For travellers between the UK and US, the GBP/USD rate is only half the story — how you pay matters just as much. A few simple habits keep more money in your pocket.
Cards usually beat cash on the rate
Card networks convert at a rate very close to mid-market, far better than most cash bureaux. The catch is fees: many cards add a foreign transaction fee (often around 1–3%). A card with no foreign transaction fees — including several specialist travel and app-based cards — gives you near-mid-market rates with no markup, which is hard to beat for day-to-day spending.
Always pay in the local currency
When a US card terminal (or a UK one, going the other way) asks whether to charge in your home currency or the local one, choose the local currency every time. The “pay in your home currency” option is dynamic currency conversion, which lets the merchant set a poor exchange rate. Choosing local currency lets your own card network do the conversion at its much better rate.
ATM strategy
- Use a debit or travel card with low or no foreign ATM fees.
- Withdraw larger amounts less often to spread any fixed fee.
- Decline the ATM’s offer to “convert for you” (DCC again) — choose to be charged in local currency.
- Use bank ATMs rather than the standalone machines in shops and airports, which often carry high fees.
Cash: carry some, but convert it well
A small amount of local cash is sensible for tips, small vendors and emergencies. But avoid airport and hotel bureaux de change, which carry the widest spreads of all — frequently 5–12%. If you need cash, order it in advance from a competitive provider or withdraw from a bank ATM on arrival. Use our converter to know what a fair amount looks like before you accept a bureau’s offer.
A quick pre-trip checklist
- Get (or check you have) a card with no foreign transaction fees.
- Tell your bank you are travelling so payments are not blocked.
- Know the rough GBP/USD rate so you can sanity-check prices in your head.
- Carry a little local cash; convert the rest as you go via card or ATM.
- Always, always choose the local currency at the terminal.