Money, money, money

[SMB x2 0]

xe.com is what i've been using for the past two years -- US bank account > UK bank account. I have exchanged thousands. they have pretty much the best retail spread you can get, though obviously still not as good as the interbank spread that institutional exchanges get..

Can you use XE.com to transfer as much as you want? When I originally moved here, I had to quote them the final figure for how much I was moving, which was basically the sum total of my UK savings account.

[JMR 3]

Using credit cards to book things like hotels and flights etc is a must because aren't you insured if something goes wrong? Flight gets cancelled etc. So you will get your money back

[DukeOfYork 28]

I lived in Spain from 2001 to 2003 and used my US debit card for all kinds of transactions, ATM, etc. I always got the going exchange rate as posted on xe.com. I have visited every year since and where before I didn't even pay ATM fees, I discovered the 3% surcharge, which is still far less than the commission you would pay exchanging money.

I have used my card in the UK in 2009 and 2010 with no problems and always got the going rate ($1.60 at the time).

I would recommend using your US Visa/Mastercard debit card for the best exchange rate. You will get killed on commission fees from currency exchanges.