I've tried several methods of doing this.
(a) Assuming you have an American Express card, cashing a personal
check at a British branch office for local currency (no fee, but you
can only do it once every 3 weeks), and taking the cash to my
British checking account. - disadvantage: having to carry a lot of
cash between offices
(b) Using the ATM to get money from my US account - disadvantage:
either having to carry a lot of cash, or doing it frequently and
getting a lot of service charges
(c) Getting sterling traveller's cheques from AAA (no charge if
you're a member), then depositing them in my British bank account
when I get there. This seems to work the best.
Nan Dreher
Marquette University