Cash and or Card

[celticvillan]

Hi font of all knowledges, it's been a few years since I have been to the magical fields. Will I need to take a mixture of cash and card? I have read that some places want card, and some venders have issues with wifi, so want cash? Would you say 50:50?

Thanks All

[Barneym]

So many places were not taking card last year as it wasn’t working so I’d take cash, I don’t remember anywhere not taking cash

[goonerben]

Last year I found that none of the "official" bars (i.e. the ones near the big stages) seemed to be able to take cards.  But pretty much all of the food stalls, and the "other" bars (San Remo, Stonebridge plus all the independent ones) took cards.

So yes, bring cash just in case.

[airwaves]

Glastonbury - 200000 people on site

200000 phones (?) plus thousands and thousands of vendors and transactions happening every minute at peak. 

A recipe for overload if ever i saw one

I'm taking enough cash to see me through, and hope card is accepted so I return with cash

[gigpusher]

I never needed to use any cash last year but I am still taking some with me. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it is my opinion. 
 

I also think I was just lucky as I never really bought anything at that peak sub headliner/headliner time. I saw one of the traders on Facebook actually appealing for people to bring cash as they get shafted if they can’t get a signal and people can’t do card purchases. 

[Steveb72]

One of the traders posted this on Facebook the other day.  

 

[marathonsteve]

take both

[august1]

i'd probably take half the ususal cash or less

[StoneCircle]

We took all cash last year, the stalls appreciate it as they have less fees,!

[ceetee]

5 hours ago, StoneCircle said:

We took all cash last year, the stalls appreciate it as they have less fees,!

I think by fees you mean tax

[Crazyfool01]

56 minutes ago, ceetee said:

I think by fees you mean tax

They pay a transaction fee to the card companies don’t they ? 

[gooner1990]

1 hour ago, ceetee said:

I think by fees you mean tax

bit like my local chip shop making it £10 minimum payment by card! 😉 

[OwlsMatt]

I paid on card everywhere last year and had no problems, but I'll be taking a bit of cash this year. A couple of bars had separate queues for cash and card payments, with much smaller waiting time for cash buyers!

[DareToDibble]

As others have said, I will be taking both. Hoping to use cash more than card but it does become a bit of a pain in the arse when your pockets are full of change.

[clarkete]

10 hours ago, Steveb72 said:

One of the traders posted this on Facebook the other day.  

 

Thanks for sharing. 

Anyone who bought from a variety of food stalls and bars but didn't encounter one that wanted cash was lucky, or prepared to queue - in a year of busy traders it made for an easy life if you could be flexible. 

[gooner1990]

20 minutes ago, clarkete said:

Thanks for sharing. 

Anyone who bought from a variety of food stalls and bars but didn't encounter one that wanted cash was lucky, or prepared to queue - in a year of busy traders it made for an easy life if you could be flexible. 

Was going to say, I encountered cash only loads!

22 minutes ago, DareToDibble said:

As others have said, I will be taking both. Hoping to use cash more than card but it does become a bit of a pain in the arse when your pockets are full of change.

I try to make sure that I use up change as quick as possible especially at festivals when it has a tendency to fall out of my pocket as I sit down on grass/in a chair quite often!

[Alvoram]

1 hour ago, Crazyfool01 said:

They pay a transaction fee to the card companies don’t they ? 

Yeh but they also pay counter fees to bank cash... Or should I say we do. (They may be in their 'free' banking period that every business account comes with, 1 - 2 years usually.) 

Card costs us less, as to bank cash I have to drive to the bank, which costs, pay to park, and pay counter fees to pay in. 

I'll stick to mostly card and £20 per day cash for emergencies, worked fine for me last year, some bars were struggling, but only by the main stages, and they didn't get my money. Cider bus was fine for card every time I visited, as were several other bars. I'm way too clumsy to take all cash. It's safer, as it's strapped to my wrist. 🙈😂

Edited June 8, 2023 by Alvoram

[Joshuwarr]

I distinctly remember the Brothers Bar being cash only? Or at least it was for significant periods!

[gooner1990]

Just now, Joshuwarr said:

I distinctly remember the Brothers Bar being cash only? Or at least it was for significant periods!

Also the JPT field bar was cash only on the Friday night when I was there for Primal Scream.

[Gnomicide]

I think they've put a lot more infrastructure in haven't they? Lots more fibre cables etc, I think I read that was for the stages and the traders?

[Alvoram]

5 minutes ago, Joshuwarr said:

I distinctly remember the Brothers Bar being cash only? Or at least it was for significant periods!

 

4 minutes ago, gooner1990 said:

Also the JPT field bar was cash only on the Friday night when I was there for Primal Scream.

I didn't try any other main stages, just the walk up cabins by the Pyramid and Other... But I've amended it to say 'main stages' 

Actually, that's not entirely true, I did use card fine all day at WG, it was slow a few times, took 2 attempts, but always worked. 

[gooner1990]

Just now, Alvoram said:

 

I didn't try any other main stages, just the walk up cabins by the Pyramid and Other... But I've amended it to say 'main stages' 

Actually, that's not entirely true, I did use card fine all day at WG, it was slow a few times, took 2 attempts, but always worked. 

No idea what caused it, but it was definatly an issue for a few hours as one mate of mine transferred me £50 via his banking app so he could get a round of drinks and I gave him the cash.  Luckily I had taken £150 as 'back up' but most of that went on the Friday night.

I worked on the Stonebridge bar in 2019 and we never had any long term connection problems.

TBH it doesn't bother me either way, cash or card but I will do the same as last year - have my cards ready but also some cash on me as a back up just in case.

[Alvoram]

2 minutes ago, gooner1990 said:

No idea what caused it, but it was definatly an issue for a few hours as one mate of mine transferred me £50 via his banking app so he could get a round of drinks and I gave him the cash.  Luckily I had taken £150 as 'back up' but most of that went on the Friday night.

I worked on the Stonebridge bar in 2019 and we never had any long term connection problems.

TBH it doesn't bother me either way, cash or card but I will do the same as last year - have my cards ready but also some cash on me as a back up just in case.

Yeh pretty much the same here. Might take £40 per day cash this year, so I can get drinks by the main stages too in any circumstances... But I'm also planning to take a lot more cans too... so 🤷‍♂️

[DareToDibble]

I do find it a lot easier to budget with cash so there is that benefit. Far too easy to go on a tapping spree on card 😄 

[gooner1990]

1 minute ago, DareToDibble said:

I do find it a lot easier to budget with cash so there is that benefit. Far too easy to go on a tapping spree on card 😄 

This as well.

I was at football two weeks ago and totally forgot about a round of drinks I had put on my card after the game....nearly £40! Ouch!  Wasn't until I looked at my banking app with a big hangover that I realised.

At least with cash you can see how much is going down, and of course if you are worried about having £100s on you at the festival put some in the lockups.