I am traveling to London from the U.S. in December. When and where is the best time and place to convert my U.S. dollars into pounds sterling? Should I be keeping an eye on the exchange rate (I doubt it will fluctuate a great deal between now and then, frankly, but still)?
Any help would be appreciated. Just trying to save time, and I am a complete and utter international travel noob.
Some ideas:
- Get a credit card with low or no exchange rate surcharge for international use. ( https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/top-credit-cards/no-foreign-transaction-fee-credit-card/ may help)
- Open a bank account at a bank that has an associated bank with ATMs in the UK so that you can use that bank's ATMs in the UK to get UK currency with less or no fees and exchange rate surcharges.
- Keep an eye on the exchange rate so that you know whether a given offered exchange rate is a decent one.
- Airport currency exchange places may have high fees and surcharges. This may also be true of non-bank ATMs at airports. So you may want to see if you can buy some UK currency before you go if you are concerned that public transport and taxis in your destination may not take credit cards (try checking for that on the web sites) or you are concerned with chip+PIN versus chip+signature issues when using credit cards.
When I was in Germany, the hotel i was using had a good rate to exchange money. Less fees than some of those currency exchange places.
Use an ATM once there. I agree with @ucbalumnus about finding credit cards and banking relationships with favorable policies.
Avoid currency exchange places and getting pounds ahead of time at your bank.
Thank you all!
I have a smart-chip bank MasterCard linked to my checking account. My bank is not an international bank, so there will be a minimal transaction fee whenever I use this card to make London purchases. Is it worth the effort to open, say, a Barclays account, transfer money there, and use the Barclays card exclusively while in London?
It may just be the super-inexperienced traveler in me talking, but the thought of carrying around lots of cash (U.S. or pounds sterling) makes me jittery.
When we travel internationally my husband and I normally use our ATM card at the airport in a bank machine to get cash. There is only a minimal transaction fee and then we have the currency of the country we are visiting as soon as we leave the airport.
I have generally found that I get a better rate if I wait until I arrive in the country that I am visiting. Logically this makes sense since the local banks in every county in the world need to deal with US dollars, but banks in the US are probably not quite as eager to deal with every other currency in the world.
As @doschicos said, using at ATM once you arrive is often a good plan. Also, the best rate is not always found in the airport. Sometimes I have used a US credit card for the trip from the airport to the hotel, sometimes I use money from various countries that I have left over from a previous trip, and sometimes I do use an ATM machine in the airport so that I have cash and can get to my hotel.
“Is it worth the effort to open, say, a Barclays account, …”
I would only consider this if I was planning on taking a LOT of visits to the same country. If you have a child at university in England then this might make sense. Otherwise I wouldn’t bother.
However, if you travel internationally on a regular basis, then you should find out which of your current credit cards gives the best exchange rates, and if all are bad see whether you can find another which is better.
I opened a Bank of America account just to take advantage of their convenient foreign currency service. The rates are competitive and they FedEx the cash to you within a day:
https://www.bankofamerica.com/foreign-exchange/currency-converter.go#82GBP
Regarding ATMs in the destination country, be careful of non-bank ATMs. There is some chatter on the web claiming that the non-bank ATMs in the LHR airport charge excessively high fees and surcharges, so you may want to investigate that situation beforehand.
ATM - but NEVER choose to convert to USD at the time of the transaction. Select - withdraw in Pounds. That way you get the favorable exchange rate from your bank.
Always use a real bank ATM, as mentioned above.
We specifically seek out only bank ATMs at international airports and use those. When we were in several countries in Asia last fall we found out the names of large banks in each country prior to our trip and were able to find ATMs at the airports to get cash.
Yes, do use bank branch ATMs only.
Also, look into a Charles Schwab or Fidelity account as ways to minimize charges. I’m sure there are others but those are 2 names I’m familiar with that have zero to very small currency exchange fees.
There are banks that will refund any ATM charges you incur, anyplace in the world. In Maine, Bangor Savings is an example. The charges for DS’s transactions in Lebanon are often more than $3 and his bank credits that amount to his account within a day.
When I called around before travelling to Spain last summer, I learned that my Target MasterCard has no exchange fees. Used it a lot over there.
All good advice. I travel internationally to multiple countries multiple times a year. A couple considerations - which is most important, saving money on the exchanges or personal convenience? If you want the best rates of exchange, the best options are ATMs as noted above. If you want convenience, you can order pounds through your local bank and not have to think about finding an ATM or exchange place on arrival. The exchange rate will not be as good as that offered from the ATM and your bank may charge an additional fee.
Flying in the face of common wisdom, I prefer to arrive in a foreign country with some local currency. If I don’t have currency left over from a previous trip, I order some from my bank before leaving. One less necessity to deal with on arrival. Once in the country, I use credit cards to the greatest extent possible.
I have had my ATM card compromised while in Asia traveling between countries. I was very happy to have arrived with local currency. I also carry some large US bills that could be exchanged at a currency exchange (common in Asia, ATMs now more the norm in Europe, but currency exchanges or banks are still available to exchange physical bills). Just another layer of insurance that I can bring home if not needed.
When I have traveled abroad for work and wanted to have currency immediately available, I have ordered it in advance from Bank of America. I try to use my no-international fee credit card whenever possible, but usually have situations where I need cash.
“I have had my ATM card compromised while in Asia traveling between countries.”
Reminds me of another suggestion - bring a backup credit card. Most credit cards can be used at ATMs.
Just make sure your CC has minimal/no international fees, you might want to get an extra one (capital one for example) and really, in London you won’t need cash. Just take a couple of hundred out of a real bank’s ATM in London if you must. The only issue that comes up is using a non PIN CC (as US cards are) in transactions at tube station ticket machines (refilling oyster) so you might have to queue up to see a person, the way to get around it is with something like apple pay or other contactless, easy enough to set up apparently according to my people. My phone has no NFC so I didn’t use it but they did. Contactless usually has a $ limit per transaction so just be aware of that.
@doschicos, totally agree with the backup credit card advice. I may have unusually bad luck, but in addition to the ATM card being compromised, I have, on another occasion, had a credit cards compromised while I was overseas. I do carry two credit cards.
I believe that cash withdrawn from an ATM with a credit card will be treated as a cash advance and subject to immediate interest charges.
Another vote for using local ATM to get cash. In general, I don’t use that much cash when I travel, I charge almost everything.