Changing pounds back to dollars in the US

YET, another incidence where credit unions fall short of full service, storefront banks - I have 2 CU accounts, but I use the bank for my everyday driver financial facility.

This article lists several possibilities

https://www.holidify.com/pages/currency-exchange-in-seattle-5647.html

Our Wells Fargo bank does it for us, perhaps you know someone who backs there and would do it for you.

Best thing is to spend down all of your pocket cash before you return. Pay cash for breakfast at the airport, buy a hardcover book, buy some duty free booze. Anything.

Also, this year many folks have been reporting that much of Europe has gone cashless; tapping credit cards seem to the norm these days. Do some serious research on the topic before you get on your plane and then avoid the temptation to pull 200 euros or pounds from the ATM when you land.

Recently discussed here: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/converting-euros-to-us-dollars

And my response...

The best rates for buying dollars are at...

A Casino!

Ridiculous, but true! These would be casinos in the US. I did it a couple of times when I lived not too far from the big Indian casinos in Connecticut. Technically you may have to buy chips, but those are denominated in USD and can be directly exchanged for cash.

They give a good rate planning to make their money at the tables. (The trick, then, is to skip the tables!)

Since you’re in the heart of Rick Steves country, are travel meet-ups still a thing? Maybe find one nearby and ask if anyone else wants to buy them, give a slight discount on the exchange rate

Thanks, everyone.

According to the other thread linked by Scudder, the bank rate isn’t all that great—-in the example posted, B of A converted €350 to $351.50. The so-called official exchange rate would have brought $368.20 for those euros, again according to the person who posted in that thread.

The casino exchange idea is creative, but she is trying to sell British pounds, not dollars, so I don’t know how that would work. Plus my friend is unlikely to want to visit a casino.

Dale, I have tried several times to organize a Seattle RS group and the turnout was very small, so I gave up years ago. But recently I have thought of setting up an outdoors “book and map exchange” at a park this summer. Maybe I should include a “currency exchange” as well!

Or maybe she should just take the money to the Travelex in Westlake Center and call it good.

Yeah, have them exchange at Travelex and hold their nose and leave the expensive lesson. Casinos will often take foreign cash and give a decent exchange rate, but as mentioned, it’s for buying chips and they might raise an anti money laundering flag just buying chips and cashing in immediate.

Lola- Using a casino in the US would be to sell a foreign currency (her GBP), buying USD. Casinos want you to have dollars.

Dale- It would have to be a pretty high value to trigger money-laundering alarms.

While $10,000 USD is the amount that triggers money laundering questions, there’s also ‘if you see something, say something’ type policies at most places. I’ve worked in or on the periphery of the financial markets for years and have been though hundreds of hours of money laundering training.

It seems you're upset that there's going to be some cost or loss, that is always the case when exchanging money. That is how places that exchange money stay open

If you read her question, she wants to know options in downtown Seattle. The answers sometime just take on a life of their own on any thread…..

She might want to see if one of her friends banks at a major bank (e.g. Citibank, Chase, etc.). She will still lose money in the transaction, but the rates will be better than travelex.