Susie50

My husband and I will be visiting the UK in March. We are considering bringing our Canadian cash with us and exchanging it at an American Express outlet at Heathrow. Has anyone any experience with this procedure? Is it possible and are their rates reasonable? (The last time we exchanged our Canadian money for Sterling in Canada, we were given several out-of-date notes! Fortunately we were in London when we discovered it, and were able to visit the Bank of England to turn them in for usable currency.) Looking forward to any experience and advice regarding the Amex question.

yk

Why?

Just use your ATM and get cash. You'll get much favorable exchange rate using your ATM.

flanneruk

What's the relevance of the bureau de change brand?

I can't understand why anyone would mess about bringing foreign currency here to exchange at an airport: buying a hundred quid at home to avoid faffing about with machines is one thing, but choosing to faff about with a ripoff currency seller strikes me as gratuitous benevolence to the sellers.

As for the brand: no-one can tell you who at your arrival terminal will be offering the best rate against the CAD. Not even the operators on the day If you're determined to bolster some forex dealer's profits, at least walk up and down the terminal to ensure it's the one who's ripping you off the least.

janisj

"<i>We are considering bringing our Canadian cash with us and exchanging it at an American Express outlet at Heathrow.</i>"

How can I say this nicely - oh heck - that is a dumb idea

You don't want to "exchange" money anywhere. As yk says, use your ATM/debit card in a cash machine at LHR (and anywhere else you need it during your visit)

bettyk

Sorry, but I totally agree with everybody else. We did this a few years ago, before we were comfortable with using our ATM card. It was a dumb idea. We got a terrible exchange rate and were much better off getting what we needed with our ATM, even with the $3 transaction fee charged by our bank.

Susie50

Thanks everybody - I appreciate your candor! We are such complete and utter neophytes with bank cards that I am terrified we'll screw up somehow and find ourselves in England with no cash. Yes --- I can see everybody's eyes rolling as I type this! However, I do appreciate that using an ATM is a much more streamlined process. To paraphrase my 25 year old son, perhaps "It's time to catch up with the tour."

PeaceOut

Yes, I agree with getting cash from ATMs in the UK and Europe. Just bring a back-up card in case of problems with one card.

AND, be sure to notify the bank that issues your ATM card that you will be out of the country. Give them your whereabouts and dates, or else your card could be denied.

Same is true of your credit cards.

Have fun on your trip. (I love your son's quote. Smart kid. LOL.)

yk

Hi Susie50- You still come out ahead than other folks who didn't bother to ask this question! Those will be the dumb travelers who WILL be using the AMEX exchange bureau at Heathrow, while you WILL be the savvy traveler whipping out your ATM card to get cash.

kjalaska

ATM cards are great, machines are everywhere nowdays. One tip, make sure you each have a different atm card and credit card. Also make a copy of each others passport and carry that separately. If one of you is pickpocketed you will have a back up with you.

sf7307

<i>Also make a copy of each others passport and carry that separately</i>

As well as the credit card and ATM card numbers, and the phone numbers to call (international) in case you lose the card. The phone numbers are printed in tiny type right on the card (but of course, if you lose it, you won't have it, so write it down!!)

Weekender

Susie:

Practice using your ATM cards before you leave so you are comfortable with them and you won't have any problem at all. Take a few hundred in cash as emergency stash. PeaceOut is right-make sure you notify your bank/credit card issuers of your travel plans. Have a great trip.

bettyk

Yes, it is very important to notify all your card carriers of when you will be overseas and where. The fraud monitors call us all the time for silly stuff here in the US. I'm sure they would cut us off completely if the charges were outside the US.

ira

Hi sus,

Get about 75E at your departure airport. It will cost you a few dollars, but you won;t have to hunt for an ATM upon arrival.

Robespierre

Or, you can just wing it - buy your airport transfer on your credit/debit card, and wait until you get into the city to hit an ATM.

The only catch here is that if you use some car services, they give a much better price when paid in cash.

CAPH52

I strongly agree with the advice to call all of your ATM/credit card companies before you go. Unfortunately, it doesn't always help.

Or at least it didn't. I hope they're getting better about it. When my daughter did her semester abroad two years ago, she was very diligent about making all of the necessary calls. But that didn't prevent problems. In fact, she got calls from the same bank more than once during her four month stay. And in at least one case, when I called them back and explained the situation, they insisted on talking to her!

The excuse I was given at the time is that these calls are randomly computer generated so notes on the account make no difference. One can only hope that, somewhere along the line, a human being with some common sense will get involved!