Currency exchange - traveling from Paris to London

From an ATM when you arrive in London. Just avoid/decline the ATM doing the currency conversion for you ('DCC').

If you have left-over euro that you don't want to keep for a future trip, convert these into sterling in London using a specialist online to fix the rate first (eg with Thomas Exchange Global).

How long are you going to be there? London is basically cashless these days so you might not need much at all.

I agree about London and cash. I'm in London a great deal. In fact, I'm there now. I have been in the UK for three weeks and I think I have used cash once. Just about everywhere takes cards. Even for small purchases. Some places even have signs that they are cashless. They only want cards.

I hesitate to get currency before our trip.

I agree. I never do that. Use a bank cash machine when you arrive in London.

There are ATMs in St. Pancras. That is our first stop when we get off the EuroStar.

Just to be counter, I like having currency certainty so I'm taking some with me. Picking bits and pieces up as it becomes a good deal. I get the impression here that cashless is king but for those of us on a budget I don't want to take the chance on a spike in the currency rate before I leave.

I'm sure i'll be in the minority on this one.

Your credit card may impose a fee for a charge in foreign currency. If it is a flat fee, say $2, that becomes a stiff surcharge for a $5 purchase (I know, the currency will be sterling, but let's stick to dollars for easy explanation.) Maybe it's more economical o pay the fee to extract a sizable amount of cash from an ATM through your debit card, and then use that money for small purchases. Quicker transactions, too. But you have to be sure about the fine print on your bank account and cards.

There's also the issue of London's many free-but-donation-requested museums. There's a large box with a coin/currency slot for the donations. I don't know how they handle visitors who want to donate but have only plastic with them.

Your credit card may impose a fee for a charge in foreign currency. If
it is a flat fee, say $2, that becomes a stiff surcharge for a $5
purchase (I know, the currency will be sterling, but let's stick to
dollars for easy explanation.) Maybe it's more economical o pay the
fee to extract a sizable amount of cash from an ATM through your debit
card, and then use that money for small purchases. Quicker
transactions, too. But you have to be sure about the fine print on
your bank account and cards.

I'll go totally cashless when I can be sure all the local pay toilets are card-only. Until then, I'm having some of the local money in my bag.

About fees: good point. I bank with credit unions, and mine do not impose any foreign transaction fees on my debit/ATM or credit cards. (My other credit card, issued by Citi, doesn't either.)

However, one fee that I have been assessed on all my ATM withdrawals in foreign countries, is a VISA system "international service assessment" in the amount of one percent of the transaction. As I understand it, that's not something my credit union can waive and since the exchange rate for those withdrawals has been good, I accept the 1% charge as the cost of getting currency that way.

There's going to be some cost paid for the service of exchanging currency (or for withdrawing currency from an ATM). My attitude is to accept that reality, and decide what cost I can accept. I'm not exchanging large amounts of money, and I won't be getting the same exchange rate as a big time bank or currency trader, and I'll also pay a fee at a currency exchange counter. I remember wading through an interminable discussion on currency exchange on another travel forum a few years ago, then realizing that those folks were spending heaven knows how much time and energy obsessing over trying to get the absolutely most favorable exchange rate for modest amounts of money. Maybe they fancied themselves big-time currency traders, lol. Me, I just want a few pounds at hand for a snack, a cup of coffee, and maybe a newspaper. And some 20p coins for the loo. EDITED to add: Come to think of it, I don't remember encountering pay toilets in London last year. Maybe I was just lucky, or have they gone away?

The "international service" fee can be waived by your bank, if they want. Capital One 360 does. It is billed in bulk by Visa, MasterCard, AmEx, and your bank has to divide it out among each transaction. It is up to 1% and depends on the volume of transactions the specific bank does and the banks get a discount rate of as low as 1/4% with large enough volume. Most smaller banks as well as the largest banks don't waive it even when they don't charge other fees for international transactions.

In the grand scheme of things, 1% isn't that much and I agree that there is cost to someone when you get foreign currency. The ATM pays rent, electricity, maintenance, and probably interest (or lost income) on the money sitting in it. I am always surprised I can get money from most ATMs in Europe completely free of cost.

Good to know that about the VISA fee, Mark. Thanks.

I'm very pleased with my credit unions overall, so I'm fine with paying that 1% fee for ATM withdrawals in foreign currency. As I said, they don't hit me with any other fees for foreign transactions (debit, ATM, or credit card) and their customer (member) service across the board has always been stellar over the decades. I probably have mentioned somewhere around here that each time I visit the UK I do fewer cash transactions. Last time I used my Costco Citi VISA card (either by presenting the card or via Google Pay). I just double-checked my statements for that trip and saw there were no additional fees whatsoever for those charges.