Important Note: Checks from home--whether personal or certified--are
virtually useless in England. They can only be deposited into your personal
account in an English bank and they take SIX weeks to clear. Do not plan to use
American checks in England!
A local bank account is essential, because you will be depositing your
food checks into it. Checks in England cannot be cashed; they can only be
deposited into an account. With your account you will receive a "Cashpoint" card
which you can use to withdraw cash from automatic tellers all over Britain.
The best way to put your money into a local account is to bring your money in
traveler's checks, in British pounds. (You can get traveler's checks in pounds
at AAA offices.) You may want some traveller's checks in dollars for travel in
Europe.
We strongly encourage you to have a debit card from your bank account
in the U.S. The easiest way for your parents to get money to you is for them to
deposit it in your U.S. account and for you to withdraw it using your debit
card. Credit cards (Visa and Mastercard) are also useful, but of course, someone
has to pay the credit card bills.
Caution: Find out what service
charges your debit or credit card might have. Some charge a percentage on every
purchase made in foreign currency and/or a currency conversion fee. Some debit
cards do not charge these fees.
To withdraw money at a PLUS or CIRRUS ATM, you need a personal identification
number (PIN). If your PIN is longer than four digits, you will need to get a new
number. Foreign machines don't accept the longer codes. Also, if your PIN has a
letter in it, check for the corresponding numbers before departure, as foreign
ATMs usually display digits only.
You will need money in British pounds as soon as you arrive in England. You
will be able to cash traveller's checks and to use ATM machines in the
airport. In general, if you are exchanging dollars for pounds, it is
wise to avoid small transactions, since the banks charge a fee per transaction.
You will need your deposit money(about £30) and incidental money to get
started.
How much is a pound worth in dollars? The exchange rates fluctuate daily, but
recently the pound has been worth about $1.73. You can check on the latest
exchange rate on the web at Currency converter.
Many countries in Europe (France,
Germany, Spain, Italy, etc., but not Britain) use a common
currency, called the Euro (pronounced yoor-oh. The symbol is
€.) This makes traveling between countries much easier,
because you don't have to exchange your money every time you
go from one country to another.
British money is divided into pounds (£) and pence (p). In
March 2006, the pound was worth approximately $1.73675 . (That
is, you can exchange $1 for approximately 57p.)
British paper
money comes in denominations of £5, £10 and higher. Different denominations have different colors.
There are £2, £1, 50p, 20p, 10p, 5p, 2p and 1p coins.
The 10p coin in the center is approximately the size of a U.S.quarter
