New £20 Note

I’ll still never understand wanting to leave a country with physical currency unless it’s small coins for souvenirs.
‘Assume you will return’ is a great motto for sightseeing, you can’t see everything. But, who knows where life will bring you? Jobs/family/health whatever can get in the way of travel. And, does anyone think that Europe won’t continue to be more cashless?

Anyway, the possibility of currency changes plus the slight uncertainty of when you’ll return is enough for me to try to spend as much currency as possible before I return.

But, to each their own. If you’re a wreck flying over because you don’t have physical Euros or Pounds in your pocket, then do it.

I’ll still never understand wanting to leave a country with physical
currency unless it’s small coins for souvenirs.

Really? It’s quite simple. It’s all about opportunity. When the USD is very strong, I take advantage of that opportunity and get extra currency from cash machines for the next trip as the exchange rate could be worse.

When I went to the UK in 2008 when the USD was terribly weak £1 = $2.15, I certainly did NOT take out more cash from cash machines than I needed for the trip. When I was in London this past October and the exchange rate was impressively strong for the USD (£1 = $1.23), I went to a Barclays cash machine the day I left for JFK & took our extra cash home for my next trip.

Dale, I return every year and have been to the UK seven times since 2013. While we use less cash than ever while visiting, and I haven’t used a UK ATM in a couple years, it’s nice to have some on hand. While you may not know when you’ll return, we return to the UK or someplace else in Europe every year. As you said, each to his own. Unfortunately, while I tried to use all my paper £20s in December, I still came home with a few. Hopefully the transition period will not have ended when I return later this year.

I’ve never had an excuse to go to the Bank of England. Now I do....old 5s, 10s, and now 20s.

I’ll never understand those travelers who do not keep a 500-1000 Pounds and/or Euros stashed in their home safe- just perfect when a last minute opportunity arises. Grab some cash and go. Or have some available to hand a friend 100 E/P right before they depart on their dream trip while telling them “your first dinner in Rome/Paris/London is on me”—you’ll never see such a happy face.

I and friends have seen (experienced) atm cards eaten by French toll booths, a bank ATM in Rome (on a Saturday). A couple of years ago I was up in Eureka CA when the whole town went nuts when an underground cable got cut and atm/credit card services went down for 1/2 a day. I had cash so no problem with lunch and getting gas, no so for many others.

I’ll never understand those who leave home “without it”. So much risk for such a nominal (if any) gain.

Rocket, thank you so much for sharing this information. Yes I have some of the old 20’s, and have made a note.

The owner/manager of the London b&b where I have stayed forever swaps out my “dated” currency to be helpful. They can deposit it in their bank account without any problem. Saves me a trip to the “gold bar”.

Maybe other lodgings might do the same, or accept the bills as payment. But it’s early days, no 6 month notice yet.

I went to the Bank of England to exchange some old 10's last spring and found it to be a very interesting part of my trip. I took the Waterloo and City line during rush hour from Waterloo to Bank. It was quite the experience. Long lines 4 abreast moving down two staircases and merging at the bottom. Everyone kept their place in line politely, everyone was quiet, and everyone (except me) was dressed in black. The silent lines moved onto the platform and into the cars without even a hint of pushing or jockeying for position. I had never seen anything like it.

I felt like a had a glimpse of authentic London life and I also enjoyed visiting the Bank of England. It was especially fun because others had told me that I would never get my money from those old 10 pound notes and it was less than 5 minutes in the bank to get it done.

The Bank of England museum is worth a trip on its own in my opinion as it is some of the most historic parts of the bank building, let alone seeing the collections.

Every note issued by the Bank of England remains exchangeable at face value; there won't be many currencies of the 17th century where that applies.

I use cash very rarely. Only my barber won't take credit cards and I have to pay in cash.
I charge everything on credit cards that provide me frequent flyer miles and usually get free flights to Europe about every other year.
We visited Norway, Denmark and Sweden last June. Norway and Sweden are moving to the elimination of cash. Everyone gets a card to use and credit cards and ATM cards would be universally accepted.

Works for me. Amazing, 20 years ago someone argued that the USA should eliminate the penny, due to its little value. Simply round off the small change. Unfortunately, many claimed that such a move would hurt the poor. I don't see why, but imagine if the USA did away with cash, probably the criminals would complain since it would theoretically do away with the underground economy and money laundering.

Really? It’s quite simple. It’s all about opportunity. When the USD is
very strong, I take advantage of that opportunity and get extra
currency from cash machines for the next trip as the exchange rate
could be worse.

Yup, what Continental said. Dollar cost averaging. The Canadian dollar was very strong a few years ago vs. the $US, Euro and Pound. We've kept what we have for future trips. I initially bought Euros at $1.41 and now I have to top up at $1.50. I still have Pounds I bought at $1.66 (I think), now $1.76.