On 21 May, 22:05, Boltar wrote:
Not everyone who visits london will know english well enough to
understand
some guy in a ticket office in a noisy station try and explain Oyster
and how
to use it. They probably have their work cut out just trying to ask
for a ticket
to the right station. Ken should experience what its like and should
be sent
to Paris to listen to an oh-so-happy happy Metro ticket assistant to
explain the
difference between Mobilis and Paris Visite tickets in french. Ripping
off tourists
incidentaly is a good way to make sure they don't come back in a
hurry. If
you think thats a good idea then fair enough.

When I go to a foreign city, I read up in advance about how public
transport works in that city. While the main reason is to ensure that
I know how I'm going to get from the airport to my hotel to wherever I
need to go, it also means I can find out how to get the best priced
fares (not least so that I avoid being stranded somewhere remote
without the means to buy a ticket because the machine only takes coins
and local debit cards, forced to fare-dodge and hope no inspector
comes round. Yes, The Netherlands, this means you).

I don't think it's unreasonable to expect people either to put in the
same amount of basic research, or to pay more as a result of not doing
so. For example, a quick google search in French for "londres
information transport" brings up this page, which provides a good
summary of the Oyster system:
http://eu.visitlondon.com/fl/fr/travel/underground.html

& finally, if a particular tourist is sufficiently price-conscious to
be driven away by having to pay £6.60 for an ODTC, or £2 for each bus
journey s/he makes, then s/he is likely to be driven away by the price
of hotels, meals, drinks and tourist attractions anyway. As with
transport, if you don't do any research before you arrive, you'll find
yourself paying £150 a night for mediocre accommodation, and paying
£20 for appalling food and marked-up drinks at the Aberdeen Steak
House...

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org