ATM Machines At Heathrow

Apparently there was a deal between Heathrow, or BA, which is exclusive to T5, with Travelex for T5 to have only Travelex machines.
There's been other discussion here about this. From my end I have offered to risk a 20 GBP withdrawal from Travelex machine in T2 come April to see if declining the DCC option produces a real exchange rate, and post the info when i get back.

Thanks, Larry. The wife and I will be flying to Heathrow on April 8th, so we may get there before you do. I've got 19 GBP left over from our last trip, which should do until we can get to Paddington Station and a "real" ATM.

We arrive in mid-morning on the 8th, so I won't have the answer for you, especially as I will probably wait until we get home to check the bank account (too much trouble for me on an i-Pad). There's a long thread here in Money Saving Strategies "Airport ATMs- be careful which ones you use", where there is discussion of this. There seems to be a belief that by declining the DCC that they really want you to use that you will then get a proper exchange rate, which is what i want to test for.

19 GBP will be great if you already have Oyster cards. If you first have to get the cards, that will only do if you are past the rush hour price for the tube. From what the Brits have posted here, once you use a credit card on an Oyster card it becomes really difficult to return it for your deposit and leftover.

What makes it more difficult with Oyster is if you have mixed deposits, ie both cards and cash. Stick to one or the other and you should be OK. Even better if you have a compatible contactless card as you can use that directly, and not lose the non refundable bit of the Oyster card deposit.

Btw, there is no such thing as the 'London Airports Authority' which sounds like some public utility. Heathrow is run by Heathrow Airport Holdings Ltd, owned by a grouping of wealth funds from Singapore, Quebec, China, Qatar, and China, plus Ferrovial of Spain. Plus the British Universities Superannuation Scheme ...

ATMs in Terminal 5 are operated by Travelex and TTT Moneycorp Ltd.
ATMs in Paddington station are Travelex, Cardtronics and NatWest.

Regarding my 19 GBP, that should do us until we get to Paddington (or even to our hotel). I plan on using Heathrow Express and charging the tickets on my AmEx. The wife and I used the tube to from Heathrow to Bayswater once, but it took a long time, and we had to make several changes. Not bad, pricewise. But when you're in your 70s, and have luggage to drag along, all those stairs in the tube stations can get to you.

Marco has it . On our first trip , we mixed payment options , not a good idea , This fall we stuck to one ( cash , in this case ) , much better outcome .

Jim---if you are going to take the Heathrow express into London and then again back to LHR at the end of your stay, you can save a lot by buying a Duo Saver ticket online in advance, printing it out at home. It costs £50 for two roundtrip tickets, bringing the cost per person down to £12.50 each trip. The return must be within 30 days of the inbound trip. Very convenient to go straight to the train upon arrival.

https://www.heathrowexpress.com/tickets-deals/discounts-deals

And a great big hug to you, Lola! You've saved me a bundle. Many thanks!

Does anyone know if there are ATMs in Terminal 4? Was just there in September '14 but didn't need them at the time. My sister is going over with her Girl Scouts and I told her not to buy British notes in advance since I received old notes in September that no one would take (20 British pound). She also has other troop members relying on her for guidance.
Thanks!

"ATMs are more commonly known as "cash machines" or " cash points" over here. If you ask for directions to an ATM most people will understand, but just in case."

They are even known as a "hole in the wall", which I have found has a completely different meaning in the U.S.

Thanks Emma.