Exchanging money in GB

Hi Carey,

True, smaller B&B may not take a cc (I have one reserved for next month who has told me just that), and even ones that do will likely tack on a surcharge (what I have experienced at another one from a previous trip to Edinburgh), so cash can still be the way to go.

Cash out of the ATM is what I did. I carried an ATM card for a Capital One Direct banking (online) money market account and the ATM card for my checking acct at my local bank. Both cards do not charge me and the UK banks did not either.

For a credit card, I have a Cap One cc, because it does not charge me the foreign transaction fee.

At the airport, I found the ATMs on the upper floor, for departures, not too far from the escalator up. If there are some downstairs, I have not seen them. ATMs are at the rail station and here/there across the city.

Enjoy your trip!

It is helpful to see the rates at an exchange place, too, Jo. Too bad that you didn't have access to an ATM card, though - today's rate for GBP from dollars is $1.45.

You'll find an ATM almost as soon as you clear passport control. Use an ATM associated with a bank, not a Travelex or other exchange for best rates.

I just got back from Edinburgh yesterday and I had both euro and dollars on me to exchange. Just went to the Royal Bank of Scotland and bought my GBP. No charge for exchanging money.

Here is the rate I got for my dollars - 1.5569

For 200 dollars I received 128.46 GBP

Here is the rate I got for my euro -

For 250 euro I received 200 GBP

Hope this helps. We loved Edinburgh and hope to go back their soon. The city is easy to get to from the airport too.

I am no expert on these things, but I hope I can clearly share what I have experienced.

Jo reports no fee for the exchange, but it looks to me that the rate was not the greatest, so even though no fee, you do "pay" by not getting the best rate.

On my trip last year to the UK, the rate rec'd each time I used the ATMs was very close to the rate that you see using a Google search .. ex: (without the quotes) "200 usd in gbp" says 138 pounds and "250 euro in gbp" is (as of this typing) 212 pounds.

Granted the rate changes all the time, but the usd to gbp is about what I've seen in the last week or two, so to use the bank "cost" about 10 pounds difference .. certainly in my "eh, pshaw" range for one exchange, but multiplied by 2 to 20 pounds for both .. 20 pounds would start to be missed.

I wouldn't want to exchange a humongous amount at the bank. I'd much rather make several ATMs withdrawals. Hope this helps.

Thanks everyone for your advice. It will help a lot!

General rule of thumb: Use credit cards for major purchases and get cash from ATMs for everything else.

Read this helpful article by Rick Steves: Money 101. Be sure you notify your bank and credit card company when you will be in Europe so your cards aren't frozen by a computer because of suspected fraudulent use.

Well, I would have used my credit card, ATM's, etc. except I was without one this week. So, I did the next best thing, use the bank to change the cash I had.

some banks have arrangements for cheaper fees from certain banks check before you leave