P_M

As we all know, cards are widely accepted in the UK and that will be our primary means of payment. I want to have some cash on hand, maybe £100 or so to start. I typically use bank affiliated cash machines but I read LHR doesn't have those. Does anyone know how much the fees are at LHR ATMs? I was in London overnight a few months ago and I had no need for cash, but this will be a longer trip. Thanks.

janisj

The cash points at LHR are owned by Travelex. Travelex charges fees at their manned bureau de change booths, but not at the ATMs . . . IF you watch the instructions closely and make sure you get the funds calculated in £ and not in your own home currency. In other words avoid the DCC (dynamic currency conversion)

P_M

Wow, no fees at all? That's great. You can bet I will ask to be charged in £. Thanks janis.

janisj

Your own bank may assess a fee - for using an 'out of system' machine and/or foreign currency conversion -- but that is pretty standard and usually is small.

edit: I have 3 debit cards - 2 banks and 1 Credit Union and all charge a different fee. The CU doesn't charge for the non-CU machine but does assess 1% conversion fee. One bank charges $4 for using the non-bank machine but no conversion fee. The other bank charges a machine fee but reimburses it (go figure?? ) and a 3% conversion fee. I don't worry about any of them because I never withdraw more than £100 so the amounts are small.

P_M

Good info as always janis.

I use a major bank for most business, but their foreign ATM fees are $5 per withdrawal plus 3% conversion. I keep a small credit union account for travel only, as they only charge $1/withdrawal and a 1% conversion fee. My concern at LHR was that a non bank affiliated ATM would ding me with huge fees. I'm glad to know they won't, at least not at LHR.

mrwunrfl

If you have a 401k/investment account, see if they have a cash management account. I have one and it has an ATM card and gives rebates on ATM fees. The currency conversion is at the interbank rate. I can fund it by EFT from a credit union or bank account. On a recent trip the rebates totaled $20.03 for four ATM withdrawals. One of them was $7.11 in Budapest.

I hate to pay a nickel of fees to any financial institution. There is an ATM fee in Japan now. It is only about 70 cents, but I surely do not like it.

P_M

Update: We landed at Heathrow this morning and I checked out at least 5 ATMs. They all looked the same and one was by a Travelex desk. The screen indicated a charge of £2.50 per withdrawal on every ATM I saw. This is a fair price and certainly not a deal breaker. I asked the Travelex lady about it and she said all machines in the airport have this charge. That's OK with me, but maybe things have changed recently.

JohnEW2912

As far as I know Travelex have always charged a fee for cash withdrawals, although I couldn’t say how much.

janisj

I have used travelex at LHR several times and there was no fee for using the machine. There are two types of Travelex machines. The ones situated at the exchange booth are part of the Bureau de Change - just like exchanging money at the booth, one is charged fairly substantial fees -- built into the exchange rate you receive.

But the stand alone 'normal' machines in the wall are not exchanging anything and do not charge fees just like back when ATMs at LHR were owned by banks. When Travelex got the contract it was mandated there be no fees at their 'regular' machines. Just don't go near the Travelex booth and don't fall for DCC.

P_M

Janis, of all people in the world, I believe you know where the freebies are. But as I mentioned above, I checked about 5 different machines and only one of those was at the Travelex desk. I wish you had been there with me to help me find the ones you use. 😀

janisj

I hope my post wasn't confusing -- you do not want the machine at the Travelex desk. That one does charge fees and jacked up exchange rates - it is the same as using the booth.

(this is specifically about terminal 3 which is the only place I've used the machines since Travelex took over but should be similar in the other terminals) . . . Farther down Arrivals on the wall after the Travelex office and the last luggage carousel and just before exiting are the regular/free ATMs

janisj

. . . Have a great trip! I'll be just behind you -- I leave for LHR 3 weeks from today YAY! (I won't be using the machines because I have enough seed money left over from my last trip)

Surfergirl

I use my Schwab debit card and they reimburse me for all fees paid.

crellston

I wouldn't bother with seeking out ATMs at Heathrow. You really don't need cash for anything here. I have had cash in my wallet for years apart fro a £1 coin I keep for supermarket trolleys. If you really want cash just wait until you get into town where virtually every ATM offers free withdrawals . Certainly those provided by the clearing banks, supermarkets etc. are all free.

P_M

Crellston, I remember seeing the free ATMs around London, but I didn't use them because a) we didn't need more cash and b) I wondered what is the markup on the exchange for those of us with non-British bank accounts. Does anyone know?

Since I couldn't find the free ATMs at the airport, we used a Barclays machine in London, as our bank has an agreement with Barclays. We took out £100, but we could have done with far less. At the end of the trip we paid cash for dinner, just so we wouldn't bring any home.

crellston

There is no mark up for those with non UK cards. All ATMs use the wholesale rates set by VISA/MasterCard (depending upon the machine. These are very close to the mid market rates. You can ascertain the current rates on the masterCard or Visa websites. Any markups will be added by your own card issuer. The only exceptions to this is if you accept the Dynamic Currency Conversion rates which are invariably extremely disadvantageous or one of those "standalone" machines in garages or shopping centres which sometime add a flat fee per withdrawal.

As I said previously, I never use cash these days but if I did, I would head straight to the nearest HSBC/Barclays/Halifax etc or a Tesco or Sainsburys machine. Indeed I rarely use physical cards any more but contactless on my phone which is more secure.

P_M

I noticed everyone pays by phone these days. I need to join the 21st century and take a "Paying By Phone For Dummies" lesson.

I'll Google that.

janisj

The simple answer is -- IF you are getting £ and ask the the calculation be done in £ there is no 'exchange mark up' because there is no 'exchange happening.

The exchange rate is determined at the time your bank debits your account.