5 July 2009

I personally bank with Bank of America and one the key reasons why I chose the bank was because of thier ATM options at home and abroad.  In the States, BofA has branches and ATM from coast to coast.  This helps me avoid having to use other banks ATMs and save any where from $4 to $10 per ATM transaction.

Abroad, BofA is partnered with several banks to provide free ATM access, with no exchange fees when taking money out while traveling abroad.  This is a huge savings and quite often, I have recieved better exchange rates by taking money out through partner banks.

Another advantage to taking money out while away is that you can control how much cash you go through and limit the amount of cash that you carry on you.  You will always want to have some money on hand upon arriving at your destination, but by limiting how much you withdraw, can help you stay with in a budget.

BofA has agreements with Barclays Bank in the UK and BNP Paribas in France.  BofA has many other agreements with other banks you should check with your bank to see with whom they have such ATM agreements with.

BofA also offers it’s customers the ability to purchase foriegn currency online via the BofA web site.  You can have the currency delivered straight to your home address or you can pick it up from a BofA bank location.  I have used the service myself and found it to be very cost effective and efficient.  Total cost was $7.50 for delivery of my currency order, which came by Federal Express with in two days of my ordering being placed online.  For more information on this sevice goto: http://www.bankofamerica.com/foreigncurrency/index.cfm.

During this 6 day trip home, I will be doing my best NOT to spend money.  The currently exchange rate between the US$ and the Pound Sterling is not in my favor, hovering around the $2.06 per  1 Pound Sterling mark…. ouch!!!  So, the challenge now is, how can one enjoy London on the cheap.

I have done a couple of things in advance to ease the amount of cash flowing out of my wallet.  First, I secured my 7 day London Transport pass for zones 1-2 in advance.  Second, I purchased my round trip ticked on Heathrow Express in advance.  And finally, I prepaid my hotel.  This helps to ease the pain of a weak dollar and I was able to secure all three while the dollar was hovering at the 1.96 exchange rate.

I will be taking advantage of London’s free admission at Museums, which leaves really just FOOD as the only item that I have to watch costs on while in London. So, not too bad, it could be a lot worse.

Plus, I am excited at the prospect of seeing and spending time with an old primary school friend, Camilla.  To have a friendship that goes back to my childhood, last almost 30 years… pretty amazing and very special.

I did upgrade my flight for the flight going from Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) to London Heathrow (LHR) from Economy to Economy Plus.  This is a something unique to flight between the US and LHR. United, Virgin Atlantic and British Airways offer four cabins of service.  I am flying on British Airways and this will be my first time to see what it is like in Economy Plus.  I will be flying regular Economy on my return flight home. I will be sure to post my experience in a separate entry on the web site.

Well, it will be an interesting trip.  I will be posting images and articles while at home.  More to come very soon!!!