take advantage of the weekly capping feature, which is unavailable on Oyster and useful to those who may not know how much they will be traveling in a given week. I’m very happy so far, particularly because TFL have happily been undercharging me for my regular journeys (which was not the case with Oyster)! I make a combined trip using both Underground and National Rail services, but they have been charging me at the Underground-only rates …

• squills says:

  26 Oct26 October 21:37

  Took the money & took the bonuses! 😉 easy! Just leave a penny in & they let you play thru on the bonuses, didn’t win on them as it happens.

• Adam says:

  27 Oct27 October 19:38

  VERY off-topic, but not sure where else to ask!

  For various reasons, I’m considering opting to upgrade an Amex MR Gold Card (just entered year 2 so just paid fee) for a Amex MR Platinum for the 15k MR bonus.

  I know the £450 Platinum membership fees is refunded pro-rata when the Platinum is cancelled, but will the £125 annual fee for the Gold MR, when I upgrade to Plat, either (i) refunded pro-rata, or (ii) applied against the £450 fee?

  Thanks for any insight on this.

  • Rob says:

    27 Oct27 October 21:08

    Yes, you will get it back – how they do it I am not sure but the end result will be the same whether it is a cheque or offset against Plat.

    • Adam says:

      28 Oct28 October 09:13

      Thanks very much for the reply – much appreciated.

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