The National Trust and app only car parks.

🥱

Why do you need to drive to a local walk?!

If you're going often enough to notice it'll almost certainly be worth getting a membership

Awww come on OP what's your beef?

National Trust taking over a previously busy free to use car park and putting in a Pay and Display machine that takes neither cash or card, don't mind paying but forcing everyone to use an app or get a NT card just stinks. The lane leading to car park is now rammed with cars parked on the verges and there were no cars using the car park. This is the second car park in the area they've reduced the options for paying in.

When you say ‘taken over’ - who owns / owned it?

It was previously managed by Seven Trent Water but the whole area is part of an estate owned by NT but outside of the Calke Abbey grounds, I doubt any NT members use it because they have free use of the Calke Abbey car park about half a mile away with a cafe and toilets etc. They removed the pay by card option from another nearby car park when they added the machines that took NT membership cards, they are just crapping on the locals to try an up sell NT membership or stop people avoiding the £7 per adult fee to get into Calke Abbey grounds if they are in a car.

What reasons are there to use those car parks other than to use their facilities?

putting in a Pay and Display machine that takes neither cash or card

This isn't a national trust thing. It's happening everywhere. Loads of previously free parking round here is now pay by app, eg Ringo. They also add a "convenience" charge. I suspect it'll happen more and more so it's a system that isn't going anywhere.

So, not a Calke walk?

Cash is dead, can't remember when I last used it. But it does seem a bit daft to not have card payment for parking when for everything else it is ubiquitous now.

they are just crapping on the locals to try an up sell NT membership

I don't think it's deliberate.

Moving away from relatively expensive card payments, they will be a charged a standing charge, a  fee for each payment and % commission. The app will probably be way more cost effective for them.

If you are "local" why are you driving there?

We are National Trust members, and I'm pretty sure that the every machine that I have used in the last few years has no cash or card payment option, just a "Scan your Membership QR Code here" thing, or a Ringo reference that can be used either with an App or by calling the number if you don't want to/can't use the app.

What you are describing sounds pretty standard for NT places, and pretty standard for any other paid car park.

It seems like the options are either join the NT, pay by App/Phone, or park somewhere else?

Edit: the most frustrating thing is that the QR scanners on the car park machines don't seem to be able to read a QR code on a phone screen, so you need to remember the physical card to park. Using a QR on a phone screen usually works for the handheld scanners in the receptions/proprieties etc

Free car parks are great of course but you can’t really moan about having to pay to use a facility which needs to be maintained!

They removed the pay by card option from another nearby car park when they added the machines that took NT membership cards

I don’t think it’s necessarily trolling btw just because (most) people seem to disagree with you… you might just not be as 100% right with your assessment of the situation as you think you are…

the most frustrating thing is that the QR scanners on the car park machines don’t seem to be able to read a QR code on a phone screen, so you need to remember the physical card to park.

Well we did have stickers whcih were the ticket  but no idea if we still do. They day I need a phone to pay will be the day of a very rude letter to NT. Why take my bloody phone for a day out?

This isn’t a national trust thing. It’s happening everywhere. Loads of previously free parking round here is now pay by app, eg Ringo. They also add a “convenience” charge. I suspect it’ll happen more and more so it’s a system that isn’t going anywhere.

I’m no luddite, but I must admit this is bloody annoying. Because it assumes one always has their phone with them at all times. I often leave my phone at home if going out. I also lost my phone whilst staying in central London over Christmas. That was fun driving around looking for it whilst not being able to park/avoid the CC.

this seems like a silly system – why do they need machines at all? Can’t they just maintain a database of members’ reg numbers, or send you a physical parking permit with the QR code on it?

It does feel a bit silly, but I think that they must have their reasons for doing it that way.

Members used to get a car park sticker permit posted to them each year, but they are trying to go paperless by reducing the mailshots. It was also a pain if taking a different car, or going in a car with a non member.

One to two extra envelopes and plastic stickers a year doesn't feel like much, but as an example, my wife and I are lifetime members, and would get two stickers per year. So would probably expect 120+ annual car park passes to be posted out. The admin involved in that soon starts to eat away at what we paid for the lifetime membership. There are a lot of members.

I guess a QR code that could be put in the window and read by the parking warden might be one way of doing it, but they might be a theft risk. Also, if there are shorter visits during which the warden doesn't happen to stop by and scan the QR window codes then there is no record of visitor numbers, and potential lost revenue.

One benefit of scanning your card at each car park that you visit, is that the property/estate gets a small grant from the NT central pot for everyone that scans in which helps the local team to fund maintenance. We have plenty of NT places near us that I regularly cycle and run through. I'll occasionally scan my card in the car park machines even if I don't need parking as it means that the estate benefits from my visit, as otherwise I'd just be passing through unknown to them and with no benefit to them.

I’m no luddite, but I must admit this is bloody annoying. Because it assumes one always has their phone with them at all times. I often leave my phone at home if going out. I also lost my phone whilst staying in central London over Christmas. That was fun driving around looking for it whilst not being able to park/avoid the CC

You could have just as easily have lost your wallet and not had access to either your cash or bank cards. Or even lost your car keys.

They day I need a phone to pay will be the day of a very rude letter to NT.

This is inevitable. For the NT and most other organisations/activities/events. You are going to have a busy pen for the rest of your life,

Why take my bloody phone for a day out?

Why not? Phones really aren't that big. Just put it in a bag, or a pocket. You can even leave it turned off. No point in making your life more difficult than it needs to be for the sake of stubbornness.

Cash is dead, can’t remember when I last used it. But it does seem a bit daft to not have card payment for parking when for everything else it is ubiquitous now.

This. I have no problem with car parks, especially rural ones, having no way to pay by cash. But those ones that are pay by a specific third party app only (and they’re appearing anywhere) can get in the sea. Contactless payments work with nearly all cards, phones, watches even… if you want to use technology to avoid the hassle of cash, support paying with a flash of a card or device… none of this trying to get a signal to download an app, sign up, transfer funds… an utter pain for everyone, not just the older technophobic retired folk who are so often the main users of rural car parks close to short easy bimbles.

What reasons are there to use those car parks other than to use their facilities?

It's a known local dogging spot.

The lane leading to car park is now rammed with cars parked on the verges and there were no cars using the car park.

That lane has been an absolute nightmare with bad parking for years, nothing to do with the pay by phone parking.

One to two extra envelopes and plastic stickers a year doesn’t feel like much, but as an example, my wife and I are lifetime members, and would get two stickers per year. So would probably expect 120+ annual car park passes to be posted out. The admin involved in that soon starts to eat away at what we paid for the lifetime membership. There are a lot of members.

I guess a QR code that could be put in the window and read by the parking warden might be one way of doing it, but they might be a theft risk.

Or just have no stickers at all, and just input your reg via their app or web page, and update it temporarily in the occasional instance that you want to travel in the car of a non-member.

I just feel that yes, they're trying to cut down on paper/plastic/postage costs & modernise, but they aren't [I]really[/I] thinking ahead and actually utilising modern technology to the fullest. I know OP said he didn't want to have to take his phone out for a walk, which is perfectly fine, but I think he's very much in the minority & actually the vast majority of people [I]do[/I] have their phones with them most of the time.

In your example of scanning the QR code to check-in with a venue, there's absolutely no reason why you couldn't just have a button on their app on your phone or watch that you press to do the same thing! Then more money goes towards actual maintenance/improvements and not just to maintain the machines that process the payments!

@zilog6128

All very good points. It does feel like it could be done better.

The parking apps can be a complete PITA in remote areas. I've never managed to get a signal at the New Dungeon Ghyll one in Langdale, you end up having to traipse into the pub to use their Wifi just to pay for parking.

The parking apps can be a complete PITA in remote areas. I’ve never managed to get a signal at the New Dungeon Ghyll one in Langdale

The obvious and easy solution is simply allow a 24hr grace period for the payment so people can do it when they get home.

Why take my bloody phone for a day out?

Why [b]not[/b] take the phone?!

I'm struggling to see any downside of taking the thing but many many downsides to NOT taking it!

I'll agree with you about app parking though. I hate the way that everyone feels the need to 'curate' an app for absolutely bloody everything.

Why not take the phone?!

My lead isn't long enough

From the other side of this payment machines are expensive, somewhere between £7k and £13k to install, that's a lot of parking to pay for before you break even. Anything with moving parts has the opportunity to fail, especially if the onsite maintenance is done by somebody who doesn't service machines for a living, changing receipt rolls, clearing coin jams and dealing with the stupid things the public do for example.

Card only is much better, lot less to go wrong or be broken by the public or the carpark owner, still needs a decent phone signal and mains power. Getting a SEGOE (ADSL 2 replacement) in is expensive and means you have to deal with Openreach. You can get 'solar' powered machines but they don't work, not enough quality daylight in the UK to fully charge the batteries during the winter and you can't power the internal heaters from a solar powered machine, means the insides are dripping with condensation in the winter which causes corrosion, electrical faults and makes the receipt paper damp which causes printer issues.

The ideal answer is a combination of phone apps and contactless only payment terminals that don't give paper receipts (email or SMS receipts).

Between 75% and 90% of people pay by card now even on machines that take notes and coins and give change.

At the end of the day on a private car park the owner can do what they want, when you park you enter an enforceable contract, by staying in the car park you are deemed to have agreed to the contract. The terms you've agreed to are usually pay the relatively small parking fee using the methods available or pay a much bigger charge to not follow the rules, or in car park terms a PCN, an invoice for the larger fee, an invoice that is enforceable through the courts which can give you a CCJ if you lose and don't pay.

Your choice, don't like the contract terms, park somewhere else.

Loads of previously free parking round here is now pay by app, eg Ringo.

The thing is that free parking is never actually free - someone somewhere is paying for the upkeep of the car park, even if it’s just emptying the bins and filling the odd pothole. It’s not unreasonable to ask people to pay and frankly Ringo/Pay by Phone/whatever is easier than carrying a bag of change about in the car.

I agree with @zilog6128 that 24h grace is the answer but presumably you need ANPR to log the visit? NCP seems to be increasingly barrierless and ANPR/autopay is a doddle.

I’m no luddite, but I must admit this is bloody annoying.

My parents don't have a smart phone, and I suspect they aren't the only ones. Round here the council car parks are still cash/card.

Nothing worse than trying to download an app in a remote carpark with **** all WiFi

but presumably you need ANPR to log the visit? NCP seems to be increasingly barrierless and ANPR/autopay is a doddle.

Actually ANPR works on many car parks, a lot cheaper and more efficient than a someone checking windscreen. Compliance levels are much higher and the ANPR pays for itself from the small minority who dont think they need to pay. NCP are quite late to the ANPR world.

Did have a mare in Cornwall a couple of years ago where none of the ANPR cameras liked my completely bog standard, dealer supplied plates 🤦‍♂️

Actually ANPR works on many car parks, a lot cheaper and more efficient than a someone checking windscreen.

Worth checking whether you actually have to pay. As far as I understand unless there is a notice stating the consequences of not paying then the payment is effectively an honesty box. This applies to a lot of national park and national trust car parks.

I'm not advocating not paying but if you are local and feel aggrieved by the new system you may be fine just parking up and being wilfully oblivious to parking charges.

Barriers are  bad idea in most cases, they are very expensive to install, prone to failing and critically break your car park when they fail. Free flow ANPR is ideal in most cases, the deterrent is the signage and camera. If it stops working, no PCNs but you can still get out of the car park. If you get stuck in the car park, e.g. breakdown, you can still leave and appeal a PCN later, barriers generally take away your right to appeal, bit like clamping (which has been rightly illegal for the last decade).

Free flow ANPR is ideal in most cases, the deterrent is the signage and camera.

Depends if you want to take the risk of being pulled over by the law though? Fine of up to £1000 IIRC.

Depends if you want to take the risk of being pulled over by the law though? Fine of up to £1000 IIRC.

Theres a problem in the States with people bending their metal plates or even gluing leaves to the plate. In the UK its not a major issue although dirty plates due to all the salt on the road is a problem. Generally the software is pretty good these days, the camera doesn't just take one picture, it usually takes 10 or 15 and compares the results. ANPR is generally pretty good for the motorist as well, to get a PCN you need to be seen entering and leaving, and going in the right direction each time, if the camera isn't working well generally it's only the parking enforcement company that loses out.

This all sounds desperately complicated just to cover every 'what if ' scenario.  It's real easy - you have an app, each parking spot has a code.  You put the code in the app, set a start time  or a time period, and select the correct car reg. if you have more than one car and off you go.  If parking man turns up and you ain't registered at that spot, you get a fine

easy peasy.

The problem is people always want all these 'what if' options...

That is incedibly complicated and relies on the public cooperating and having half a brain, many don't, £10 notes rolled up and shoved into coin slots, card readers blocked with pound coins, not being able to put coins in a slot straight, knowing their own number plate, knowing that zeros aren't the same as the letter O.

Paying an attendant is incredibly expensive vs the number of rule breakers they catch, plus people make mistakes, camera systems and back end IT is way more consistent and efficient (with human oversight).

National trust are pricks, never trust them after going to the giant's causeway.

National trust are pricks, never trust them after going to the giant’s causeway.

Did they destroy your trust with the implausible story that a big Northern Irish giant threw some rocks in to the sea to create it?

The terms you’ve agreed to are usually pay the relatively small parking fee using the methods available or pay a much bigger charge to not follow the rules, or in car park terms a PCN, an invoice for the larger fee, an invoice that is enforceable through the courts which can give you a CCJ if you lose and don’t pay.

Your choice, don’t like the contract terms, park somewhere else.

All fine. But “pay by an app that you haven’t got, might not be able to use, and don’t want to engage with” is not a fair equivalent to “pay using your normal non cash payment method”… far from it.

As an aside… this rich editor is a pile of shit. Let us have the choice to use the less smart but actually works editor back please… the forum is basically broken otherwise. Ta.

Yeah, but there's a magazine, so there's that.

I quite like the anpr ones especially at CYB which is incapable of reading our bog standard numberplate everytime we go

Kelvin that's a commercial decision for the car park owner, if they want to exclude some customers through the service they are offering because they deem it more cost effective that's their choice.

Personally I don't like the apps much, I have pay by phone and am quite used to using a smart phone but would still rather pay at a machine (using my smart phone ironically). If yoi had quoted my full TLDR post you would have seen i'm advocating for apps and card terminals.

The best solution would be to use your camera to scan a QR code on a sign which takes you to a website to pay, no need to download an app. Trouble is QR codes can be altered with a sticker and it would be a scammers paradise.

Glentress had Ringo last time I went. Didn't work as the reception is poor and I ran out of "send code" options. Machine wasn't taking card payment.

Had to go to another car park to pay.

Kelvin that’s a commercial decision for the car park owner

Of course it is… or whoever has the rights to control the charging (not always the owner, sometimes sold on to a third party)… we’re bemoaning the obvious downsides of it. In the OP’s case for non-members of NT…which isn’t exactly cheap to join, even if it is good value for many.

The best solution would be to use your camera to scan a QR code on a sign which takes you to a website to pay, no need to download an app.

Many points of failure there. And potential for spoofing and phishing. Just let people pay with the secure non-cash methods they use all the time.

to get a PCN you need to be seen entering and leaving, and going in the right direction each time,

Wait these can be defeated by reversing?

The best solution would be to use your camera to scan a QR code on a sign which takes you to a website to pay, no need to download an app. Trouble is QR codes can be altered with a sticker and it would be a scammers paradise.

No reversing doesn't confuse the camera, they can tell whether you are moving towards them or away, the measure the height of the digits on the number plate, if they are getting bigger the car is heading towards the camera. Moving towards or away is then set camera by camera as in or out.

I did point out that QR codes aren't secure I  my post above, being able to pay on your phonewithout having to download an app would be ideal but we don't have a secure way to do it.

The best solution would be to use your camera to scan a QR code on a sign which takes you to a website to pay, no need to download an app.

You obviously missed the days when a QR code could be used to factory reset a Samsung phone without any user intervention. Any bug like that occurs again and people will be replacing QR codes for a laugh again!

Why take my bloody phone for a day out?

Again, why not? What possible reason can someone have for not taking it. It’s not a bloody walkie talkie that you have to lug around, even a large phone like my iPhone 14 Pro Max will happily fit into any pocket on any shorts or trousers that I wear. It’s my camera whenever I go out for a walk, I’ve got a couple of mapping apps that use OS mapping if I need it, and there’s always the possibility of an emergency occurring, requiring help - and not necessarily for yourself…

Sorry, but that seems to be just bloody-minded contrariness for the sake of it, especially for a day out!

I’ve had more than a few issues with parking meters and machines that require yet another app, or texting or whatever, usually ending in not bothering and going elsewhere. I have noticed recently though that many more meters and machines have a couple of QR codes added, which just require a registration to be tapped in, and a time, and that’s it, seems to work pretty well, especially now I hardly ever have cash available to pay. I’ve wondered for some time why the machines don’t have a contactless option, but thinking about it, adding QR codes is cheap and simple and requires no extra money or connectivity to function, and no need for the customer to faff around trying to install yet another stupid app that doesn’t work because there’s no network for that customers phone.

Pay by app/ Ampr system would be great if, and it's a big if, it was just one app/account required. I drive a lot and the best system I've seen by far is Poland's Auto-pay, one app, one account covers  tolls, carparking, carwashes etc automatically, no need to interact with the app at all. Here in UK I've got about 20 different accounts for tolls, congestion charge, low emission zones etc. I can only remember trying to use pay by app carparks twice and it's not worked either time.

Well we did have stickers whcih were the ticket  but no idea if we still do. They day I need a phone to pay will be the day of a very rude letter to NT. Why take my bloody phone for a day out?

How often do you actually go out without your phone?

For me it's never, and it's been this way since I got my first mobile back in the mid-90's.

And since been introduced to ApplePay last year (old man luddite) I now often don't bother taking my wallet with me, especially if local.

US national parks are similar, app/pay by web payment (in the few incidences we've had anyway)

As a tourist, with Canadian cell providers charging $12/day for US roaming we take the opportunity to force disconnect from phones and stay in airplane mode but still have them as cameras/navigation/googlepay.

Therefore, parking is either $12 more or park outside for free with the others doing the same.

Pay by app/ Ampr system would be great if, and it’s a big if, it was just one app/account required.

It's not a problem zilog6128, just an announce. I love technology that makes my life easier, like the Polish system I mentioned but sitting in a layby for 20 minutes with crap phone signal trying to pay a couple of quid for driving over the Mersey bridge really isn't helping anyone is it?

but sitting in a layby for 20 minutes with crap phone signal trying to pay a couple of quid for driving over the Mersey bridge really isn’t helping anyone is it?

Its bloody annoying for older folks, like my parents, who are not that familiar with apps. Or those who arrive at a rural car park (i.e. the lakes) with crappy phone signals and zero alternative parking options.

one app would be ideal, but no, it’s not a problem if not. It’s just unfamiliarity with new technology that makes it seem like it is. I mean, you manage to cope with companies not sharing the same website, or all shops not being at the same address, or all your friends not just sharing one phone number? 😂

I hate digital clutter.

It's irrationally irritating to have that many apps cluttering up my phone. Especially after a couple of years when the memory starts to fill up and you question why a parking app that all it needs to do is link to a webpage is taking up 300MB.

but sitting in a layby for 20 minutes with crap phone signal trying to pay a couple of quid for driving over the Mersey bridge really isn’t helping anyone is it?

That one definitely gives you a day to pay it.

It is mildly annoying when you pay 50p for 2hrs and a 20p (40%) convenience fee. Especially as downloading and setting up the app isn't convenient and makes you borderline late for a doctor appointment that was made 3weeks earlier.

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Above.

You're in Hawick:
- there are no traffic wardens in the Scottish Borders
- there are dozens of roads you could park on within 100 yds of that car park
- it's RingGo which is pretty much the most popular app (that I've experienced)

And are you saying they've taken away the ability to pay cash?

And are you saying they’ve taken away the ability to pay cash?

I wouldn't be surprised, Stirling did. Where one leads the rest follow like the sheep they are.

At least you can pay for it there though, in North Ayrshire they put contactless readers in that don't work with Google Pay, the alternative being to text a 65001 style number. Which I can't do because I'm not on a main network and seemingly nobody in a position of implementing this shite knew that those numbers only work on the main carriers and a very small number of piggybackers.

All fine. But “pay by an app that you haven’t got, might not be able to use, and don’t want to engage with” is not a fair equivalent to “pay using your normal non cash payment method”… far from it.

id just counter that by saying that since virtually everywhere stopped taking cash in Covid times I no longer carry cash (and even precovid was not that likely to have the right coins) so arriving at a car park that expects coins is a PITA. If it’s rural there is no east option to pop to a cash machine either.

Given the NT demographic is there really no option to call someone with your card details like Ringo? There will be a tiny number of people who don’t have a phone at all (those people should probably pause to think about how they will get help if they breakdown etc as very few phone boxes now) and a bigger number who don’t have a smartphone or a data contract that lets them download a new app.  I guess those people, who chose not to modernise have the option to simply not pay and run the risk of a penalty with a “£60 convenience charge” (I am guessing the value).

personally if I was a regular visitor to a NT estate to walk/run etc I’d be inclined to join to support their work.  Whilst people will protest at the cost anyone who can afford to “own” and operate a car along with the running costs of that car on purely discretionary journeys like going for a walk can afford membership.  If £6 a month is really impossible, stop wasting fuel driving to pretty car parks.

Its bloody annoying for older folks, like my parents, who are not that familiar with apps. Or those who arrive at a rural car park (i.e. the lakes) with crappy phone signals and zero alternative parking options.

Mine now can't use their two favourite beaches because of this.
My father can't walk far enough to make parking elsewhere viable.
They can both use technology, ok, not well, but my mother uses what's app as her main communication method for example so they aren't complete technophobes, but they can't work these apps and therefore can't use their two favourite beaches. They used to just put some coins in a slot, it was foolproof

yeah, the solution is just give everyone 24hrs to pay (tolls/parking/etc) which is what the Dartford crossing allows, works well as you can just do it when you get home/to your hotel or whatever.

The only time I ever use Dartford is going to from Dover
It is a pain in the backside trying to do it from France and also it doesn't recognise my van as a camper and charges me van rates incorrectly. A man in a toll booth can see it's a camper and charge accordingly (yes, I know that one is a bit niche, but trying to find a signal in France and then convince your bank that you are indeed you just abroad must be pretty common)

yes, I know that one is a bit niche, but trying to find a signal in France and then convince your bank that you are indeed you just abroad must be pretty common)

you can (and should!) pre-register with your bank via their app that you’re going abroad & pre-register with the Dartford crossing.

Really? Is that a thing? I've never told any of my banks that I'm going abroad and I've only got apps for 2 of the 4 that I use. Never had a problem and I travel regularly.

I also don't think it's reasonable to expect people to pre-register with the Dartford cross either, lots of people probably don't even know there is a toll to pay.

We all need zilog6128 as our digital PR. Seems pre-prepared for everything AND always has a strong enough signal everywhere to download more apps and set them up.

I also don’t think it’s reasonable to expect people to pre-register with the Dartford cross either, lots of people probably don’t even know there is a toll to pay.

Really? Is that a thing? I’ve never told any of my banks that I’m going abroad

We all need zilog6128 as our digital PR.

I also don’t think it’s reasonable to expect people to pre-register with the Dartford cross either, lots of people probably don’t even know there is a toll to pay.

Really? Is that a thing? I’ve never told any of my banks that I’m going abroad

We all need zilog6128 as our digital PR.

Unlikely to have to inform your payment provider you are going abroad in order to pay for small items like tolls, tickets, meals etc in person. [ used to work in IT for a bank ]

Just need to encourage people to embrace new technology, rather than be scared or intimidated by it.

Or just bored, frustrated and irritated by it. There are poor use and implementations of technology that fail to make life easier. Dedicated app only paying for transitory use is one of those things that it is a hassle people don’t want. It’s fine for something you do every month, for example paying for a pay as you go mobile [ something else I’ve been involved in developing in the past ], but not for one off visits and journeys.

yeah, it’s a thing, has been before the days of internet banking! Have you never had a call from your bank querying a payment from a foreign country (or more disastrously them just blocking your card!!), lucky if so!

Once recently trying to use Google pay to pay for a ferry across lake constance but that's the only time. (Luckily I had a few Euros in my bag or it would have been a long dark ride back to my van)

I've just looked on both my Lloyds and Barclays apps and I can't see anything obvious to notify them I'm traveling abroad.

I travel around Europe most weeks so international transactions probably don't flag up as suspicious.

Most major banks have said they do not need you to tell them when you go abroad these days. If they find something odd they will send a verification text first rather than just simply block it.

Unlikely to have to inform your payment provider you are going abroad in order to pay for small items like tolls

I’ve just looked on both my Lloyds and Barclays apps and I can’t see anything obvious to notify them I’m traveling abroad.

There are poor use and implementations of technology that fail to make life easier.

I was responding to the poster who literally says that’s what happened

They were using a new app or making an online small payment abroad. That’ll raise flags that an in person transaction with card/phone will not.

Most major banks have said they do not need you to tell them when you go abroad these days. If they find something odd they will send a verification text first rather than just simply block it.

This.  You used to have to notify them but it changed a few years back