Ok I'm a little confused about this money thing in London. I live in the us and want to know what is the best credit card to you us for shopping as far as conversions fees. Also I am opening an WAMU free checking account and I want to know what are the true fees that are with withdrawing money from an Atm. Also is there a conversion fee with just using the card as a credit card?

The bests bet is to get a credit card and a debit card from your credit union. My credit union usually does not charge for any withdrawals or credit card purchases, but the 1% Visa fee still applies.

I don't have a credit union. Well I should say I'm not apart of one. However, I have been reading a few different forums that they only charge 1% fee that would be with Mastercard. It's going to be a new account and they tell me they don't charge any atm fees period other than the host bank charges.

Everything depends upon the provider of the card(s). You must check with the issuer of your ATM and credit cards for their fees, charges, conversion rates, for each type of transaction.

No credit unions in your area? Originally membership used to be restrictive, but many now accept a wider membership. For example, my credit union accepts membership from any resident of the city or person who works in the city.

Don't worry about credit unions vs bank there are differences but not worth changing banks over for just a short vacation. Now, if you were doing a lot of international travel/business - that'd be a different matter.

Basically any visa or MC will be pretty close. Some charge a currency conversion fee and a few don't. As for ATMs - the UK banks will not charge you a fee to use their machines. The only fee will be whatever your bank charges for "out of system" withdrawals.

I disagree with janisj.

We used the ATM every other day, taking 200€ at a time. The difference between using my credit union debit card and my BofA debit card is $5 for each withdrawal. Over a period of time, that adds up. BofA would also charge me 2% above the 1% Visa charges for credit card transactions, my credit union charges nothing. That also adds up. Before anyone tells me that there may be hidden charges, I checked a credit card transaction, and on $148 the charge above the posted exchange rate (using http://www.xe.com/ccc/) was 34 cents .

Setting up an account with the credit union is painless. Before leaving we deposit what we think we will need plus a cushion in the CU checking account. When we return we reduce that account to $10 and return the rest to an account giving a better return. In essence our CU account is for travel only.

<i>As for ATMs - the UK banks will not charge you a fee to use their machines</i>

janisj Thanks for that answer because that is what I needed to really know. I have read so much about conversion fees that fees from the bank itself is not mentioned. As far was what my bank charges I am getting a checking account with an bank that says they won't charge and extra atms fees on their part. Do you know what the conversion charge would be? Is that a flat fee?

Unfortunately BofA is just about the <i>worst</i> possible example - because they charge much higher fees than most banks - but they also have partner banks where they waive the fees entirely. So unless you are a BofA account holder don't worry about $5 ATM fees.

My bank charges me $1.50, my credit union - nothing, my money market fund - $1.00. Wells Fargo is (I think) $3.00. Most banks charge between $1 and $3. Not a huge sum considering.

You can minimize your fees a bit by taking out larger amounts fewer times - but even w/o that (if you don't want to carry large amounts of cash around) you aren't talking about more than a few $ over the whole trip . . . . .

meant to add: there is a fairly consistant 1% conversion charge. Does your bank tack on more -- you need to read the fine print in the disclosure statements they send you to be absolutely sure.

None of my banks/CUs add anything above the 1%

Bank of America stinks (I know because that's my bank). $5 per transaction plus a 1% conversion fee on top of that.

janisj The 1% was something that washington mutual didn't even tell me about. I found about that through another website. Anyway here is what the bank says:
<i>*WaMu will not charge ATM fees for cash withdrawals, but non-refundable ATM operator fees and foreign currency exchange and transaction fees may apply.</i>
So if they don't charge anything then it's only the 1% fee. Do the Uk banks charge a Conversion fee or is just the 1%?

Suze thanks for that about Bank of America because I read since they were partners with a bank in the Uk they would be better. So yeah 6 bucks to get out 100 pounds is a little much.

Vamps27: The UK bank won't tack on anything else - but be sure to go to an ATM affiliated w/ a bank. There are some stand-alone ATMs - like in pubs or mini-marts that are not bank machines. Those will add a fee. Similar to the ATMs in casinos in the States. As long as you to legit ATMs there are no extra fees. Sounds like you're good to go . . . . .

Thanks janisj for all of you help

Vamps27, check this address for much useful info about using your CC or ATM card overseas:

http://tinyurl.co.uk/g4cv

I recently charged my Britrail and tube passes to my Capital One account(from the US). The transaction went through at the same conversion rate as that listed on www.oanda.com for the same day. No extra fees were added. I would assume the same would be true for any charges made while in the UK. Please correct me if I am mistaken on that.