Money Exchange???

Further update: I know not to exchange my us dollars at home in Texas thru my Chase bank. I called my debit and credit card customer service. Here is what I found: Debit and credit-they will charge me 3% or up to $5 PER Transaction plus the exchange rate for the day. If I use an ATM to withdrawl money, I will be hit with a 3% flat rate fee (it is NOT capped at 5 bucks) pluse the exchange rate. So it seems wise to take cash with me and exchange it in London. I will also take my debit and credit cards as emergency use. Any suggested places to exchange "outside" the airport ( I might echange 100 bucks for walking money at the airport and look for better rates? One post spoke of LINK. I read about an exchange shop that was opperated by the UK goverment. Any thoughts?

Option 4 - none of the above. You will get the best rate by getting money from an ATM once you arrive. Unless it's an absolute emergency, never use a credit card to get money from an ATM. It will be treated as a cash advance, subject to immediate finance charges and a higher interest rate.

Yes, option 4. Leave the money in your bank account (less a little in your money belt for an emergency) and use an ATM as you go (as long as your bank isn't scalping you)..................................Be sure to find out your financial institution's charges and daily withdrawal limit before you depart.........................I was with Wachovia (now part of Wells Fargo). When I asked their charges for international ATM withdrawals it was $5 per use plus 3%. I opened a USSA account that charged only 1% and no per use fee...................Let's keep this easy, if I want 100 pounds ($156). USAA charges me $1.56 for the transaction. Wells Fargo would charge me $9.68. Exchanging at your bank costs $7 ($163-$156)...............................If you figure out what you will probably exchange over the course of your vacation, you can get a good estimate of the total costs for your trip in exchange. The more you exchange the more you save by using the best choice.......................One of my travel mottos: Save where you can so you can spend where you want.

Definitely option 4. Be sure you advise both your credit card customer service department and your ATM card customer service department when you will be in Europe to prevent your transactions from being blocked for suspected fraudulent use. Read the Rick Steves Money 101 article here: www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/moneytip.htm.

Hubby and I drew out cash in the US off my credit card at an ATM (prepositional phrases, anyone?) before hopping the pond. We were glad we had it to change once we arrived (we did a little each day instead of all at once, and kept it in different places so it wasn't all together and easy to snatch). Though I must say, I didn't realize I'd be charged a hefty $10 with each withdraw ha! I changed over some at my local bank, and was charged $15 just for a few measley pounds - so don't do it at your bank. I'm of the paranoid sort and didn't trust using an ATM overseas (I'm sure they were perfectly fine, but like I said, paranoid). Anyway. We found a really great bureaux de change near Victoria Station. It's called Link I believe - no fees, great rate. We had no problems! I'm not sure you want my advice - I just re-read your post and saw where you requested the help from math folks - I am certaily not one of those. But my husband and I had a fantastic trip. Good luck!

Option 4....for sure....as others have posted you will be a better exchange rate by using an ATM.

Just to clarify, are you recommending that I use my debit card at an ATM once I get to London to pull out cash? And not to use my debit or credit card for purchases over there? I'm with Chase bank. Will I find Chase ATMs or ATMs that will accept my Chase debit card?

I still recommend that you get cash from ATMs rather than using the services of exchange bureaus. Your Chase card certainly should work in them. To keep fees to a minimum, ask your bank to increase your daily withdrawal limit and withdraw as much as you can each time so you use ATMs as seldom as possible. Use your credit card for major purchases (like hotel rooms).

Option 4....and here's why. Using today's rates.....You go to an exchange bureau or bank and they are charging $1.65 per pound. No fees.....You go to an ATM and the exchange rate is $1.56 (yes, ATM exchange at near the interbank rate.) But wait, they also charge 3%...horrible, horrible, horrible. But is it? $1.56 + 3%= $1.61. That's still less than $1.65....and no need to carry a large amount of cash....

Jack if you want to go mostly cashless and use your credit and debit cards to make the majority of your purchases, that's completely doable in London. I did it that for my last trip London last fall and it worked out great. I have Chase Continental Airline cards and I like to earn miles. For my entire week long visit I only withdrew 50 pounds, and never once touched it (I also had about $100USD and a couple of extra cards linked to different accounts in my money belt in case of emergency). My debit card also has the PayPass contactless chip in it, and lots of merchants in London use it like Boots, and Pret a Manger; so in some places all I had to do was hold my wallet up to the reader to complete a purchase-no signature or pin required. It was great not having to fumble with bills or coins. This strategy won't work as well in other areas around Europe; but for London no problem.

If you have time before your trip, it might be worth shopping around for low/no fee credit/debit cards to use when traveling. The following link might be useful - it has a chart at the bottom listing different cards issued in the US and corresponding fees, restrictions, etc. (with the caveat it may not be completely comprehensive) http://flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php/Credit/Debit/ATM_Cards_and_Foreign_Exchange We've used Schwab Debit, Schwab Visa (which is being discontinued) and Capital One for travel. As others have stated - don't use your credit card for a cash advance at an atm.

You can certainly use your credit cards abroad, just make sure you know what their conversion fees might be. And just don't use them to obtain cash from an ATM.....I would never use a bank who charged as much as yours does for ATM use! Check into local credit unions instead of huge banks - my two debit cards charge 1% and 0% (both small, local credit unions). Any Visa or Mastercard-branded debit card should be usable in any ATM.

It can make economic sense to take US dollars in cash to London and exchange for pounds there. http://www.bestforeignexchange.com/index.php currently offers pounds for $1.58, a markup of only 0.9% over the interbank rate of $1.5673. Beware! Other exchange bureaus may charge you 20% or more, including the ones at the airport which you seem to be considering. However, for someone who did not get an A in math and is having trouble following the advice given here I recommend that you (1) pay for your foreign purchases with your credit card and accept the 3% markup. (2) use your debit/ATM card to withdraw foreign cash from an ATM and accept the fees. (3) read http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/moneytip.htm and if you can make no sense of it, accept that you will be ripped off in Europe.

Also, if you have access to a credit union, their debit cards do not usually charge a 3% fee. I used mine in Italy in June. ATMs are definitely the way to go.

Jack, call Chase, or visit their site, and find out if they have deals with UK banks that lower the cost of using that bank's ATM machines. For example, Bank of America has an arrangement with Barclay's [INVALID] a big UK bank [INVALID] that cuts some of the cost of using a BofA debit/ATM card at a Barclay's machine. You can use your Chase debit/ATM card at any machine in any country as long as it is part of the ATM networks identified on the back of your card. A Chase ATM/debit card ought to be accepted at thousands of machines in the UK. There are some peculiarities: UK machine expect a 4-digit PIN that contains only numerals [INVALID] no letters [INVALID] and does not being with zero. Change your PIN if you need to. (I see the software still can't deal with a pair of hyphens.)

I have already researched this. Chase has no branches outside the US, nor does it have an kind of ATM partnerships with any other Banks. Using a Chase debit card overseas will always incur a $3 service charge.

j.c. brings up the old, old urban myth about no leading zeros in your PIN. While it may have been true at one time, in the early days of ATMs, it is not true now. One of my debit cards has a leading zero and it has worked just fine in China, Spain, Costa Rica, Ireland, and the UK. Yes, your PIN must be 4 digits, but the reason for "no letters" is that the keypads do not have letters on them, as they do here. If you know the number equivalent of letters in your PIN, you do not have to get your pin changed.

The charges were the reason I dumped Chase and now have a Capital One credit card,no foreign transaction fee. Call a credit union as several people have mentioned or I have my debit card with a small bank,they know my name when I walk in, which charges a flat $1.50 for an ATM withdrawal from a machine that is not theirs.

Leading zeros in a pin are still an issue in some places. My husband was told by his bank that he had to change his pin before we left.

Just to support Nancy. Problems with leading zero is a myth that is often spread by uninformed bank officials. Leading zero is not a problem anywhere.

one of my (UK-issued) cards has a zero at the front and it works everywhere I have tried it - that's a lot of places...

Sonya, you would be surprised at how many bank officials who, because they don't travel, don't really know the rules of ATM use in foreign countries. My credit union wasn't even aware, until I told them, that I can use my local ATM card to get cash abroad (I had already done it).

Mar Twain said something to the effect of, its not what you don't know but what you know for sure that ain't true.

Pat, that's a good quote from Mark Twain!

It's good to hear that ATM's in the UK have added a zero key. I changed my PIN several years ago and have no reason to change back. FWIW, as of two days ago, Bank of America was advising customers about the zero key issue. Maybe it is still a problem in the boonies.

My friend's daughter went to the UK in June at the last minute as an emergency replacement chaperone for a school group. Her teacher's credit union just got in pre-paid debit travel cards - she was the first one to try it out for them. She said it worked great in ATM's all over - had no trouble finding ATM's in their network and didn't incur any fees. She deposited unused funds back in her account when she returned. Sort of an ATM version of what traveler's checks used to be but easier to access.

There has always been a zero key. If there wasn't, how could you request amounts of money that contained zeros?

Karen - it might be helpful to know what the fees were on the pre-paid debit card. Historically the fees have been very high - in the range of 8 to 10% - and NOT revealed to the user because, under banking regulations, the pre-paid cards are considered gift cards. The full disclosure requirement of fees for regular credit and debits cards do not apply to pre-paid cards which accounts for, in part, increasing popularity because the fees can be buried in the transactions amounts.

Has anyone used a TD-Banknorth Debit card in Europe? I was told there are no transaction fees for withdrawing money or making purchases using your debit. Thank you