Dollars. Change before I go or withdraw from ATM over there

mini_lidi

Hi
Travelling to New York on Tuesday and wondered if it's better for me to change the £1700 I have into dollars before I go or use the MBNA Amex card and withdraw the cash over there and use my savings to pay it off.

Is there any benefit or better exchange rate by doing this?

Kernow666

i guess the £1700 you have in cash ?

if you are going to use the card according to the website

Non-sterling transaction fee 2.99%
Cash advance fee 5.00%

you will pay both of these everything you use it abroad

so if you have cash you could either pay it in your current account and then find a place online that offering a good rate and order from them or you could try certain supermarkets that offer instore such a service ( cannot say which one as i work for one and been told off for apparently advertising ) or the post office who offer decent rates

Faith177

Also most ATM's in NYC will charge an additional fee to withdraw money from them

System

TD Bank ATMs never surcharged last time I was in NY.

You'll still get charged my MBNA unless your Amex is Everyday Plus

mini_lidi

Yes it's an everyday plus card.

eDicky

mini_lidi wrote: »

Yes it's an everyday plus card.

In that case, use it for purchases and withdrawals, free of charge and at the Amex exchange rate, much better than any rate you will get exchanging cash in UK. If you use TD Bank (Toronto Dominion) ATM's you can even avoid the usual local ATM fees in USA.

There's a fairly insignificant interest charged daily on withdrawals, but if you want to avoid or minimise that you can pay off by internet banking any time after it shows on your account. But it will only amount to pennies over a week or two, so hardly worth bothering.

If you didn't already know all this, and you have one of the best travel credit cards available just by chance - then may your good fortune continue..!