My bank (Wells Fargo) let me order foreign currency on the web and have
it delivered to my house by courier, for a small fee ($5 or less), a real
time saver. I recommend having at least 100 dollars worth of local
currency per person in hand on arrival, since the airport exchange rates
may not be the best, and taxis and the Heathrow express train are
surprisingly expensive. American Express will issue traveler's checks
through the web, also.
I had no trouble with my VISA or MasterCard in London or, more recently,
Spain. And some, but not all, ATMs will accept your US cards. I suggest
looking it up on your bank's website -- your ATM card will be linked to
some sort of network (Star, Cirrus, etc), and there will be a list of
locations supporting those networks, by country.
Larry Hoy had this to say:
>
>They have a questions about exchanging US dollars to pounds before they
>leave.
>Those of you with experience could you direct them (through me) to the best
>source? Banks, auto club, etc?
>
>Should they actually take pounds with them?
>
>How about Visa and Master Card, certainly they are accepted everywhere, or at
>least the ads would make you believe that?
>
>Finally how about the ATM (cash machines) are they sitting on every corner
>like
>they are in the US? Will they work with a US ATM card?
>
--
Max Heim
'66 MGB GHN3L76149
If you're near Mountain View, CA,
it's the red one with the silver bootlid.
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