In message , at 19:20:59 on Fri, 11 Mar
2011, tim.... remarked:

You must be a very patient person if you can wait ten minutes to buy a
ticket with a family just arrived on holiday and champing at the bit.

But what choice do you have?

Dodge the fare?

I'd buy adult Oysters just to save the palaver. And reconcile myself to
the fact that many places "overcharge" tourists who don't have the time
or inclination to work the system like the locals do.

This isn't a discussion about whether TfL should do something about queues
at St P.

Where there's a dedicated vending machine (I've never seen a queue for
that one) for 'tourist' Oyster cards.
--
Roland Perry