British Pounds
 

Any thoughts/ideas on the best way to bring spending money to England.. There are extra charges associated with credit cards, and will be changing american dollars for pounds..Is it more cost effective to use an atm? if so, is there a bank that is better in US to set up an account with? The exchange is not great so just trying to avoid unnecessary fees.. Thanks!

The exchange rate at banks/beaureux de change etc are usually not as good as you will get just withdrawing money from an ATM.

This is fairly commonly discussed, particularly in regard Euros in Europe. For a while the Capital one credit card was feeless, but I believe that may have changed.

Capital One credit cards remain feeless. Their ATM or debit cards now have fees. Bank of America ATM cards are fee-free at Barclays in the UK and BNP Paribas in France and now Italy. .

That seems to be the Gold Standard combination at the moment for US travelers.

I do not know about BoA debit cards because we do not use debit cards.

For ease of access, I would agree willit and use ATMs.

Unless you are spending thousands of pounds the effect will be minimal. On holiday we always value time over a few pounds saved by tryng to find a bank or bureau de change to process travellers cheques etc.

Assuming you are American, even if you are dumb enough to use one of the credit cards issued by many of the near criminal banks that impose an additional 2% foreign transacton fee above the visa/mc 1% fee, you still do far far better than using cash and there are several which not only do not charge the 2% fee, they eat the 1% fee imposed by visa/mc. The largest bank issuing such credit cards is Capital One so using a Capital One credit card means you will get the exact interbank rate of exchange which is impossible by using cash obtained either from exchanging US dollars or from an ATM.

Hopefully you have a checking account with a bank that does not impose fees for withdrawing your money from an ATM of anotherr bank. The British banks are not allowed to charge fees for their use by American debit cards. If you don't have such an account, you can easily open one on the internet but.....

Well I just got back from a week in London and only once was I forced to pay cash for anything. In London, almost everywhere credit cards are taken. Fare cards on the underground? Credit card. Fast food restaurants? Credit cards. Convenience stores to pick up refreshments for half time at shows? Credit cards. Theatres? Credit cards. Almost every shop I went into took credit cards. Some have minimums for use of a card, most didn't and it was never a problem to me. I do understand pubs do not always take credit cards for a pint but I don't drink.

So to summarize....

1. Get a capital One credit card and use it everywhere it's taken which is literally everywhere in London.

2. Use an ATM card from a bank with no fees to withdraw a couple of pounds just in case but if you use your credit cards everywhere, spending cash will almost never occur!

The cheapest way to pay is to use a credit card for whatever possible and to pull walking around money from your checking account at an ATM. Typically 1 to 2% over the Interbank rate - not sure what Cap One is doing now.

The charge per cash withdrawal will be levied by your US bank, not the local ATM, and often depends on what type/size of accounts you have.

Typically they will charge you 1 or 2% over the Interbank rate (again depends on which bank your account is with and the rules of your deposits). Changing cash will usually cost you at lest 6 or as much as 8% over the INterbank rate - so that is a fools game. Trav Checks are not possible to use most places.

We waited, and waited, behind an American tourist at the British Museum cafe yesterday as she paid some trifling amount with a card. As she had an American card, requiriing a signature, the whole process took twice as long as it would have done with a European chip and pin card. Cash is much quicker, and accepted everywhere. The shop or cafe also avoids paying excessive fees, which keeps prices lower. Your "no fees" cards are paid for by the retailer.

Except Bank of America, which does not charge for ATM withfrawals at correspondent banks: Barclays (UK only, not the ones in Spain); BNP Paribas; and, I believe Deutsche Bank in Germany.

2% is of course trivial in terms of the total cost of your trip, butt 2% here and 2% there starts adding up to real money.

chartley....I might challenge much of your statement. You buy somethiing worth £2.70....credit card swipe or chip really time for the transaction is not all that much different. Chip and pin now customer has to enter his or her pin and press the green button no faster than swipe, producing a slip, and signing Many places here in the US no longer require signatures for small amounts in any event. Now paying cash, you have to reach into your pocket, dig out a couple of £1 coins and then start searching for a 20p, 10p even 5p coins. Believe me, cash transactions take longer.

As far as the rest of your post. Well my philosophy is that the cost of accepting credit cards is part of the cost of doing business as well as establishing bank accounts. Therefore if a retailer takes credit cards, I am paying for it anyway so I might as well use the card.

I just don't get, at least from a consumer view, the adage that credit cards should only be used for large purposes. I use them for all purchases whether travelling or at home in the USA. I can go weeks without spending a dime in cash.

Thank you everyone!