For a city you don't visit often--especially if you're going to a bunch of cities on the trip--dealing with transit apps/cards/etc. that are specific to the city is a royal pain. I'm fine if it's a city I visit regularly--I have an Oyster card for London that I've had for a number of years. In general, though, I'd rather default to using a credit card.

You can safely return that oyster card and get your deposit back now :D

I live in London and recently passed a convenience store whose signage advertised the usual stuff: "Fresh veg. Off licence. European specialty foods. Oyster". I was genuinely confused for a second that such a place would carry such short shelf life seafood...

Pre-pay card are gone here. The only people I know now who have an Oyster branded card are those who get discount or free travel.

I guess I’ll use it up and get my deposit next time I’m there. Actually looks like I can just get a refund.

Occurs to me Oyster may still make sense for travelers whose credit cards have foreign transaction fees.

In Japan at least, IC cards seem to be accepted at most cities in the country. Eg you can get a suica card (on your phone) and use it in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. Not to mention at 7-11 and most vending machines.

Do note that if you want to use Suica/PASMO (or any other FeliCa based card) on an Android Phone, the phone must have been destined for Japan in the first place. The hardware is generally disabled for any non-JP SKU due to licensing fees.

The keywords one should be looking for is Osaifu-Ketai.

iPhones are the exception, and just takes some finnicking with the settings.

You used to have to use a Japanese iPhone to use a suica card in your Apple wallet, but that restriction was eliminated a few months before my trip. You should check latest restrictions and non restrictions, because it seems to change over time.

I’ve used them but have mostly been in Tokyo for a while. US is very fragmented though as is Europe, especially as a whole.