My understanding is that you *can* get Oyster CS to send you a cheque

A UK cheque is of no use to a foreigner, and don't you have to have an
address registered in the UK for this?

1. The UK's balance of payments is bad enough without sending even
more money overseas to people who mostly don't really need it. After
all, if they could afford to come to London .....

2. IIRC the Oyster system was based on the same technology used in HK
for Octopus cards and IIRC the MTR there make a lot of money out of
charging tourists a $50 deposit which many tourists forget to collect
before leaving. I think TfL should push hard collectable cards for
tourists - Will & Kate kissing, Pippa's rear, etc etc
--
Robin
PM may be sent to rbw0{at}hotmail{dot}com