Best currency exchange to convert USD to GBP

Sadly there are no good options

The way everyone recommends that you get pounds is you go to an ATM affiliated with the bank and you get them out that’s the best way and you’re going to pay the least rip off fees. Nobody wants to exchange cash anymore and you’re probably going to be ripped off any place you do it sorry

put your money in the bank and use your debit card for cash

Does your bank offer currency exchange? This will be a better rate than a currency exchange booth, although still not as good a rate as you would get from an ATM.

It is best not to buy foreign currency in the US before you depart. Still, if you must, Bank of America use to give the best rate, but you must have a credit card or account with them to use them.

As Carol said, put your cash in your checking account and use a bank ATM when you get to England.

And lose the idea of "convert". When you do this, you are buying currency with your dollars - at an enormous markup in the exchange rate.

Bank of America and Wells Fargo have essentially¹ the same rate to get cash over here, but both, I think, require you to have accounts with them.

1. Both apparently set their rate for the entire day at 5% over the Interbank rate sometime in the early morning, but they do it at different times in a continuously changing market, so they might differ a little due to exactly what time they set their rates. Today, it's 1.1674 and 1.1673 $/€ for Wells and BofA respectively and 1.3803 and 1.3873 $/£ respectively. Today, BofA is ½% over Wells' rate. (It used to be that BofA was 5½% over the Interbank rate for everything, so they might still be higher than Wells for £. You probably don't have accounts at both, so just go whichever one, if any, is your bank Doesn't matter much.)

If using an ATM in the airport in London, as I understand it, all airport ATMs are captive of TravelEx, which is an exchange business, not a bank, and they charge much higher rates. You probably want to avoid getting £ at the airport and wait until you can find a real bank.

Incidentally, like most big US banks, BoA charges an "international transaction fee of 3% of the converted US dollar amount", PLUS they charge a $5 "ATM usage fee" if you don't use an ATM from one of their partner banks (Barclays in England). Wells Fargo has no international transaction fee, only a $5 ATM usage fee (that's just over 1% for a near $500 withdrawal).

Check with your own bank as regards their policies for foreign ATM usage and/or foreign currency conversion fees. Each bank has different policies. Also, your personal status within your bank may give you privileges vis a vis foreign exchange that some customers are not allowed. (as in foreign exchange fees or foreign ATM fees may be waived)

I, personally, prefer to bring some foreign currency along with me rather than arrive needing to find an ATM, so if I believe I will need foreign funds, I do order some from my bank (in Chicago) before leaving. Others prefer the ATM route. You can find many discussions on this board on that subject.

NOTE: depending on your plans for England and your credit cards, you may need NO or very little GBP. In my last trip to London with a couple day trips in 2022, I used credit cards and ApplePay only. No GBP.

I, personally, prefer to bring some foreign currency along with me
rather than arrive needing to find an ATM.

So do I.

so if I believe I will need foreign funds, I do order some from my bank (in Chicago).

Before Covid, I used to travel regularly to Europe (Germany). I always brought several hundred euro back with me each time so I would have local currency in my pocket when I arrived.

If you happen to have a debit Mastercard with a Capital One checking account, it is affiliated with Allpoint atm’s that are located in the US and the UK. You can get the Allpoint app and search for the ones near you. I’ve used it in England and Scotland. There is no foreign transaction fee with the account I have and the exchange rate was within a few cents of what the XE currency app showed. That’s the best way to get cash if you need it. I used maybe £40 total cash while in London last April. Everything else was on my credit card.

I have some USD cash that I'd like to exchange for GBP. I want to avoid the airport currency exchange like plague. What are some good options to consider (i.e. not a huge markup, deceptive fees, etc.)

Ya know, the way the OP asked the question does leave me wondering whether they're at home in Chicago or actually on the road in their travels.

I just want to point out that the vast majority of transactions in the UK are cashless. Even the pay bathrooms take cards. If I look back on the most recent few trips to the UK, there were only two locations that did not take cards. Both were fish and chip food trucks. You can probably get by with 40 pounds cash or less. Unless you have some other reason than travel to acquire pounds, I wouldn’t overthink this. Get 40 pounds from your bank or an ATM and cross this worry off your list. It is far more important to have a contactless credit card with no foreign transaction fees than to have cash.

What Carol now retired says is absolutely true and extends beyond the UK. We just returned from France, Belgium and the Netherlands. The only places we found who preferred cash were a couple of very small shops in the countryside. Yet, when we paid cash, they had a hard time coming up with enough change in cash. We got our cash using our debit card at an ATM once we arrived at our destination; not at the airport. If the OP is on the road, as suggested, I'd still keep my US currency in my wallet until I got home.

I have some USD cash that I'd like to exchange for GBP.

On my last trip to Europe (Germany) before Covid, my partner had changed her pin on her debit card and forgotten what she had changed it to. Although my cards worked fine, she wanted to have her own cash independent of me. She had several hundred in US$ in her wallet. We had already left the airport, so we had no access to "arm and a leg" exchange counters; we spent the rest of our time in small towns. We went from bank to bank in these towns trying to exchange her dollars for euro without any luck.

No one in Europe wants dollars any more. Use ATMs to get local currency.

In the UK, in a small town, you could try going to a travel agents. Most have money exchange counters, and should be willing to oblige.
Most towns of any size will have at least one walk in retail travel agency. There will be no fees, so you won't get the interbank rate (as the fees are buried in the marked down rate), but it will be a much fairer rate than at an airport.

Likewise at post office counters. In my town even the pawnbroker also does currency exchange! Last time I looked the order of best rates was travel agency, post office then pawnbroker but in reality not much spread between the three.

All you would need is your passport.

If you want to change money before you leave, compare the rates at AAA with your bank. I found AAA, at times, gives a good exchange rate although I haven't done this in years.

I was in my local AAA office recently - Burbank/Los Angeles - to pick up a paper map [remember those?] and asked whether they still offered foreign currency - the answer was "no" - have no idea whether this applies beyond the local office.

Thanks everyone for quick response. I am already in the UK and I am carrying cash that I have on me. I forgot my debit card home and my credit card has decent limit but not a lot. That;s why I was asking what's the best rate I can get and where.

Thanks to everyone who answered.

Pounds to USD

Hays Travel Agents- the main one in my town- is today doing 1.2939, the Post Office is doing 1.2682, Marks and Spencer (selected branches) 1.2913.

Bank Rate is 1.3214

To give you some idea of typical High Street rates

Travelers should keep in mind that currency exchange fees are just part of travel, no sense worrying too much about it. It's like stressing about how much that Coke costs at the airport, just roll with it. And don't change money more than once!

I think you've heard enough about using your debit which turns out to be a moot point; so hopefully you can get your cash exchanged without too much hassle. The other thing you may want to consider is calling your credit card company and telling them your predicament. They may temporarily or otherwise increase your credit limit.