Off-Topic. Would anyone who lives in the Manchester, England...

[Threehearts]

area be willing to correspond with me? If you have a student at university in Manchester, perhaps my daughter might connect with her/him. The message boards for students are almost all for the 18-20 age range and the students are living in university housing which is not my daughter's situation.

I am apologizing in advance if this email request is not allowed.

My daughter is moving to Manchester in August to attend a university program(she is 25). We both have exhausted all message boards and have reams of printed out official regulations from the UK government website. The university has general questions/answers but we need some specific help with- safe areas to rent a flat in, type of mobile phone and internet service that is best, banks that have convenient ATM locations, public transport options etc.

I would be so grateful if someone might agree to "speak" with me offline via email. You could PM me and I would be happy to give you my email address before you give yours. I'm a longtime member of the DIS; since 1999 I think.

Many thanks,

Threehearts

 

[chrish2]

Feel free to PM me. Looking at your message I assume you and your Daughter are not from the UK?

Type of mobile phone
I've not looked into this for some time but the rule of thumb was CDMA handsets are not completable with GSM networks. If she is planning on using her US phone in the UK it would be worth doing some research.

SIM cards for mobiles are plentiful. Almost every corner shop, supermarket, petrol station and many other locations sell SIM cards for Pay As You Go services in the UK. Price benchmark I am paying £10/month on a PAYG deal with GiffGaff. That is 10GB of 5G data, unlimited calls, unlimited texts.

SIM Only contracts (1m/12m/24m) plans also exist but your daughter can still get a great deal without any contracts with the PAYG sims. In any case once you have a SIM you are not stuck with that network if it doesn't work out. Out of contract or just PAYG can move your mobile number between networks by picking up a new SIM and following the simple steps to port your number (involves sending a text message).

With SIMs and plans so easy to access many buy their phones "SIM Free". These phones are unlocked. HotUkDeals is a good deal aggregator to find a good deal, just search for "sim free". A duel sim phone is great if you have a US number that you want to keep access to whilst still getting UK number and service.

Internet service
Mobile data may work out fine but if you want fixed line internet moneysavingexpert.com is a great site in general to understand various utilities in the UK including broadband. Price wise you can get broadband (63Mbps), line rental and any time calls for £22/month https://www.nowtv.com/broadband but do a bit of research and shop around.

Banks that have convenient ATM locations
This is what gave away that you wasn't from the UK. You can use any banks ATMs in the UK. Also I've gone the entire pandemic without withdrawing cash ... it's quite a cashless society.

All UK banks are part of LINK and there are no charges from the bank to use them. Some private ATMs charge a fee but free cash machines are plentiful in places like Manchester. Generally if it has a big bank name on then its free. There is a map at https://www.link.co.uk/consumers/locator/

Related, day to day banking is free (current accounts) but there are quite high charges for overdrafts. Likewise bank payments between accounts are virtually instant via the faster payments network. It's not uncommon for small personal debts between friends (e.g. spliting the cost of concert tickets) to be settled by "transferring you the money".

Public transport options
https://tfgm.com/ is the central point of contact re public transport in Manchester.

Most buses you can buy a ticket using a bank card on the bus. University is well served by buses along the Oxford Road bus corridor "one of Europe’s busiest bus routes". Unfortunately ticketing is a real mess, it can be cheaper to buy a day pas than a one way ticket! All is going to be fixed by the bus franchising plan (London style oyster system) but that won't be in place by August.

What might be ready is the public bike hire scheme which will included electric bikes.

Manchester has a tram network MetroLink. MetroLink has tap in/out contactless support.

National Rail ... ticketing is complex, station staff are happy to help but remember they won't always be forthcoming with some ways you can save (e.g. split ticketing)

 

[Threehearts]

Chrish2, you are a saint! Thank you so much for all of the excellent and practical information. I live in Washington DC and my daughter lives in New Orleans. I am packing up tonight for our annual trip to the beach but will get back to you quite soon if you wouldn't mind. I'm going to try to PM you with my email address. You are the absolute best!

Threehearts

 

[Threehearts]

i tried to PM you, chrish2. I don't see a place to do that on your profile. Perhaps you need a certain number of posts to PM I'm quite sure I have enough after 23 years on the DIS.