De-Americanize this my good man

July 28, 2005 12:28 PM

I'm an American who lives in London, just got 1500US that I need to convert to pounds. Where should one go to get the most return for they're US money in London? Don't need a specific street corner or anything, but hoping for ideas how to get the most for my money.
posted by herting to travel & transportation (13 comments total)

You have cash in London?
posted by grouse at 12:40 PM on July 28, 2005

Yes, I have cash in London.
posted by herting at 12:49 PM on July 28, 2005

Do you mean exchange rate? If so Marks & Spencer or the Post Office Bureau de Change (it's just off Charing Cross Rd by Trafalgar Square) used to give the best deals.
posted by forallmankind at 12:50 PM on July 28, 2005

If memory serves, I believe you can also get an exchange at your bank.
posted by Alex Handcoding at 12:54 PM on July 28, 2005

I second forallmankind's suggestions. Both are commission-free and offer excellent rates.
posted by MUD at 2:20 PM on July 28, 2005

Now is the best time to do it, btw, the Pound has fallen to a several month low against the Dollar due to the terrorist attacks, and not by an insignificant amount either.
posted by wackybrit at 2:33 PM on July 28, 2005

Any recommendations for either getting Euros in NYC or in Paris?
posted by bshort at 2:38 PM on July 28, 2005

Hey, Google has live exchange rates, how long has this been going on?
posted by m@ at 2:55 PM on July 28, 2005

I find the best place is the currency exchange shop on Victoria Street near Westminster Cathedral (not abbey), about 300m from Victoria Station. It has long lines every day of canny tourists. My Barclays bank kindly told me to use them as I'd get a better deal than via Barclays themselves, ever since I've noted they DO have the best rates around.
posted by polaroid at 3:15 PM on July 28, 2005

To m@: I'm not sure when, but I emailed them about adding currency conversion to the Google calculator last October, and it looks like they did. :D
posted by whoda at 3:21 PM on July 28, 2005

Now is the best time to do it

Now is the best time in about 18 months. But you don't know what it will be like next month—might be better, might be worse, and it's pretty futile to guess. Personally I'd just want to get the cash into a bank account ASAP.
posted by grouse at 4:20 PM on July 28, 2005

You could try http://www.travelex.co.uk - they have been advertising a lot and claim to beat M&S rates (which is were I normally go).

Presume you would need cash in the bank to do this though...
posted by laukf at 3:50 AM on July 29, 2005

Last time I had to change a significant amount of money (Canadian $), I found that the American Express place on Haymarket gave me the best deal. Post Office is indeed comission-free, but they sometimes make up for this with fairly low rates.
posted by coach_mcguirk at 4:53 AM on July 29, 2005