Premier Inn London Bank (Tower) hotel

[Island2Dweller]

1 hour ago, Luckynana said:

I have never used a credit card for a meal.

I understand the sentiment.  But just to alert you to how life in London has changed.  Plenty of places in central London (bars/cafes/restaurants) are now card only.  Bring cash and you will be politely turned away.

[Globaliser]

3 hours ago, Luckynana said:

Believe it or not, my DH and I have never used a credit card for a meal.  Not only do we not want to give our card to a waiter who takes it away for several minutes, but my DH has always said that if we needed a credit card in order to eat out, perhaps we're better off just staying home.

 

Many of us who use a credit card are only using it as a payment card. For me, it's more convenient to have to deal with only one bill a month instead of managing a continual but variable cash flow out, which would happen if using a debit card. So using the credit card involves zero cost and zero real borrowing.

 

In London, if you use your card to pay (whether for a meal or for something else), the card shouldn't leave your sight. Indeed, there are many places where the staff have instructions that they are not even to touch the card. Of course, debit cards should work as well as credit cards (as long as the debit card is affiliated with one of the big international networks).

[Harters]

3 hours ago, Island2Dweller said:

Plenty of places in central London (bars/cafes/restaurants) are now card only.

Interesting. It may be a particular London thing. I don't know anywhere in the Greater Manchester area that is card only. Of course, almost everyone is paying by card anyway. 

[Luckynana]

5 hours ago, Island2Dweller said:

I understand the sentiment.  But just to alert you to how life in London has changed.  Plenty of places in central London (bars/cafes/restaurants) are now card only.  Bring cash and you will be politely turned away.

Wow!  Thank you for telling me this.  I'm glad the whole credit card vs, cash topic came up, so I won't be shocked when we get there, and now know what the custom is there.  

[Luckynana]

3 hours ago, Globaliser said:

 

In London, if you use your card to pay (whether for a meal or for something else), the card shouldn't leave your sight. Indeed, there are many places where the staff have instructions that they are not even to touch the card. Of course, debit cards should work as well as credit cards (as long as the debit card is affiliated with one of the big international networks).

 

It's good to know that my card will not be taken from my sight.  Thank you, Globaliser😊

[gumshoe958]

5 hours ago, Harters said:

Interesting. It may be a particular London thing. I don't know anywhere in the Greater Manchester area that is card only. Of course, almost everyone is paying by card anyway. 

London buses haven’t accepted cash for ten years now.

[Harters]

6 hours ago, gumshoe958 said:

London buses haven’t accepted cash for ten years now.

I've no idea if Greater Manchester buses take cash or not - havent used one in probably 30 years.