Overall, not a bad PT experience on either side of the Channel - and as
usual, the weakest link was the plane. The card experience was
frustrating, though: do UK ticket machines treat foreign cards as
ineptly as the Dutch machines do?

Foreign credit cards work better in the UK but there is a draw back it is
more likely for a European traveller to use debit card as credit cards are
seen as radioactive material - these debit cards (as far as I know) won't
work in the UK unless they're of a VISA or Maestro variety, for those using
their own countries debit cards it can be a real problem.