Taking Pounds from Home
 

We are going to be in London for 2 days. If I can get a good exchange rate at home why not take the pounds with me?<BR>Thanks for your advice<BR>Victoria

Assuming you can get a good rate at home (which is doubtful when you add fees, etc) It is not a good idea to carry your cash with you.<BR><BR>It is much better to get "walking around" money from ATM machines as you go, and not carry more than you can afford to lose.

I have to slightly disagree here. If you belong to AAA, you can get travelers checks in pounds, and there isn't a fee, but I don't know if the exchange rate is favorable. It truly will depend on what type of fee your bank charges you for withdrawals from ATMs outside of your network. You will not be assessed a charge from the ATMs in London, but you very well might be from your own bank. To name a few, you can also purchase pounds or travelers checks in pounds from American Express Travel Offices, Thomas Cook, and some major banks (Fleet Bank, is one). You can also purchase pounds from www.oanda.com, shipping is free if you purchase at least $500 worth.<BR><BR>Saying all of this, I use my ATM card throughout Europe, as my bank only charges me $1 for the withdrawals.

If you buy pounds outside of England, you'll pay fees. I don't like to depend on the ATM machines at airports, so I do buy about 70 pounds or so before I leave so I have it when I land (buy a coffee, get a newspaper, get a taxi - I am not coherent enough after a flight to deal with an ATM). Once in London, I do as janis does - hit the ATM as needed (like I would at home).<BR><BR>If your ATM card is also a Visa or Mastercharge, you can use it like a credit card for purchases, restaurant bills, etc.

What I meant was:<BR><BR>You can get GBP travelers checks without fees at both Amex and AAA - but the exchange reat is almost 10 cents more than you'd get from a UK ATM.<BR><BR>There are sources of GBP that give a good rate - BUT they tack on fees. <BR><BR>So you either pay too much for your GBP OR you pay fees on top.

Do you people really worry about 10 cents.............Do what you feel comfortable with ,, so you spend an extra 100.00 dollars...<BR>take a little cash as elaine suggests. use credit cards ,okay I know some may charge a fee but think of those miles you are accumulating, use your ATM for cash...Don;t sweat the details!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!You are on vacation...cut back on the starbucks when you get home!

To each his or her own:<BR><BR>To me, it is unnecessary to worry about bringing Pounds or Euros before leaving on a trip. I read of the "hassle" of using an ATM at the airport. Give me a break.<BR><BR>You will most likely have to wait for your baggage anyway Instead of standing by the baggage carousel, grumpy as all hell from the long flight, walk over to the ATM, stick your card in, press a few buttons and voila you have local currency. You can then walk over to the luggage carousel and continue to wait for your bagge. Oh yeah, the ATM card might not work.....well you must always have a back up. My backup is crisp green US currency in $10 denominations...about $200 worth. Should it pass the ATM is down and amble over the the exchange window hand over $50 in cash and get a better rate than I would in the US anyway as foreign exchange rates in the US are abysmal. What a hassle!<BR><BR>Sometimes I don't even bother to do that in London. I use the tube into town and the tube takes credit cards. There's are also ATM's in the tube station!<BR><BR>As far as TC's in pounds, you will find many places do not take them. To me TC's are a symbol of a long ago age. They are not as easy to replace if lost as the ads make them out to be. Some suggest paying for your hotel bill with them at the end...why? Use your credit card.<BR><BR>I find it a bigger hassle, personally, to go running around at home calling banks making arrangements then finding out that for $100 in local currency to avoid the "hassle" of using an ATM in the airport, you throw away $8. No, of course it won't break me or ruin the trip or anything like that, but what convenience is being bought? This is the year 2002...you will find ATM's on every street corner in London or anyplace else in the UK....and also in any other country on the continent. No matter where, the ATM's are programmed to allow you to transact your business in English (press the Union Jack which stands for English)...and they work. However, always have some US cash available as a back up.<BR><BR>At least, that's my opinion.

When I traveled to London with a performing theatre group, a number of them took British Pound Travelers Cheques. Virtually no stores or restaurants would accept them. Most banks charged a 5 pound flat fee to cash them. (We did finally found that Lloyd's banks did not charge.) On a 50 pound check, that is 10%, so obviously people started cashing larger checks to avoid the fees. But what is the point? Traveler's checks are a thing of the past and not worth the trouble. Not to mention that Saturdays or Sundays become a major problem when you can seldom find anyone willing to take them, and the banks aren't open.<BR>Read my lips, ATM!

If you are really worried about your ATM card not working, take traveler's checks IN DOLLARS. Then you can convert them to foreign currency if needed -- and if you don't need them, you can just re-deposit them when you get home.

Do I understand this correctly...if I take BPS in travelers check from AAA at no charge, paying the exchange rate, and then cash them at a bank in London, I will have to pay an additional charge just to have the bank cash a travelers check that is already in BPS? Also, why would the exchange rate be better in London (wouldn't it be a standardized conversion rate)and if not, how much would you save. I will not be using an ATM card or a credit card unless I purchase something very expensive. I had planned on taking TC in BPS and in USD. Comments appreciated.

Yes, you got it correctly. Except as I mentioned the people with the travelers checks did find that Lloyds Bank was the only one that didn't charge to cash the travelers checks (all were already in pounds).<BR>I guess I don't get the idea of taking money out of the bank to buy traveler's checks in advance, instead of just leaving the money in your checking account and drawing it out via an ATM as you need spare cash. It is definitely a better rate than you can get in advance at home, and you are only withdrawing money as you need it. Any place will take cash. Very few places will accept traveler's checks. So why are you asking for the aggravation?

Let's make this simple<BR><BR>The exchange rate is based more on the TYPE of transaction than on the LOCATION. The best rates are with credit cards and ATMs, Travelers Checks are worse, and currency is worst. <BR><BR>Almost all banks charge fees to cash travelers checks. So each time you use travelers checks you get a worse exchange AND usually pay a fee.<BR><BR>So by far the cheapest and safest way to get cash is with an ATM card.<BR><BR>But you can take a small slush fund in DOLLAR travelers checks for emergencies. You probably won't need them but if you do they will be a life saver. (In more than 10 trips since I started using ATM exclusively I have had to break into my $ Tr. Cks. only once - on the Isle of Mull where there is only one ATM machine and it was down.) I usually have about $200 in tr cks just for that type of emergency. <BR><BR>Never take GBP travelers cks.

It's not necessarily true that "all banks" charge to cash GBP travelers checks. That is too broad a remark. A few years ago I cashed GBP travelers checks at Barclays and did not incur a charge, but things may have changed. You can frequently get your GBP travelers checks cashed at no charge at the hotel you are staying at. And there will be no charge at Thomas Cook if you buy Thomas Cook travelers checks, and similarly, if you buy American Express Travelers Checks, American Express will cash them for free.<BR><BR>However, Victoria is going to London for 2 days, so if she finds it convenient to buy GBP in the states, it's really not going to amount to a big difference in the exchange rate. For Victoria's trip it may be a matter of convenience.

Leslie - since when does "Almost all banks charge . . ." means the same as "All banks charge . . ."<BR><BR>I clearly stated the ALMOST all banks charge fees. <BR><BR>

Janis, I apologize, I didn't see the word ALMOST in your post.

Thank-you Leslie, finally someone who agrees with me. I don't use an ATM at home and didn't want to have to use one overseas if possible. Just came back from Mexico and Belize where I used my Visa credit card for some purchases. I signed for 300 Belize Dollars at the exchange rate quoted purchase should have been $150.00 but came through on account as $155.00 so somewhere along the line $5.00 was added. Same thing in Mexico should have been $28.00 for gas ended up on card as $29.45.<BR>This is why I wanted to take my own pounds with me. I know it wasn't a great amount diffrence but could add up quickly.<BR>Thanks,<BR>Vicki

Victoria, the small differences you mentioned have nothing to do with the exchange rate on your Visa card, what you are incurring is an additional charge from whichever company issued your credit card. There's a difference there. There's a very good post about credit card use overseas and the little hidden charges (although documented) that these credit card companies are charging for processing foreign transactions. I'll see if I can find it and try to post the message I am referring to here.

Vicki - you may have paid extra $5 here and there on your trip to Belize - but if you take pounds to England you will be paying much more than that. EVERY single transaction will have the extra amount already built in. If you think those CC fees added up, just double it if you take cash to th UK.<BR><BR>Some people don't think the extra $ is a big deal. That's fine. But you say you don't like paying extra fees. That the amount wasn't a big "diffrence but could add up quickly." Well you will certainly be paying extra.

Victoria, below is the post I was referring to.<BR><BR>++++<BR><BR>Author: Jeff ([email protected])<BR>Date: 02/23/2002, 04:34 am<BR>Message: Message: My wife and I have just returned from Paris and noticed an interesting difference between our Debit Card and Visa. The debit card was used at the post office ATM in Paris and got a rate of 7.2F to the dollar. Less than an hour later, the Visa card paid for lunch at got 6.8F to the dollar. That evening, the ATM card was used again and got 7.2F to the dollar. No bank charges were assessed for either. You can bet your life on the next trip, I'll use the debit card with the credit card as a back up only.<BR><BR>Ah Carl, you haven't been doing your homework....it is not the credit card vs. the ATM that's different. MC or Visa control the shared teller networks (Cirrus or Plus) and apply the same exchange rates to each...it's the bank that issued the credit card that is doing you in. You are probably using a credit card issued by one of those criminal banks that extort another 2% for transactions in foreign countries but as you see they don't list this immoral fee on your statement. <BR><BR>Why is it an immoral fee? Because the bank has nothing to do with the currency exchange. That is handled by Visa/MC (Incidentally MC/Visa charges a small 1% exchange chart about the interbank rate but that is fair as they do the exchange). The charge reaches your credit card bank already converted to US currency.<BR><BR>Of the big banks, the ones pulling this nonsense are Citibank, Chase, First USA, Providian and Bank of America. The big banks that still do not stick this 2% charge on you are MBNA and Capital One. Many smaller banks do not either.<BR><BR>I keep reading people who continue to make the mistake of throwing away the 2% by using credit cards issued by these crooks. If only several years ago when the banks began doing this, people had switched this fee would have been stillborn. But of course, people are dumb and put up with garbage such as this. They don't read the little inserts that are sent out with changes in terms.<BR><BR>So, never never never use a credit card for foreign transactions that puts this 2% fee on top of the 1% fee charged by MC/Visa. <BR><BR>Incidentally, it won't do you any good to call the customer service reps of the banks. They don't have a clue or they are programmed to tell you things such as, "the fee is to protect us from currency fluctuations" (no...the bank has no worry, the conversion is done by MC/Visa who have to worry about currency fluctuations) or "this is standard industry practice" (then why don't MBNA or Capital One do this?) or my favourite "foreign transactions are more expensive to us and we have to pass along our costs."<BR><BR>Again folks who read this, do not use credit cards issued by Citibank, Chase, First USA, Bank of America or Providian for foreign trips. Call the banks, write the banks, and tell them to go to hell with this rip off. And then call MBNA and get a credit card, if only for use on foreign trips. 2% is no big deal, I hear you say. Well on $2000 it's $40..enough for a nice meal.<BR><BR>Just one other piece of advise. If you are paying an annual fee for your credit card (except for the airline credit cards) you're again throwing money away. The next time you receive a bill with an annual fee from a credit card company, call the credit card company and tell them you wish to close the account because of the annual fee. You will see just how fast the customer service rep will say, "Sir we apologize. If we remove the annual fee will you keep your account open with us?" Never fails.<BR><BR>

Tom, I think Victoria was going to exchange US $ for GBP in the US. I don't think she intended on spending US$ in London.

Message: Do I understand this correctly...if I take BPS in travelers check from AAA at no charge, paying the exchange rate, and then cash them at a bank in London, I will have to pay an additional charge just to have the bank cash a travelers check that is already in BPS? Also, why would the exchange rate be better in London (wouldn't it be a standardized conversion rate)and if not, how much would you save. I will not be using an ATM card or a credit card unless I purchase something very expensive. I had planned on taking TC in BPS and in USD. Comments appreciated.<BR><BR>I don't understand why you don't want to use the ATM's; especially in London. They are the only way to do things in the year 2002. They work perfectly well. Also, why use credit cards just for expensive purchases. They are convenient and I don't have the slightest aversion to using my credit cards for a &pound;1.99 purchase at McDonald's.<BR><BR>By using credit cards, and note they are taken almost everywhere, you get a far better rate than exchanging cash either here or in the UK. I rarely need more than &pound;10 a day in cash and since I have a bank that doesn't charge me for ATM withdrawals, well I pull out &pound;10 at a time.....just got back from London and the best rate I saw for exchanging USD into GBP was $1.48 and that was only at one specific change place. I pulled &pound;10 from the ATM and this was converted to $14.42. Not a big difference, I know but just consider that all the credit card charges came through at that rate...and the hotel bill was &pound;200...In all due respect I just don't understand the attitude of not using 21st century technology....all these people living in the past. You book theatre tickets via the phone, you use your credit card. You pay for your hotel, you use your credit card. You purchase underground tickets, you use your credit card. You go to a museum, you use your credit card. I can't conceive of taking any trip without one.

Jeff, thanks for your enlightening posts. Now I have a question for you. I have one of those credit cards that charges the additional 1% foreign transaction fee. I'm more prone to use my ATM card (I'm charged a flat $1 fee, so on a $300 withdrawal, it is 0.0333%), so the 1% foreign exchange charge does not turn out to be a huge sum of money on my credit card purchases. <BR><BR>But here is my query. I used my credit card here in the US to purchase tickets to a concert in Europe. I bought the tickets online actually. When I got my statement, I did not incur the 1% foreign conversion charge. But when I was in Europe and made purchases charged to my credit card, I did incur the 1% foreign conversion charge. What's the difference?

&lt;&lt;The exchange rate is based more on the TYPE of transaction than on the LOCATION.&gt;&gt;<BR><BR>This is a fairly serious misconception. LOCATION of the transaction has a good deal with the exchange rate. You're paying for the convenience of someone having hauled that other country's currency over here for to buy. It's not different from buying any other imported item. You wouldn't be surprised that a copy of a London newspaper costs more here in the US than it does in the UK, would you?<BR><BR>Same principle.<BR><BR>Buy your currency where they make it.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

Tom sorry to be so dense but this just dosen't make sense to me. If I buy my pound notes here in Ohio and take them with me to London to spend. Where does the extra cost come in? I know I have to pay the exchange rate here at home, but what other fees will there be?<BR>Thanks for your help<BR>Vicki

Gosh! Doesn't this get complicated!!<BR>For several years now, I have exchanged GBP for the currency of the country I have been going to at my village Post Office before I set off on my travels.<BR>I only exchange enough GBP to see me through 'Petty Cash' spending. <BR>I also take a slush fund of GBP in case I run out of the national currency of the country that I am visiting. Everything else I do on my credit card.<BR>If I run out of the local currency, I just pop into a bank and exchange GBP for whatever I need.<BR>It's only money and you are on holiday!!!

Message: Do I understand this correctly...if I take BPS in travelers check from AAA at no charge, paying the exchange rate, and then cash them at a bank in London, I will have to pay an additional charge just to have the bank cash a travelers check that is already in BPS? Also, why would the exchange rate be better in London (wouldn't it be a standardized conversion rate)and if not, how much would you save. I will not be using an ATM card or a credit card unless I purchase something very expensive. I had planned on taking TC in BPS and in USD. Comments appreciated.<BR><BR>Just so everybody clear...MC/Visa add a 1% charge to the interbank rate when converting from foreign currencies to USD. Every bank passes that along even if the unenlightened customer service reps say there is no additional charge. In addition, other than Chase, banks do not list the extran 2% charge they impose clearly on the CC statements, it is buried in the exchange rate. They do that so you don't know you're being screwed and I have people swear to high heavens there is no additional charge on their CC purchases when indeed they were paying it. Also please note that the two shared teller networks (Cirrus and Plus) are owned by MC and Visa respectively and apply the same rules for ATM withdrawals i.e. they impose a 1% charge for withdrawals from ATM's above the interbank rate...but still far far far better than you can do by exchanging cash. Also, the rules of the shared teller networks prohibit the imposition of the obnoxeous unlawful (in some cities, but the banks have paid the politicians off enough so they won't interfere) surcharge banks impose for having the audacity to use their machines to withdraw cash from another bank. So when you withdraw from an ATM in London, whatever charges are imposed are those of your bank.<BR><BR>Now to answer your question. If you purchase tickets from a web site for a concert, it depends where the web site is located and how their merchant account is set up. For example, I buy theatre tickets for London shows sometimes from ticketmaster.co.uk. This is a UK based organization, they run their CC charges through a British merchants account so the charge is actually made in GBP and the conversion rules apply. OTOH, some web sites are US based and make the conversion themselves and send the charge through an American merchant account as USD charges so they have done the conversion and applied whatever rate they wish.<BR><BR>Now that reminds of a scam somebody told me about in some touristy areas of Ireland. Some merchants, knowing many Americans just don't understand all this, tell their customers that as a courtesy, they will write charges up in USD. Why do they do that? Because they are ripping off the customers with a lousy exchange rate, of course. When in foreign countries, always insist that charges be written up in local currencies and make sure you are not using a credit card imposing the additional 2% surcharge.

Jeff, thanks for your response to my question. I just looked at my credit card statement again. The transaction was done in the foreign currency, not US $, the rate for the conversion is shown, but they didn't tack on that crummy 1% foreign currency transaction charge. It would have only amounted to 40 cents anyway, but its still the principle which you have so well described.

Message: Do I understand this correctly...if I take BPS in travelers check from AAA at no charge, paying the exchange rate, and then cash them at a bank in London, I will have to pay an additional charge just to have the bank cash a travelers check that is already in BPS? Also, why would the exchange rate be better in London (wouldn't it be a standardized conversion rate)and if not, how much would you save. I will not be using an ATM card or a credit card unless I purchase something very expensive. I had planned on taking TC in BPS and in USD. Comments appreciated.<BR><BR>Just so everybody clear...MC/Visa add a 1% charge to the interbank rate when converting from foreign currencies to USD. Every bank passes that along even if the unenlightened customer service reps say there is no additional charge. In addition, other than Chase, banks do not list the extran 2% charge they impose clearly on the CC statements, it is buried in the exchange rate. They do that so you don't know you're being screwed and I have people swear to high heavens there is no additional charge on their CC purchases when indeed they were paying it. Also please note that the two shared teller networks (Cirrus and Plus) are owned by MC and Visa respectively and apply the same rules for ATM withdrawals i.e. they impose a 1% charge for withdrawals from ATM's above the interbank rate...but still far far far better than you can do by exchanging cash. Also, the rules of the shared teller networks prohibit the imposition of the obnoxeous unlawful (in some cities, but the banks have paid the politicians off enough so they won't interfere) surcharge banks impose for having the audacity to use their machines to withdraw cash from another bank. So when you withdraw from an ATM in London, whatever charges are imposed are those of your bank.<BR><BR>Now to answer your question. If you purchase tickets from a web site for a concert, it depends where the web site is located and how their merchant account is set up. For example, I buy theatre tickets for London shows sometimes from ticketmaster.co.uk. This is a UK based organization, they run their CC charges through a British merchants account so the charge is actually made in GBP and the conversion rules apply. OTOH, some web sites are US based and make the conversion themselves and send the charge through an American merchant account as USD charges so they have done the conversion and applied whatever rate they wish.<BR><BR>Now that reminds of a scam somebody told me about in some touristy areas of Ireland. Some merchants, knowing many Americans just don't understand all this, tell their customers that as a courtesy, they will write charges up in USD. Why do they do that? Because they are ripping off the customers with a lousy exchange rate, of course. When in foreign countries, always insist that charges be written up in local currencies and make sure you are not using a credit card imposing the additional 2% surcharge.

Rex: of course you are correct - but I said &lt;The exchange rate is based MORE on the type of transaction than on the<BR>location.&gt;&gt;<BR><BR>Of course the place make a difference - but the type also matters. Credit Cards and ATMs give the best rates - no matter where one is. I was just trying to simplify it for Victoria.