Haven Arcades going cashless?

It was a bit of a shock this weekend to find that the Haven Arcades have had a bit of an upgrade.

We spend a lot of time (and money!) in the arcades being owners at Burnham on Sea so any changes that will make our experience better are welcome!

Say goodbye to pocket fulls of loose change and coins getting lost and not registering, and hello to the new cashless arcade system, well sort of.

Your new play pass is a reusable card that you top up to play on the arcade machines – but you can still put 2p’s and 10p’s into the penny slider machines, much to the relief of my little ones who love clutching their pots of change!

Topping up at Haven Arcades

There are Top up machines located in the middle of the Haven Arcades for you to be able to top your cards up – it’s a minimum £5 on the first top up but there is no minimum after this.

You can top up using cash or card and at the moment if you top up over £20 in one go you get a bit of extra spending money as a bonus.

£20 = £1 Bonus
£30 = £2 Bonus
£40 = £4 Bonus
£50 = £5 Bonus

We love a little bit of something for free so worth it if you know you will be likely to spend it, but remember to register your card and keep it safe. The cards have a pre punched hole so perfect for hanging on a lanyard, they sell lots of seaside squad ones in the park or be prepared and take one with you so you can keep it safe and accessible at all times.

We have been told as owners we can have 2 cards linked to our accounts which we will be able to top up via the app but we are waiting for official confirmation on this. Having 7 children and only 2 cards doesn’t sound fun at all!

Paying for games

Each machine has a digital display showing the price to play and you just tap your card (much like paying contactless with your normal bank card) to play.

We did notice the cost of playing / using pretty much every machine has now gone up from 10-25p on each one which is disappointing.

Penny pushers do have these installed but they aren’t active and we aren’t sure how they will work when they are made live but we will keep you updated on that as they roll it out. (*Update you’ll need your card to collect your tickets as the machines no longer give out paper ones)

Although we know a lot of owners aren’t so excited by this update, we will prefer being able to just top the cards up rather than have the girls running round with cash. Just be aware that you do need to register the card if you want them to be able to return it to you if it is lost or left behind. If it isn’t registered they won’t be able to do anything if it is lost.

Happy holidaying!

ChrissyJ xxx

Over 18’s areas will continue to accept cash

Looking to head to Hafan Y Mor soon? Check out Natalies family review here

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