Euro's out of ATM @ Heathrow?

It's pounds only -- you win!

You also can't change dollars to euros in London... you can only change to pounds.

ATMs = £ but there are a few rip off currency exchange machines that do give € for about twice the price.

My experience with ATM currency is that it is always the currency of the country. I am sure that ATM in Heathrow is pounds only because the Euro is not accepted in England. However, you have a choice if the country uses more than one currency. For example -- in Ireland we had a choice of British pounds or Irish pounds. And found that the case in some smaller countries that did not have their own currency. But for Heathrow, go collect you 2 lbs.

The poster above cannot be referring to the Republic of Ireland where Euros are the only currency you will get out of an ATM. Prior to the Euro the currency in Ireland was the punt and not the pound sterling so you would only have received punts from an Irish ATM.

It is possible that the poster is referring to Northern Ireland in which case there are not two currencies but pounds sterling with issues of English or Northern Irish notes - but certainly not two different currencies.

Well, Ennis, you are wrong. It was in Cork. It was before the Euro and maybe my mistake is calling it an Irish pound but we clearly had a choice between two currencies.

Frank - you have not said if you were in Northern Ireland?

I lived in the Republic before the Euro change and never did I see a machine which gave a preference for either sterling or punts. Sterling was not a legal currency - you could take it to a bank for exchange of course. After the Irish central bank broke from Sterling in the 1970s the only acceptable currency in the Republic was the Irish punt.

I don't know about Heathrow, where there are four terminals and many cash machines, but some of the British banks are certainly experimenting in this area to see what the demand is. I know that there is a cash machine dispensing euro at the Channel Tunnel terminal near Folkestone, and other machines are likely to be in or near airports, ferry terminals, etc. A likely place will be the new Eurostar terminal at St Pancras, and Terminal 5 at Heathrow, which will open next year.

Incidentally, the plural of euro is euro. It is quite possible to exchange dollars for euro in London or any other U.K. bureau de change. Just don't expect a good rate because they will probably go through the exchange process twice - once from dollars into pounds, and once from pounds into euro. There are bureau de change all over Britain, in banks, travel agents, post offices and stores like Marks & Spencers, as well as specialist bureaux de change, and a wide range of currencies are available over the counter.

Bob, I'm sure it's possible to exchange for euro in London, but not at Heathrow. I asked that specific question at an exchange booth at Heathrow in May, and was told that they could not exchange dollars for euro, even by exchanging it for pounds first. (Besides, the service fee would kill you.)

Boy did you open a can of worms. At an ATM at Heathrow you get pounds.

Good evening all! Bottom line is I won the bet!
You can't get Euro's out of an ATM machine @ Heathrow Airport... I thank you all for your replies~