Cash budget for London Stay

[gnome12]

If you get a regular Oyster card (at any tube station) the card costs £5. This is refundable at the end of your trip, along with any balance you have on the card. A Visitor Oyster card costs less (£3 if I remember correctly) but that cost is not refundable. I think the balance is. The big thing is to be able to differentiate the child’s card from the others.

I second the idea of putting the 7 day travel card on for the long period, as long as you expect to use it daily or almost daily. You have fixed all your public transit costs and you can hop a bus or a tube at any time. Make sure it is added only for the 7 day portion. For the 1 day your cost is capped at £7, but if you use less you will be charged less. The same is true of the 7 day period if you don’t get a travel card. Each day is capped at £7.

For me, when I was there in the summer of 2019 I used cash only for my London Walks tours; they are cash only. For everything else I used a credit card.


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[notentirelynormal]

Do I need to get the 10 YO's Oyster card separate or can i just buy her an adult card?  I don't care about the discount if I can buy them all in advance.

[Cotswold Eagle]

8 hours ago, gnome12 said:

A Visitor Oyster card costs less (£3 if I remember correctly) but that cost is not refundable.

The fee is now £5, plus postage. 
 

8 hours ago, gnome12 said:

For me, when I was there in the summer of 2019 I used cash only for my London Walks tours; they are cash only.

You can now pay for London Walks by card - the guides carry a contactless reader. The walks are limited to 15 people and can be now pre-booked. 

 

3 hours ago, notentirelynormal said:

Do I need to get the 10 YO's Oyster card separate or can i just buy her an adult card?  I don't care about the discount if I can buy them all in advance.

You get the same card and the discount can be applied by a member of staff, as I said earlier (this is a simple fraud control, obviously).
https://visitorshop.tfl.gov.uk/help/travelling-with-children/

 

[Cotswold Eagle]

14 hours ago, notentirelynormal said:

 

Right now I have a £50 note and it sounds like that is all I will need. 
 

  Can I use any Euros if I have them left over.

It’s hard to spot the questions in you long posts sometimes! 
 

You may have difficulty with a £50 note in some smaller stores or stalls, so best to check first (occasionally there will be signs displayed), but it shouldn’t be a problem. A new £50 note is due to be issued next year but your old one will still be valid for a while. 
 

Some larger stores and tourist shops will take Euros, but probably at a very poor exchange rate. Don’t count on it, though. 

[Cotswold Eagle]

14 hours ago, Cotswold Eagle said:

You will have to see a member of staff to get the a Young Visitor Discount applied to the Oyster for the 10 year old

Sorry, this was incorrect of me  - 10 year old will not need an Oyster, the discount is for those in the 11-15 age bracket. 

[phabric]

If you have £50 note use it at a restaurant or a big store, easy to cash and get change.

 

On my last visit, my bank had given me £700 in £50. I asked at the money exchange at my airport, LHR and a British bank (needed to have account there) they would not exchange for smaller £.  I finally found a bank in Winchester that would change all my £50.

 

Being a single traveler, I like to have smaller amount to pay, meals, etc.

 

 

Edited October 18, 2020 by phabric

[notentirelynormal]

10 hours ago, Cotswold Eagle said:

You get the same card and the discount can be applied by a member of staff, as I said earlier (this is a simple fraud control, obviously).
https://visitorshop.tfl.gov.uk/help/travelling-with-children/

 

 

Okay - I think it has finally gotten through my thick head....  heehee ... that expression tells you how old I am.  No one under the age of 30 knows what that means.  So, it sounds like I have to talk to someone there anyway so the convenience of being on the ground and running is gone.  If we were adults it would be great but since I have to talk to someone for discounts and the 10 YO I might as well just wait and get it there AND I should get the 7 day version.  Right?  Do I have it or am I still an idiot (laughing at myself) OR am I still wrong and I should buy in advance and just get the adjustment.  Man I am just not getting it.  Please Cotswold, talk to me like I"m a two year old.  Buying in advance or on site?  Buying 6, not 7.  I've got that part.

 

I buy my on hand cash at a coin store.  Normally they have much better denominations but because nobody is traveling I can only take what I can get.  I just want to have something on hand just in case.  I remember coming into Rome and needing a luggage cart.  The money exchange people wouldn't make change for coins unless I bought more money.  A lot more money.  So, no cart.  Lesson learned, carry some cash always in the country you are visiting.  Preferably coins for those darned carts.

 

My husband is a whiner on spending money.  Sort of.  Whatever I want he buys me if he possibly can.  Honey, look at that bright shiny red convertible.  I look lovely in it, by the way.  We travel nicely.  I feel we deserve it.  But that is him spending money on me which is a big difference on spending it on others.  Me the world, the rest, not so much 🙂

 

I make sure that our expenses are as trim as they can be by doing all the research in advance and getting the best deal.  Just our hotel for 3 nights with Princess was going to cost me over $1,400.  Using aribnb and staying for a 10 days in London plus the two days in Paris will cost me $3,447.  That is only $2,000 more for 9 more days in apartments as opposed to two small separated rooms.  There is no comparison, especially since we can cook saving us on meals.  One meal a day, like breakfast, would cost me well over $1,600 for the trip.

 

That is why I am asking so many questions and trying to get so much done in advance.  So, except for the travel to and from sleep locations we will be using the Oyster card.  Have it in our hand and talk about adjustments and child card.  Right?

 

Now that I finally have the airbnbs done and the Oyster is ready to be shucked, I can move on to airport/port/home transportation.  Nobody walks outside at an airport with 7 people, 9 suitcases, 7 carry ons and 7 personal items and just yells - TAXI!

 

 

 

 

[Ashland]

2 hours ago, notentirelynormal said:

 

Okay - I think it has finally gotten through my thick head....  heehee ... that expression tells you how old I am.  No one under the age of 30 knows what that means.  So, it sounds like I have to talk to someone there anyway so the convenience of being on the ground and running is gone.  If we were adults it would be great but since I have to talk to someone for discounts and the 10 YO I might as well just wait and get it there AND I should get the 7 day version.  Right?  Do I have it or am I still an idiot (laughing at myself) OR am I still wrong and I should buy in advance and just get the adjustment.  Man I am just not getting it.  Please Cotswold, talk to me like I"m a two year old.  Buying in advance or on site?  Buying 6, not 7.  I've got that part.

 

I buy my on hand cash at a coin store.  Normally they have much better denominations but because nobody is traveling I can only take what I can get.  I just want to have something on hand just in case.  I remember coming into Rome and needing a luggage cart.  The money exchange people wouldn't make change for coins unless I bought more money.  A lot more money.  So, no cart.  Lesson learned, carry some cash always in the country you are visiting.  Preferably coins for those darned carts.

 

My husband is a whiner on spending money.  Sort of.  Whatever I want he buys me if he possibly can.  Honey, look at that bright shiny red convertible.  I look lovely in it, by the way.  We travel nicely.  I feel we deserve it.  But that is him spending money on me which is a big difference on spending it on others.  Me the world, the rest, not so much 🙂

 

I make sure that our expenses are as trim as they can be by doing all the research in advance and getting the best deal.  Just our hotel for 3 nights with Princess was going to cost me over $1,400.  Using aribnb and staying for a 10 days in London plus the two days in Paris will cost me $3,447.  That is only $2,000 more for 9 more days in apartments as opposed to two small separated rooms.  There is no comparison, especially since we can cook saving us on meals.  One meal a day, like breakfast, would cost me well over $1,600 for the trip.

 

That is why I am asking so many questions and trying to get so much done in advance.  So, except for the travel to and from sleep locations we will be using the Oyster card.  Have it in our hand and talk about adjustments and child card.  Right?

 

Now that I finally have the airbnbs done and the Oyster is ready to be shucked, I can move on to airport/port/home transportation.  Nobody walks outside at an airport with 7 people, 9 suitcases, 7 carry ons and 7 personal items and just yells - TAXI!

 

 

 

 

So look back at my post #10...I knew with that many people and luggage you would be better 

off booking pre-arranged paid in advance transportation. BlackBerry meets you inside the airport

at a designated location and is extremely helpful with the luggage...You'll be so glad after your long flight

to have someone there waiting just for your group and knowing exactly where to take you.

[notentirelynormal]

Okay, sent a message to both Blackberry Cars and GT Executive Cars.  I'm waiting on a response.

[Ashland]

7 hours ago, notentirelynormal said:

Okay, sent a message to both Blackberry Cars and GT Executive Cars.  I'm waiting on a response.

I'm sure you'll get all the info you need from those you contact.

Best of luck getting that detail checked off your list.

[GrJ Berkshire]

Please bear in mind with covid-19 more and more places are not taking cash. When we return post-covid this trend will have accelerated rapidly and so CASH will no longer be king! Coffee shops for example are only taking card payments now and many places really do not want cash any more. We are not yet Sweden a cashless society, but it's going that way.

[notentirelynormal]

Yes, I can see that cash is not as important so I will just have the cash needed for the tour guides I have already hired.  They DO require cash only on the day of.  Credit cards will be paid off so as not to shock them.