CarolynAnn

Is it still the best strategy to wait until you arrive at Heathrow and get pounds from an ATM machine in the airport? I think I read in JanisJ's trip report that the exchange rate at banks in the US is not good and it was better to wait till you're in UK.

stokebailey

For sure wait.

janisj

Exchanging cash for other currency costs more -- whether its in the States or in London. The cheapest option is to withdraw ££ from cash point/ATM either at the airport or a bank owned machine in town. Be sure to read all the ATM display screens - and to request the withdrawal WITHOUT conversion. In other words, you want the withdrawal calculated in £, and not converted to $. There will be small fees from your own bank but IMO not enough to fret about.

The ATMs at LHR are mostly owned by TravelEx (not a bank) but that's OK -- as long as you do the transaction without conversion. (Getting £ at the TravelEx booths is a different matter and is much more expensive)

KTtravel

I prefer to use the ATMs attached to an open bank just in case there is a problem with my debit card. Our card was once "eaten" by a machine in Italy and we had to wait until the next day to retrieve it during the bank's business hours. London taxis take credit cards and you can pay for the Underground with a credit card as well, so you can wait until you get into London if you can't find a convenient ATM.

macdogmom

The ATM at Heathrow for our Virgin Atlantic flight was out of cash. We were in London for 3 1/2 days and ended up never getting cash just using cc and Apple Pay. However most people are going to want cash and using an ATM is definitely the way to go.

jan47ete

I was in Edinburgh and London a month ago. Prebought a ticket from the airport to Edinburgh and then stopped at an ATM and got pounds. I got 200 pounds for 2 weeks. I was shocked. Many, many, many places had signs: credit cards only, no cash. it was the same in London. Had almost no use for about 120 pounds. Going onto Amsterdam and Paris were cash friendly.

Heimdall

I’m an American who lives in England on my US pensions, so may have a different perspective than tourists, but here’s what I think. I can’t remember the last time I paid in cash, but still carry some sterling around just in case. If your US bank has no foreign transaction fees, using a card for purchases is the way to go. Some of my US cards are chip + signature and don’t have Contactless payments (tap and go), and this is irritating. Check that your cards default to Chip + PIN and have the Contactless symbol. If not and you have an iPhone you can load them into the phone’s wallet and use Apple Pay. I normally use Apple Pay in shops, restaurants, etc.

For ATMs it’s best to use one from a bank or credit union rather than a private machine which sometimes charges a fee (that’s how they make their money). Examples of banks are Barclays, Lloyds, and HSBC. Don’t count on getting your card back if it’s swallowed by the machine, even if the bank is open. Standard procedure is to destroy the card rather than handing it back. Best practice is to have more than one card so you don’t get stuck. I only use my debit cards for ATM withdrawals, and credit cards for everything else. I pay my balance every month so I don’t get charged interest. My credit cards have no foreign transaction fees and even give me cash back on transactions, so it’s a no brainier to use them.

Lastly, don’t fall for the dynamic currency conversion trick where the ATM or POS terminal sometimes asks if you would like the transaction shown in your home currency (see janisj’s above post). That allows the vendor to choose what exchange rate to use, which is always higher than than your home bank. If you want to see what you will be charged in your home currency, both Visa and MasterCard have websites for that.

Another hint: if your cards are Contactless you can use them in London on tubes and buses rather than buying an Oyster card. Be sure to tap it when you leave the tube station or you will be charged for the furthest stop. You only have to tap the card when you board a bus, and not when getting off.

uktravelover

It is true that in London many people use contactless cards to pay for everything. However if you want to explore further afield and/or go to markets, you will still find having some cash useful.

nyse

Yes, or perhaps leave a daily gratuity for your hotel housekeeper.

Heimdall

That’s true, but I live in rural Suffolk and nearly everywhere, except taxis, accepts card payments. Even the stall holders on the street on market day often have portable card readers.

macdogmom

As I said we were in London and Paris and ended up never getting pounds or euros. We quickly discovered in London that many places didn’t even take cash and Paris was also card friendly. I use my Apple Pay on my watch for most things here in Calif and I used it in Europe also. Restaurant’s we used a credit card. Now the tip for a hotel maid was my one issue and that was a bit confusing. I was told in Paris that no one leaves tips when I inquired about leaving money and that a cleaning lady might get in trouble for finding money and keeping it. Tip culture is very different in Europe and I do think that servers and others are paid better plus health care and some other issues we have here are not such a worry there. Pretty sure if I had gotten 100 pounds or euros I would have been returning home with 90% of it.

bilboburgler

I live in rural Yorkshire and use cash roughly every couple of months. Market stalls have card machines (I use debit cards all the time and have no real use for credit cards), hairdressers etc. As a visitor to the UK I imagine you might need cash to tip the cleaning staff in a hotel and that is it. Taxis will take a card tip.

Tips in the UK are a whole different subject

Heimdall

So, I live in rural Suffolk (East Anglia) and Bilbo lives in rural Yorkshire, a different part of the country, and we both have little use for cash. It’s been awhile since I used a taxi (other than Uber) so perhaps they now accept cards.

Regarding debit vs credit card, when travelling overseas I try to use credit cards whenever I can because of the greater protection against fraud, and the possibility of someone emptying my current (checking) account if they shoulder surf and get their hands on my debit card. It actually saves me money to use my credit card, because I pay the balance off monthly and get 1.5% back on every transaction.

With the higher limit on Contactless charging these days (£100 in the UK) a thief doesn’t even have to know your PIN to make several quick transactions before you have a chance to cancel your card.

crellston

I split my time between central London and rural Oxfordshire. I can't remember the last time I had cash in my wallet, probably pre pandemic. I mostly use ApplePay or contactless cards. Make sure your cards, be they credit or debit, charge zero for ATM withdrawals or foreign transactions.

uktravelover

I split my time between Buckinghamshire and Northumberland. Whilst it is perfectly possible to avoid using cash, I’ve noticed that not all market stall holders have cash readers and some of the smaller shops have a £5 minimum limit for using a card. It can be useful to have some cash - I was in a shop the other day and their machine wouldn’t work, so I paid cash.

With regards to the tip issue, every country has their own rules. In the UK, most restaurants add 10% with some adding 12.5+% to the bill. This is not obligatory and if you’ve had bad service, you can ask them to remove it. Others don’t add anything to the bill itself and staff appreciate being left a tip. Legally the owners have to give the tips to staff whether cash or on card. Some divide it between all the staff (front and back of house) whilst elsewhere it’s for waiting staff. If you are travelling in other European countries you may want to Google it for that country, or post another question here.

CarolynAnn

Wow - this has been very interesting! Even here in the US, I rarely use cash - too many benefits for using credit cards.

Thanks for the advice, everyone!

bvlenci

In my last several trips to the USA, I used less than $50 in cash. On one trip, I used none at all.

janisj

"Make sure your cards, be they credit or debit, charge zero for ATM withdrawals or foreign transactions."

That is not always possible with US cards. I have 3 debit cards with three different banks/credit unions, plus one Amex and 3 Visa cards and one mastercard with different institutions. All three debit cards do have out-of-system ATM fees but one reimburses them. All have on foreign transaction fees. And of my credit cards only one has no foreign transaction fees.

I do primarily use the debit card that reimburses fees and the Visa without foreign transaction fees but do use any/all of them. In any case, for the small amounts of ££ currency one needs -- the a small debit card fees won't add up to much and I wouldn't even worry about it.

CarolynAnn

What about pubs? I will be staying in Chipping Camden and there are several pub visits planned Cash or contactless credit cards?

bilboburgler

card.

If you have to use a paid for public toilet you might need a £1 or 50p, but really there are always some options.