I’ll be arriving home in the US on Wednesday, carrying a substantial amount of cash in pounds. I’d prefer not to change the money at the airport, because I know that will not get me a particularly good rate*, and will likely charge some sort of commission.
I know that in the UK, just about any post office or large bank branch will cheerily give you a decent rate and do it for free. I can’t recall ever having seen any sort of currency-change window outside an airport in the US. Where would I start to look?
Currency exchanges aren’t as common in the US as in the UK. You should be able to exchange it at a bank, but you should call first. In my experience, not every bank provides this service.
Every bank can tell you where you can go to exchange foreign currency. Usually it’s a main office of the bank chain. For independent banks, they usually have a correspondent relationship with a bigger bank chain, so they will refer you to a head office of that chain.
Note that if you’re a good customer, and it’s a slow day, you local branch bank may just call the currency exchange counter at their main branch, get instructions from them over the phone, and do the exchange for you right there, saving you the trip.
Sorry, I have to ask - why are you carrying large amounts of pounds to the US? As you say, it is really easy to change the cash in the UK before you go. Even better, why not take it out of a cashpoint when you get there?
I think you can do it at an American Express office (at least, I know you can change dollars to pounds in the U.S.; not sure about the other direction). It’s a good time to be trading pounds for dollars.
I miss English currency, especially the coins; you could fracture somebody’s skull with a two-pound coin.
I agree with MarcusF. Your idea is flawed. You’d do a LOT better to arrive with a small amount of cash, say GBP 100 , and plan to do everything while you’re in the US using your credit card directly, or withdrawing USD from local ATMs as needed. You’ll get a much better rate on either of those transactions than you’ll get at any currency exchanging facility.
And as others have said, outside of international airports, currency exchanges are all but unheard-of in the US. branches of major national banks in big cities might be able to help you, but moght not. You’d definitely be 100% unable to change currency the moment you left any major city.
In fact, I’d amend my initial advice to be this: Before you leave Britain, change GBP 100 into USD. Arrive in the US with those ~USD 110, and replenish as needed from ATMs.
About the only way that plan can go totally awry is to get here & discover that your credit card or ATM card is not set up for international use. I’ve seen that happen to Americans abroad & it isn’t funny. So perhaps bringing a pile of GBP makes sense, but consider it insurance money just in case the higher-tech methods fail you.
The banks will have a branch or an office for foreign currency exchange but usually it is at a highly disadvantagous rate.
Use credit cards and cash machines.
I don’t know how it works the other way around but many U.S. credit cards tack on a 3% currency exchange fee. The fee is a total rip-off. I make sure that when I travel I use a card with a 1% currency exchange fee. Check your cardholder agreement before you travel.
Even 3% can work out less expensive than over-the-counter exchange rates. I just tried out the rates on the Post Office’s website, and changing £100 into US$ and back again leaves you with £88.
The cash will be the returned deposit on the room I’ve been renting for the past few months. My landlord will only be around for about an hour before I need to leave for the airport, and I’m not sure that’ll be enough time to get to the bank, deposit the cash, get back home, and get to the airport.
I’ll try AmEx - there’s apparently an office near my parents’ house. If not I’ll call my bank and see how they can help me out - probably won’t be able to do it for me as they’re a small local bank.
And oh yes, it is such a sweet time to be moving back to America from the UK.
Argh. Since we’re on the topic: If I have a normal UK chip-and-pin debit card (Solo, with Maestro and Cirrus logos on the back), will it work in at least some US machines? (I know that in the UK it works in all “LINK” machines but the logo isn’t on the actual card, and I know the chip-and-pin thing isn’t very common in the US).
If it has a magstripe in addition to a chip, there’s a good chance that it’ll work in US machines on the Cirrus network, which are very widespread. If it has a Mastercard logo, it will almost certainly work. I would definitely check with your bank, though.