Where to get British Pounds

[DesertGirl28]

We will be coming into Heathrow and staying at the Premier Inn T4. Where is the best place (ATM) to get some currency for spending/tipping? I couldn't find an email for the hotel to ask them. Will the pounds I get be useable in other areas of the UK? Thanks in advance. 

[CruiserBruce]

There will be ATMs in the airport. 

 

Tipping in Europe is not like tipping in the US...much less tipping down...usually just rounding up. Credit cards are accepted and expected most everywhere.

[Globaliser]

10 hours ago, DesertGirl28 said:

Where is the best place (ATM) to get some currency for spending/tipping?

 

8 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Credit cards are accepted and expected most everywhere.

 

Last week, I bought a programme for a concert that I was attending, and was asked for cash. It was the first time that I had used cash for anything since Christmas. And in 2021, I think I probably made a cash transaction about once every three months, usually when paying for a taxi that was dropping me off in a phone blind spot where the card machine couldn't get a signal to authorise my card payment.

 

There has been a revolution in payment methods here (accelerated by the pandemic) that is difficult to overstate. I think that reports of street beggars proffering contactless card devices may be a bit overblown, but I couldn't be 100% sure. But the truth is that you can do pretty much everything by card payment. I often don't carry any cash with me. And many places simply will not accept cash at all.

 

One consequence is that there are now even fewer occasions on which you are expected to tip, in any form. Most restaurants add a service charge, and if they do there is no need to tip anything on top. Some restaurants don't do this, but the card payment machine will usually then give you a chance to choose how much to add on by way of a tip before you pay. If neither of these things happens, then IME staff don't seem to care at all, which is an indicator that they're being paid properly without either added service charge or tip.

  

10 hours ago, DesertGirl28 said:

Will the pounds I get be useable in other areas of the UK?

 

Yes: if you get cash from a machine in London, it will almost certainly be all Bank of England notes, and you should have no difficulty using these throughout the UK and in the Channel Islands if you're going there.

 

Generally, difficulties only arise when trying to use Scottish, Northern Irish or Channel Islands notes in England - and even then it's a relatively rare occurrence, easily surmounted.

[tony s]

If you are coming from US but prior at bank. If you have account at Chase or BOA great rate and no fees 

[DesertGirl28]

On 4/29/2022 at 3:31 AM, Globaliser said:

 

 

Last week, I bought a programme for a concert that I was attending, and was asked for cash. It was the first time that I had used cash for anything since Christmas. And in 2021, I think I probably made a cash transaction about once every three months, usually when paying for a taxi that was dropping me off in a phone blind spot where the card machine couldn't get a signal to authorise my card payment.

 

There has been a revolution in payment methods here (accelerated by the pandemic) that is difficult to overstate. I think that reports of street beggars proffering contactless card devices may be a bit overblown, but I couldn't be 100% sure. But the truth is that you can do pretty much everything by card payment. I often don't carry any cash with me. And many places simply will not accept cash at all.

 

One consequence is that there are now even fewer occasions on which you are expected to tip, in any form. Most restaurants add a service charge, and if they do there is no need to tip anything on top. Some restaurants don't do this, but the card payment machine will usually then give you a chance to choose how much to add on by way of a tip before you pay. If neither of these things happens, then IME staff don't seem to care at all, which is an indicator that they're being paid properly without either added service charge or tip.

  

 

Yes: if you get cash from a machine in London, it will almost certainly be all Bank of England notes, and you should have no difficulty using these throughout the UK and in the Channel Islands if you're going there.

 

Generally, difficulties only arise when trying to use Scottish, Northern Irish or Channel Islands notes in England - and even then it's a relatively rare occurrence, easily surmounted.

Thank you most sincerely for answering all my questions. I had just read that Channel Islands have their own currency. Looking forward to seeing the UK.

[John Bull]

4 hours ago, DesertGirl28 said:

Thank you most sincerely for answering all my questions. I had just read that Channel Islands have their own currency. Looking forward to seeing the UK.

 

No. The bailiwicks of Guernsey & Jersey print their own bills, but they are GB pounds.

So just use GBP 🙂 

 

I guarantee you'll have no worries with spending, but make sure you're not given C.I. bills in your change because they're not valid elsewhere in the UK. (Staff in the Channel Islands are aware of this & avoid giving C.I. bills to visitors, but mistakes can happen)

Exactly the same as Gibraltar.

 

Scotland & Northern Ireland also produce their own bills, but they're totally interchangeable with Bank of England bills.

 

Wales use GBP.

 

Southern Ireland (Republic of Ireland) use Euros.

 

JB 🙂