As far as cash goes I would say do not take £50 pound notes to use. Only order £20 notes or smaller. On my last visit I mostly had £50 notes & they are so rarely seen in the UK they were often refused or treated suspiciously as people thought they were counterfeit. When I tried to exchange them at banks, most banks refused as I didn’t have a UK account. Also many supermarkets self checkout machines only take cards so I would be queueing for ages for the one machine that would take cash. Next time I’ll mostly use a debit card.
Just got back from my trip, thank you so much Jess. this and your tipping advice were the most helpful videos I've viewed and made a great difference to the trip. Thank you!
There's a very helpful bank partnership known as the Global ATM Alliance. Canada, USA, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Australia, and (I think) New Zealand all have member banks. If you bank with one member bank, you don't pay fees for using the ATMs of other member banks. Here in Canada, I'm with Scotiabank, and I can use Bank of America in USA, Barclay's in UK, BNP/BNL in France & Italy, Deutchbank in Germany, and Westpac in Australia & NZ like they were Scotiabank machines that give the local currency. I don't bother with FOREX before leaving home if I'm going to one of these countries. I just use my debit card at the allied bank's ATMs when I need cash.
In restaurants I only pay the amount on the bill with my card and give cash for the tip to make sure that the waiter gets the tip and not the owner of the restaurant. And I pay my first pint in the pub with a 5 £ bill to get enough coins for the toilets and for tipping.
I suggest opening a Capital One Savings checking/account for their debit card and using an Allpoint ATM. I had no problem with fees when drawing out money, and the Allpoint app helps you find machines. I did not have problems locating one when I was in London and Wales, even at Heathrow.
Recommend making sure your bank’s call centre is open 24/7. I called in advance to ensure my bank would be usable overseas and confirmed on day of departure. Fast forward to arrival, I went to buy a coffee and it declined. Had to call the bank. Also, after a number of transactions, my back card wasn’t always accepted for some reason so I recommend carrying a back up credit card.
The Post Office is often your best bet for exchanging foreign currency at fair and honest rates. Central London Bureau de Change are almost always going to be a rip off.
@@grassytramtracks To be fair, it's probably still where I'd go to exchange some pounds if I needed some dollars or euros. There's still a post office counter of some sort open during office hours pretty much everywhere you go in London; personally I trust the rates and fees are going to be fair and reasonable, even if it possibly isn't the cheapest outright.
Glad to hear it Dale, thanks for your kind words! Be sure to check out my travel guides and services in my shop as well, for more help: shop.loveandlondon.com
Going to London (and England in general) in 2 weeks and am about to go to my bank in an hour to get some initial travel cash. You've given me a few other things to ask while I'm there. Thank you.
I did the same for my trip. My bank gave me five 10 GBP that are their older version and are not accepted anywhere. I either have to go to another UK bank to trade them in for the newer version, or see if I can exchange them at my US bank when I'm back home. I didn't have the need to use cash much, except to tip and when my hotel summoned a taxi for me using an app and indicated Cash. Apparently it was impossible to change the transaction to card while I was already en route to the airport. Luckily I had 100 GBP on me to pay for the taxi ride. Some places don't even accept cash.
Nice video Jess. When my wife and I returned from London and Paris last November, we tried to exchange our paper currency and coins in Ohare airport. We are able to exchange our paper currency, but not our coins. We were stuck with around $25 worth of Euro and Pound coins. I’m not sure if every airport exchange office is like this, but maybe to be safe, exchange all your currency before leaving each country.
Probably worth noting that a lot of places in the UK will not accept AMEX, so don't make that your only option. The default expectation for all payments in London, no matter how big or small is contactless. The limit on cards is £100, and it's unlimited on Apple Pay etc. Day-to-day for the last few years I only take my phone/watch with me - no cards, no cash - contactless is literally everywhere, especially post-pandemic.
In the UK we use the chip and pin system, which means you use your pin number to confirm purchases rather sign a sales slip, you insert your card into the payment terminal and when instructed entre your pin number to confirm your purchase, the terminal then prints our your card payment receipt { if you do not have a compatible card you can still pay the old fashion way and sign a sales slip in many places ) also for small purchases many cards in the UK are contactless which means you can pay for stuff by just tapping your card on the sales terminal without inserting your card or giving your pin number, you still get a printed receipt if you do that.
Recently subscribe to your channel. Because of another channel that you were on. I visited England back in 2005. Would love to come back again someday. I did and used both cards and cash when I was over there. The one thing that I had to keep in mind for me, personally, is the exchange rate, whenever I would buy some thing with a card. For example, something might’ve only cost me about 30 pounds but, in American dollars it would be about US$60. I was at the tail end of my college experience at the time, and did not want to overdraw my American bank account smile.
Yes anyone not from the UK needs to keep an eye on exchange rate but all you have to do is get a card that doesn't have fees for foreign currencies. Thanks for watching!
I always use my regular KeyBank debit and credit cards overseas. They charge 3%, but there's no "per purchase" fee. I figure that since I'm only spending a few hundred on each trip, my fees will only be $6-12. Not a big deal over the course of an entire vacation.
I will add to what you are saying with foreign currency and credit cards. Before I visited Liverpool, Enlgand last September, I actually ordered 800.00 pounds in British currency which cost me $10.00 from my bank in America before I flew into the UK. Also, I found out that Capital One Credit Card Company and Discover Credit cards are ones I use, and these particular companies did not charge a foreign transaction fee if I used them in England. When I brought cash over to the UK, I actually had a money belt that I wore hidden under my clothes, so no one would could see that I had a lot of money on me because I was not sure what I would encounter. I just believed it was better to be safe than sorry which is the reason I had a lot of money on me in the first place.
@@loveandlondon, he probably did that as an emergency back-up measure if he got robbed or lost his wallet and credit/debit cards (it reminds me of something similar I read James Bond having in the continuation novel _License Renewed_ , which helped him out of a tight spot after he escaped from the clutched of the main bad guy. As is said, 'better to be safe than sorry', and I bet that nobody would've found out about his money belt anyway.
I heard Londoners get aggravated when visitors use debit cards and not contactless cards. Can you shed light on this? Would you advise one over the other?
Nah don't worry about it! But bring a pen with you because they don't carry around pens like they do in the US because people don't have to sign for their cards in the UK. Or if you have a contactless card use that (but you can only use it for purchases up to £30 anyways)
Contactless cards aren't a different sort of card to a debit card. "Contactless" is an additional facility available on both debit and credit cards in the UK (and many other European countries). Most UK citizens used debit cards for smaller purchases, rather than credit cards as preferred in the USA. You can make contactless purchases for amounts up to £30. Above that amount, you have to put your card in the card reader and key in your PIN. All credit and debit cards issued in the UK are the chip and pin type, so no one ever has to sign a piece of paper at the counter. If you're from the USA, your credit/debit card probably won't be the chip and pin type, so you'll have to sign for your purchase. This takes more time than touching the card against the reader (contactless purchase) or keying in a PIN. So when someone does have to sign, a) the shop assistant won't be expecting it and may not be geared up for it, and b) the people in the queue (line) behind might get frustrated at having to wait longer behind the tourist!
Hai. Dutch cashier here. We also have contactless of course. Yes always putting in your card is like something you still can do. And people don't care that much HERE unless there is a huge line. Altho these tend to be elderly people who haven't adapted to the idea yet (their card has it) and they'll do it. Still saves time tho. Cause old people are notorious for taking long. Also there is a daily cap for it. Here for most it's 25 euros. After that you can sometimes enter your code without sticking it in. But also once in a while you've paid too often contactles and thus you'll need to stick it in (don't worry if this happens. It's a normal safety thing for if your card is stolen. It happens all the time and people freak out sometimes for some reason. Your account is fine) But thus because of these safety ish things. And having to put your card in once in a while. People probably won't even notice you stick it in. Be weary tho. You'll thus need an oyster card to travel around. (Which like if youre charged extra every time you use it. Smart anyways.)
I just got back to the States from London a few days ago. I was shocked that contactless payment was the main method. None of my cards have contactless, but I was able to load one onto my phone and use it for everything. I didn't need cash the entire week I was there except when gambling at The Hippodrome. I walked away with even more cash when I left.
Thanks for a most helpful video. And I know this has nothing to do with the video but the people walking on the bridge above you look like they are wearing black and white striped prisoner's outfits. It's the railing on the bridge.
Thank you sooooo much! for doing these videos. My bfriend and I are planning to move and all these information you put has been helping us tremendously. I do want to ask, I have a 17 year old that is now in High School and we want to know more about the school system and how it will work for her. Do you have any videos on that?
I am relocating to London next month and this was very informative, thank you! Could you please provide some more information regarding pre-paid contactless cards like Travelex? Is there any other you would suggest (for Europeans)? Thank you!
@@loveandlondon Thank you for the answer! I was looking for something temporary until I can get a proof of address to open a bank account (I got a job but I still have to find a flat). I am looking forward to your next videos, I am learning a lot from them!
I got myself in quite some trouble by using GBP cash in London. There are so many people and long queues everywhere that people get angry at you for holding up traffic at the counter, looking for the correct coins and notes (even if they won't say anything). About everybody uses contactless cards. So, after having spent all my cash, I changed to debit card with PIN, which made things at least a little faster. Luckily, though, I hadn't done this earlier, since to every small purchase there was added a 2 euro fee by my home bank, as I found out only later. I should have seen advice like yours beforehand. :-)
I have question. I plan to visit London in couple weeks for first time.. can I bring cash with me and loaded visa from Israel post which is where I live. Will it be fine?
If you do require additional Stirling then I would look to see if you have a John Lewis or Marks & Spencer near you in when you are in London as many of their Department stores have bureau d’changes within them and the rates are reasonable for the currency conversion rate.
Love and London true but unfortunately you can sometimes make miscalculations so the bureau de changes are option but aren’t always cheap but the Department store are the most reasonable.
“Pilot wife” recommended you to me for travel . I wanted to know if Virgin Atlantic has a dedicated special ( car ) drive up for upper class customers at Heathrow .
Hi what do you recommend for someone staying in london for a month? Would a prepaid debit card from travelx be best? Or what would you suggest? I don’t want to have to worry about foreign exchange fees
Awesome advice I was thinking about that too, but what I was going to do was just wait til I get to London but wow do many fees so thanks!! I used wells Fargo so they should definitely have a bank I europ or a partner bank! Thanks never thought about all those fee idk why I didn't!
Just came back from a trip with family in London and brought some cash... in the end, most shops only accepted cashless. So I ended keeping asking everywhere I went "do you accept cash?" Hoping I did not change my euros for nothing. Museums and Chinese restaurants accepted my cash
My bank is also on the Allpoint network. The ATMs at Co-Op grocery stores are (supposed to be) Allpoint, so whenever I bought groceries, I made a cash withdrawal.
Hi, Jess! Great tips! I'm gonna be in London at the end of july..! So many crowds.. Do you have any videos with tips to skip the lines at this season time? It would be great! Anyway.. I just leave a suggestion! Keep up the great job! 👏👏
Can you. For the cash you need to like tip tour guides. Cause i'm doing that free one. (Come on there's one of harry potter!) Is it like possible to when using your card in say tesco. To "overdraw" like 10 or 20 pounds when checking out your groceries by card. Just so you'll get that in cash, from their register.
So I have a Debitcard with Mastercard Logo. So I can get money from ATM or also pay in Restaurants etc. without any worries (except the extra fees). So as long as there is a Mastercard Logo it doesn't matter if it's a creditcard or debitcard, right?
You may not be able to speak to this, but I wondered if the same money recommendations apply to Scotland. I'm coming over to Edinburgh and London in the same trip (most of the trip will be in Edinburgh) and wondered if there were different recommendations there?
The most useful advice for tourists in Edinburgh and you're planning to take public transportation is to have lots of changes! Most bus routes there don't take cards and don't give out changes, so if you don't pay with exact change you're gonna lose money. But there's a daily ticket there which is great. I don't live there but visited Edinburgh twice quite recently. You used to have to have lots of changes too in London for paying public toilets, but I think the rules recently changed and most public toilets (at least in train stations etc) are free now!
Hey Jess! Question for you, can one use their debit card (say in like a grocery store) and get pounds that way? As opposed to getting it from their home bank or ATM? I'm visiting England this Sept! :)
Most British Supermarkets like Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury's do cashback through the self service checkout. But you have to buy something first....and then go through the cashback procedure at the checkout.
Question, I was told not to except the exchange rate from the company I’m in that my bank would give me a better rate using my debit card is that correct?
@@loveandlondon Ah gotcha! Also another thing: Do we need to pay tips? (to like restaurant servers, tour guides, etc?). If so how much percentage? Thank you!
I'm planning on visiting London later this year, I'm planning on getting a preloaded debit card, would you still recommend getting some cash before I fly?
I think it's always good to have a bit of cash on you just in case but it's up to you. You could always use ATM at the airport if you're using a card like the one I mentioned.
Any ideas for a pre-paid or pre-loaded credit card to use in the UK? I have in mind to use my regular credit card, but it may be a good idea to just load up some money on a prepaid Visa or something that I could use in London and not face any fees.
@@loveandlondon Nice! Sometimes I'm known not to pay attention to closely. I've bookmarked that. Trip to London tentatively next spring! Your videos have been very informative!
@@loveandlondon, what about a relodable VISA card like the one issued by Brinks in the United States, or the one issued by Canada Post Corporation here in Canada?
Hey! Quick question. I don't know how strong USD currency is in the UK. So using my card/cash would I end up be spending more there? Plan on going in January 2020, need to know if I need to have more than what I currently have for this trip. Someone help!
I really can't imagine that you dont need cash of any kind. I really dont feel comfortable not having some notes and/or coins in my pocket :'D We visit London next week... Now I am intimidated xD
Are pins on credit cards in the UK usually 4 digits? I ask because when I went to New Zealand their standard is 6-digit pins so in a lot of places it would say my pin was wrong just because I wasn’t entering 6 digits. This was super frustrating especially since I didn’t understand the reason until I called my bank and they explained.
My bank (KeyBank) told me that if I ever encountered this, to add 00 to the end of my 4-digit pin. So if your PIN were 1234, you'd enter 123400. Not sure if that goes for all banks, though. (And please, no one set your PIN to 1234 LOL!)
I am struggling to be excited about a place so cloudy and rainy. I guess that was always their reputation. I feel regret for booking a trip there. What was a thinking???LOLSMH
@@loveandlondon I can see you saying that with the faces you make on your vids.lol NYC is not tropical but...ya get some sun..lot's in the summer. I'm not blaming London for my choice. I totally forgot about the weather. I have a feeling it will be better than expected. Thanks for the tips though. I learned a lot from the videos.
Just came from your freaking London, and it sucks! No living space whatsoever! Terrible food, people everywhere, tiny hotel rooms etc. I’ve missed American supermarkets so much!
Why you went to a foreign land expecting it to be the same as your home...almost every country are different so go there expecting different things...expect the unexpected buddy! But better luck next time
"People everywhere"!! I guess you've never been to New York! Like Jess said, the point of traveling is experiencing the adventure of finding different cultures, but some narrow-minded people just can't take it!
Pro tip: Toilets at the park costs 20p. No cards. Always carry a 20p coin with you.
I thought it was 50p?
Erik Griswold carry 50p and you’re covered either way. :-)
free never paid for toilets Mcdonald, five guys, marks & spenders, Costa coffee, shopping centres, selfridges museums 😉
@stanley Yes sir, but when you're at the park, there just isn't a department store near by.
As far as cash goes I would say do not take £50 pound notes to use. Only order £20 notes or smaller. On my last visit I mostly had £50 notes & they are so rarely seen in the UK they were often refused or treated suspiciously as people thought they were counterfeit. When I tried to exchange them at banks, most banks refused as I didn’t have a UK account. Also many supermarkets self checkout machines only take cards so I would be queueing for ages for the one machine that would take cash. Next time I’ll mostly use a debit card.
You can totally get by in London without having any cash on you. I rarely do!
Love your advice! Been to London several times from the US and everything you say is so helpful! Thanks!
Thanks Dianna!
Hii
I like uUu..
I like love London
Ive just come back from London. I had 20£ in cash and i brought it back :) indeed, London is so card friendly! I love it !
You should hold onto it for your next visit :)
Just got back from my trip, thank you so much Jess. this and your tipping advice were the most helpful videos I've viewed and made a great difference to the trip. Thank you!
Oh so happy to hear it was all helpful Sasha! Thanks for coming back and leaving this lovely comment.
@@loveandlondon Kevin just like love and London
There's a very helpful bank partnership known as the Global ATM Alliance. Canada, USA, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Australia, and (I think) New Zealand all have member banks. If you bank with one member bank, you don't pay fees for using the ATMs of other member banks. Here in Canada, I'm with Scotiabank, and I can use Bank of America in USA, Barclay's in UK, BNP/BNL in France & Italy, Deutchbank in Germany, and Westpac in Australia & NZ like they were Scotiabank machines that give the local currency. I don't bother with FOREX before leaving home if I'm going to one of these countries. I just use my debit card at the allied bank's ATMs when I need cash.
Thanks for the info.
In restaurants I only pay the amount on the bill with my card and give cash for the tip to make sure that the waiter gets the tip and not the owner of the restaurant.
And I pay my first pint in the pub with a 5 £ bill to get enough coins for the toilets and for tipping.
I suggest opening a Capital One Savings checking/account for their debit card and using an Allpoint ATM. I had no problem with fees when drawing out money, and the Allpoint app helps you find machines. I did not have problems locating one when I was in London and Wales, even at Heathrow.
Thanks Pat
Im headed to london in 2 months, do they accept capital one mastercard ???
Recommend making sure your bank’s call centre is open 24/7. I called in advance to ensure my bank would be usable overseas and confirmed on day of departure. Fast forward to arrival, I went to buy a coffee and it declined. Had to call the bank. Also, after a number of transactions, my back card wasn’t always accepted for some reason so I recommend carrying a back up credit card.
The Post Office is often your best bet for exchanging foreign currency at fair and honest rates. Central London Bureau de Change are almost always going to be a rip off.
i mean it's not great, but better than the airport!
@@grassytramtracks To be fair, it's probably still where I'd go to exchange some pounds if I needed some dollars or euros. There's still a post office counter of some sort open during office hours pretty much everywhere you go in London; personally I trust the rates and fees are going to be fair and reasonable, even if it possibly isn't the cheapest outright.
Headed to London September 2022, so all your tips are so informative! I wouldn't think of some of these issues on my own, so these videos are great.
Glad to hear it Dale, thanks for your kind words! Be sure to check out my travel guides and services in my shop as well, for more help: shop.loveandlondon.com
Us too.
Another informative video even for us Londoners..Keep up the great work Jess..
Thanks Paul
Always love (and London) the bloopers.
Haha thank you!!
Going to London (and England in general) in 2 weeks and am about to go to my bank in an hour to get some initial travel cash. You've given me a few other things to ask while I'm there. Thank you.
Glad I could help
I did the same for my trip. My bank gave me five 10 GBP that are their older version and are not accepted anywhere. I either have to go to another UK bank to trade them in for the newer version, or see if I can exchange them at my US bank when I'm back home. I didn't have the need to use cash much, except to tip and when my hotel summoned a taxi for me using an app and indicated Cash. Apparently it was impossible to change the transaction to card while I was already en route to the airport. Luckily I had 100 GBP on me to pay for the taxi ride. Some places don't even accept cash.
darkchia00
You don‘t have to bring GBP to britain. At the airports there are plenty of ATMs to get your initial cash.
@@xar1234 Do you know if the types of bills can be specified when using them?
Nice video Jess.
When my wife and I returned from London and Paris last November, we tried to exchange our paper currency and coins in Ohare airport. We are able to exchange our paper currency, but not our coins. We were stuck with around $25 worth of Euro and Pound coins. I’m not sure if every airport exchange office is like this, but maybe to be safe, exchange all your currency before leaving each country.
Yes they are all like that, even in the country. At least you can keep it for your next trip!
Probably worth noting that a lot of places in the UK will not accept AMEX, so don't make that your only option. The default expectation for all payments in London, no matter how big or small is contactless. The limit on cards is £100, and it's unlimited on Apple Pay etc. Day-to-day for the last few years I only take my phone/watch with me - no cards, no cash - contactless is literally everywhere, especially post-pandemic.
I had a PIN number put on my credit card for travel to the U.K. Some of the card readers required it, as I remember (I think the Oyster machines did).
Yeah I think some smaller banks have weird cards. I had to get my US card changed when I said I was going to use it abroad
In the UK we use the chip and pin system, which means you use your pin number to confirm purchases rather sign a sales slip, you insert your card into the payment terminal and when instructed entre your pin number to confirm your purchase, the terminal then prints our your card payment receipt { if you do not have a compatible card you can still pay the old fashion way and sign a sales slip in many places ) also for small purchases many cards in the UK are contactless which means you can pay for stuff by just tapping your card on the sales terminal without inserting your card or giving your pin number, you still get a printed receipt if you do that.
Paul V
I think you can pay contactless without the PIN for up to 30 GBP per transaction
@@sandmansam1965, we have that here too in Canada.
Recently subscribe to your channel. Because of another channel that you were on. I visited England back in 2005. Would love to come back again someday. I did and used both cards and cash when I was over there. The one thing that I had to keep in mind for me, personally, is the exchange rate, whenever I would buy some thing with a card.
For example, something might’ve only cost me about 30 pounds but, in American dollars it would be about US$60.
I was at the tail end of my college experience at the time, and did not want to overdraw my American bank account smile.
Yes anyone not from the UK needs to keep an eye on exchange rate but all you have to do is get a card that doesn't have fees for foreign currencies. Thanks for watching!
Jess, I love watching your videos. They are always so informative & fun. I especially like watching to the end to see the “bloopers”.
Thanks so much Christopher!
I always use my regular KeyBank debit and credit cards overseas. They charge 3%, but there's no "per purchase" fee. I figure that since I'm only spending a few hundred on each trip, my fees will only be $6-12. Not a big deal over the course of an entire vacation.
Ah ok but it does add up over time with multiple trips :)
I will add to what you are saying with foreign currency and credit cards. Before I visited Liverpool, Enlgand last September, I actually ordered 800.00 pounds in British currency which cost me $10.00 from my bank in America before I flew into the UK. Also, I found out that Capital One Credit Card Company and Discover Credit cards are ones I use, and these particular companies did not charge a foreign transaction fee if I used them in England. When I brought cash over to the UK, I actually had a money belt that I wore hidden under my clothes, so no one would could see that I had a lot of money on me because I was not sure what I would encounter. I just believed it was better to be safe than sorry which is the reason I had a lot of money on me in the first place.
Thanks Sheridan. I personally don't recommend for people to carry that much money on them but glad it worked out for you!
@@loveandlondon, he probably did that as an emergency back-up measure if he got robbed or lost his wallet and credit/debit cards (it reminds me of something similar I read James Bond having in the continuation novel _License Renewed_ , which helped him out of a tight spot after he escaped from the clutched of the main bad guy. As is said, 'better to be safe than sorry', and I bet that nobody would've found out about his money belt anyway.
You have a very Kate Middleton look going on in this video.
Wait I thought this WAS Kate Middleton....
Thank u for this video. Hope u r doing fine.
Great tips, thank you Jess :)
Thanks for watching Rachel :)
Thank you, so much!!! you are so helpful for planning
Thanks so much logan!
I heard Londoners get aggravated when visitors use debit cards and not contactless cards. Can you shed light on this? Would you advise one over the other?
Most people contactless cards
Nah don't worry about it! But bring a pen with you because they don't carry around pens like they do in the US because people don't have to sign for their cards in the UK. Or if you have a contactless card use that (but you can only use it for purchases up to £30 anyways)
No not really but helps having contactless as someone who is British.
Contactless cards aren't a different sort of card to a debit card. "Contactless" is an additional facility available on both debit and credit cards in the UK (and many other European countries). Most UK citizens used debit cards for smaller purchases, rather than credit cards as preferred in the USA. You can make contactless purchases for amounts up to £30. Above that amount, you have to put your card in the card reader and key in your PIN. All credit and debit cards issued in the UK are the chip and pin type, so no one ever has to sign a piece of paper at the counter.
If you're from the USA, your credit/debit card probably won't be the chip and pin type, so you'll have to sign for your purchase. This takes more time than touching the card against the reader (contactless purchase) or keying in a PIN. So when someone does have to sign, a) the shop assistant won't be expecting it and may not be geared up for it, and b) the people in the queue (line) behind might get frustrated at having to wait longer behind the tourist!
Hai. Dutch cashier here. We also have contactless of course.
Yes always putting in your card is like something you still can do. And people don't care that much HERE unless there is a huge line. Altho these tend to be elderly people who haven't adapted to the idea yet (their card has it) and they'll do it. Still saves time tho. Cause old people are notorious for taking long.
Also there is a daily cap for it. Here for most it's 25 euros. After that you can sometimes enter your code without sticking it in. But also once in a while you've paid too often contactles and thus you'll need to stick it in (don't worry if this happens. It's a normal safety thing for if your card is stolen. It happens all the time and people freak out sometimes for some reason. Your account is fine)
But thus because of these safety ish things. And having to put your card in once in a while. People probably won't even notice you stick it in.
Be weary tho. You'll thus need an oyster card to travel around. (Which like if youre charged extra every time you use it. Smart anyways.)
Hi Jess. Thanks. Great helpful info.
Thanks John
I just got back to the States from London a few days ago. I was shocked that contactless payment was the main method. None of my cards have contactless, but I was able to load one onto my phone and use it for everything. I didn't need cash the entire week I was there except when gambling at The Hippodrome. I walked away with even more cash when I left.
Yeah I think people come to London thinking it's going to be like southern or eastern Europe where cash is needed for a lot of places..
Can you use Apple Pay?
@@dawnt6475 Yes
Thanks for a most helpful video. And I know this has nothing to do with the video but the people walking on the bridge above you look like they are wearing black and white striped prisoner's outfits. It's the railing on the bridge.
Thanks for watching!
You can convert your cash at the post office, probably the best rate.
You can but it's kind of a waste of time to have to wait to do that! Better to do what I said.
Honestly it’s like you’re reading my mind!❤️❤️❤️
Lol!!
Same for me😀
Does it make a difference which credit card company you use - or are they accepted equally? Amex or Visa or MasterCard?
Thank you very much. You are really a good help.
Thanks Hugo!
Thank you so very much this tip was very helpful for me 👌❤🤗
You're very welcome!
Great information..thanks ❤
Thank you sooooo much! for doing these videos. My bfriend and I are planning to move and all these information you put has been helping us tremendously.
I do want to ask, I have a 17 year old that is now in High School and we want to know more about the school system and how it will work for her. Do you have any videos on that?
Hi Laura, thanks very much! No info on that, but good luck.
Hi Thanks! Love you're work and vlogs Australia
Thanks Andrew
I am relocating to London next month and this was very informative, thank you! Could you please provide some more information regarding pre-paid contactless cards like Travelex? Is there any other you would suggest (for Europeans)? Thank you!
Hi Roberto if you're relocating you should get a bank account here
@@loveandlondon Thank you for the answer! I was looking for something temporary until I can get a proof of address to open a bank account (I got a job but I still have to find a flat). I am looking forward to your next videos, I am learning a lot from them!
I got myself in quite some trouble by using GBP cash in London. There are so many people and long queues everywhere that people get angry at you for holding up traffic at the counter, looking for the correct coins and notes (even if they won't say anything). About everybody uses contactless cards. So, after having spent all my cash, I changed to debit card with PIN, which made things at least a little faster. Luckily, though, I hadn't done this earlier, since to every small purchase there was added a 2 euro fee by my home bank, as I found out only later. I should have seen advice like yours beforehand. :-)
Meh, don't worry about people being impatient. You'll never see them again!
It is perfectly acceptable to use cash at any time in the UK. If people don't like it, it's their problem!
Great video Jess...😁👍
I have question. I plan to visit London in couple weeks for first time.. can I bring cash with me and loaded visa from Israel post which is where I live. Will it be fine?
I don't see why not?
If you do require additional Stirling then I would look to see if you have a John Lewis or Marks & Spencer near you in when you are in London as many of their Department stores have bureau d’changes within them and the rates are reasonable for the currency conversion rate.
I don't recommend having your own currency to change... again, as mentioned, better to just use a cash machine :)
Love and London true but unfortunately you can sometimes make miscalculations so the bureau de changes are option but aren’t always cheap but the Department store are the most reasonable.
What about at the markets, cash? Thanks Jess!
Most vendors at markets take card (and some, only card) these days!
“Pilot wife” recommended you to me for travel . I wanted to know if Virgin Atlantic has a dedicated special ( car ) drive up for upper class customers at Heathrow .
Thanks, and welcome! No they don't I'm 99% sure but it will say on their website if they do or don't.
Great advice thanks
Hi what do you recommend for someone staying in london for a month? Would a prepaid debit card from travelx be best? Or what would you suggest? I don’t want to have to worry about foreign exchange fees
It's the same tips as I gave in this video :)
Awesome advice I was thinking about that too, but what I was going to do was just wait til I get to London but wow do many fees so thanks!! I used wells Fargo so they should definitely have a bank I europ or a partner bank! Thanks never thought about all those fee idk why I didn't!
No problem Liz
Just came back from a trip with family in London and brought some cash... in the end, most shops only accepted cashless. So I ended keeping asking everywhere I went "do you accept cash?" Hoping I did not change my euros for nothing. Museums and Chinese restaurants accepted my cash
Yeah that's why I tell people you don't need much 😎 I rarely have it on me! ❤️
I went with capital one, they said no transaction fees and ATM is free as long as it’s an all point ATM.
My bank is also on the Allpoint network. The ATMs at Co-Op grocery stores are (supposed to be) Allpoint, so whenever I bought groceries, I made a cash withdrawal.
This video was helpful. Thank You
You're welcome!
Hi, Jess! Great tips! I'm gonna be in London at the end of july..! So many crowds.. Do you have any videos with tips to skip the lines at this season time? It would be great! Anyway.. I just leave a suggestion! Keep up the great job! 👏👏
Book tickets ahead of time, or just avoid the most popular tourist attractions :)
@@loveandlondon can't loose the most popular.. =) need to buy the tickets..! Thanks!👍
Can you. For the cash you need to like tip tour guides. Cause i'm doing that free one. (Come on there's one of harry potter!)
Is it like possible to when using your card in say tesco. To "overdraw" like 10 or 20 pounds when checking out your groceries by card. Just so you'll get that in cash, from their register.
Yes definitely tip tour guides with cash if you're doing a free one. And no they don't do cash at stores.
Glad you asked this, I wondered as well about the "cash back" feature!
Hi Jess, could you update the links in your London 101 guide. Most of the links are giving a suspended account message...
It'll work now Toni..... loveandlondon.com/london-101-guide-main
Important Advice : Use an international credit card always and get very few cash. You don't practically need it.
Matias Leivanos 300 But make sure to get a card that doesn‘t have fees for usage abroad.
Is London pre-paid card friendly? If you want to be more secure?
it's the same thing as reg debit or credit so no different to use!
So , we can bring the credit card and it will no any problems,is it? We live in Spain .
Thanks
as mentioned just let your bank know you're traveling.
So I have a Debitcard with Mastercard Logo. So I can get money from ATM or also pay in Restaurants etc. without any worries (except the extra fees).
So as long as there is a Mastercard Logo it doesn't matter if it's a creditcard or debitcard, right?
Yes❤️
You may not be able to speak to this, but I wondered if the same money recommendations apply to Scotland. I'm coming over to Edinburgh and London in the same trip (most of the trip will be in Edinburgh) and wondered if there were different recommendations there?
Nope still the same. They do have scottish currency but pounds are the primary one
The most useful advice for tourists in Edinburgh and you're planning to take public transportation is to have lots of changes! Most bus routes there don't take cards and don't give out changes, so if you don't pay with exact change you're gonna lose money. But there's a daily ticket there which is great. I don't live there but visited Edinburgh twice quite recently. You used to have to have lots of changes too in London for paying public toilets, but I think the rules recently changed and most public toilets (at least in train stations etc) are free now!
What about Apple Pay?
yup! Google pay as well
Hey Jess! Question for you, can one use their debit card (say in like a grocery store) and get pounds that way? As opposed to getting it from their home bank or ATM? I'm visiting England this Sept! :)
You mean just to pay for things? Yes but your bank might charge transaction fees. Also they don't really do cash back here.
@@loveandlondon Hey! I meant for getting cash (pounds) back! But good to know they don't do that, thanks!
Most British Supermarkets like Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury's do cashback through the self service checkout. But you have to buy something first....and then go through the cashback procedure at the checkout.
@@spiraspina7409 Nice, thank you Steven!
You are the best!😊💕
Thanks Tony, thanks for watching!
Question, I was told not to except the exchange rate from the company I’m in that my bank would give me a better rate using my debit card is that correct?
Yes that's absolutely correct :)
I’m not even going to London or the area Europe but I’ve always just wanted to know the answer how this works
Nice! well thanks for watching anyways!
Do post offices in London accept euro as cash in exchange for Pounds ?
Yes!
How many pounds should I bring if me and my partner is staying for a week? I do have a credit card with no foreign transaction fees
As mentioned, you need very little cash!
@@loveandlondon Ah gotcha! Also another thing: Do we need to pay tips? (to like restaurant servers, tour guides, etc?). If so how much percentage? Thank you!
I'm planning on visiting London later this year, I'm planning on getting a preloaded debit card, would you still recommend getting some cash before I fly?
I think it's always good to have a bit of cash on you just in case but it's up to you. You could always use ATM at the airport if you're using a card like the one I mentioned.
@@loveandlondon Appreciate it, thanks for your response and for all the information you share.
Any ideas for a pre-paid or pre-loaded credit card to use in the UK? I have in mind to use my regular credit card, but it may be a good idea to just load up some money on a prepaid Visa or something that I could use in London and not face any fees.
Yes! The travel money card I mentioned in the video. There's a link for it in the description.
@@loveandlondon Nice! Sometimes I'm known not to pay attention to closely. I've bookmarked that. Trip to London tentatively next spring! Your videos have been very informative!
@@loveandlondon do Android Pay and Apple Pay work pretty widely in London? I'd think with all the touchless payment in use, they probably would.
Yup!
@@loveandlondon, what about a relodable VISA card like the one issued by Brinks in the United States, or the one issued by Canada Post Corporation here in Canada?
Hey! Quick question. I don't know how strong USD currency is in the UK. So using my card/cash would I end up be spending more there? Plan on going in January 2020, need to know if I need to have more than what I currently have for this trip. Someone help!
Google the exchange rate, as it changes :)
I really can't imagine that you dont need cash of any kind. I really dont feel comfortable not having some notes and/or coins in my pocket :'D
We visit London next week... Now I am intimidated xD
You do you. I run around London with no cash 90% of the time!
Hello Im.moving to London in a couple of weeks do you think that 7000 pounds are enough to survive the first month until I get my paycheck??
Depends on how bougie you want to go but you can definitely survive on that
Nice sister 💐🙏✝️🙋
I'm taking most of my money in cash...might there be any problem with that?
I wouldn't. You're at risk of getting robbed and some places won't even take cash.
@@loveandlondon thank you...problem is...I've already got them pounds...500 ...what should I do then?
Travelex.com has been down for over a month. What do you recommend instead of it?
Works for me!
@@loveandlondon Thanks, It was not working through last week but it is now.
Am going for a conference at London. Will the cardless transaction provide me a ticket and invoce which I can submit to my Institute when I come back.
You can ask for a receipt
Whom should I ask? I mailed you if you kindly share the details it will be of great help. Thanks in advance.
Are pins on credit cards in the UK usually 4 digits? I ask because when I went to New Zealand their standard is 6-digit pins so in a lot of places it would say my pin was wrong just because I wasn’t entering 6 digits. This was super frustrating especially since I didn’t understand the reason until I called my bank and they explained.
Yes they're usually four digits here
My bank (KeyBank) told me that if I ever encountered this, to add 00 to the end of my 4-digit pin. So if your PIN were 1234, you'd enter 123400. Not sure if that goes for all banks, though. (And please, no one set your PIN to 1234 LOL!)
@@loveandlondon maybe yeah just Kevin
What😂😂 NZ definitely uses 4-pin codes. Unless this is a thing specifically for foreign cards.
how do i get 101 guide book?
Click the link in the description box
I heard you need a PIN for your credit card??? Is this true
Not for US cards
I’m getting a travel debit card because Bank of America fees is crazy and I don’t have time for that 🤣
good idea!
cool
Thanks for the info, but luckily I have a bank account in the UK as I am a citizen of the UK.
I am struggling to be excited about a place so cloudy and rainy. I guess that was always their reputation. I feel regret for booking a trip there. What was a thinking???LOLSMH
Hmm... well did you expect sunshine and beaches? Lol. It's a great city despite not having tropical weather
@@loveandlondon I can see you saying that with the faces you make on your vids.lol NYC is not tropical but...ya get some sun..lot's in the summer. I'm not blaming London for my choice. I totally forgot about the weather. I have a feeling it will be better than expected. Thanks for the tips though. I learned a lot from the videos.
@@loveandlondon Im back.. I loved it! Exceeded my expectations and yours and city hacks tips were helpful. I was like a professional. Thank you Jess.
Just came from your freaking London, and it sucks! No living space whatsoever! Terrible food, people everywhere, tiny hotel rooms etc.
I’ve missed American supermarkets so much!
Yes it's different but that's the point of traveling-- to experience how other people live and how places are different from your hometown.
Why you went to a foreign land expecting it to be the same as your home...almost every country are different so go there expecting different things...expect the unexpected buddy! But better luck next time
People everywhere? What did you expect? London is a major city!
"People everywhere"!! I guess you've never been to New York! Like Jess said, the point of traveling is experiencing the adventure of finding different cultures, but some narrow-minded people just can't take it!