David of Broadway

On Thu, 03 Jul 2008 05:48:39 -0700, Paul Oter wrote:

> On Jul 3, 12:26 pm, David of Broadway <david.of.broad...@>
> wrote:
>>
>> In the US, many vending machines ask for the cardholder's ZIP code as a
>> security measure.  However, the machines are generally intelligent
>> enough to skip that step for non-US-based cards.
>
> That's not my experience at gas stations in California. I've always been
> asked for a zip code whenever I've tried to pay at the pump, despite
> having a UK card.

I stand corrected.

> It's a real pain having to leave my card with the cashier (or pre-pay a
> fixed amount) before I can fill up.

Indeed, but an inconvenient option is better than none. As I've posted
in the past, I almost got stranded at Edgware in 2006 because the ticket
office was closed and the machine wouldn't accept my credit card. And
when someone exiting the station handed me his Travelcard to try to get
me out of my bind, the agent at the gate refused to accept it, since
apparently Travelcards aren't transferable. (Here in New York, unlimited
MetroCards are transferable, as long as they're only in use by one person
at a time.)

(In the end, I did have cash, but I prefer to charge whenever possible,
especially while traveling, so I wasn't thrilled. If I hadn't had enough
cash to get me through the gates, I wonder if the agent would have
ultimately relented.)
--
David of Broadway
New York, NY, USA