Best UK bank accounts/credit cards for use in the US?

Here are the accounts that I know of that charge no fees for making purchases / withdrawing cash in the US:

Citibank UK - as mentioned in a previous post, the combined citibank current/USD current accounts for expats in the UK are a great way for expats to use their hard earned £'s in the US. The accounts are fee-free, and they're also very basic. There are fees involved if you want an overdraft, but for someone who wants to transfer some money over to spend whilst in the US, you couldn't do much better, except for...

Santander Zero - this current account is only available for Santander mortgage holders, and like the name says there are zero fees involved, including when using your debit card in the US. They may open this up to the wider public, at which point I'll be there like a flash.

Santander Zero Credit Card - as above, this is a great card to use worldwide as there are 0% loading charges. I have had difficulty getting one of these though, so I assume you have to have great credit. This card also uniquely allows you to withdraw cash fee-free worldwide, but you get charged interest immediately as you do when you get cash advances on credit cards.

Nationwide FlexAccount - this is a great current account that charges 0% in Europe and 1% everywhere else. If you're not that fussed about the 1%, this is a great and easy to get account.

Nationwide Credit Card - as above, it charges 0% in Europe and 1% everywhere else. I have never tried, but I think it may be easier to get than the Santander Zero card.

Post Office Credit Card - like the Santander card it charges 0% worldwide, but I have found it difficult to get one, and is a total pain to go through the application process.

Some other points:

I have found that PNC does not charge fees when using UK debit cards to withdraw money at one of its branches in the US.

You may be able to use your Barclays debit card fee-free at Bank of America as part of the Global ATM Alliance, but I have not tried this.

You may be able to use your Barclays debit card fee-free at Bank of America as part of the Global ATM Alliance, but I have not tried this.

Yes, you can, and yes we have done when we travel to the US. 

We use our Nationwide cards abroad. We've had them for a while, so don't pay fees anywhere. They also use a competitive exchange rate.

Yes, you can, and yes we have done when we travel to the US. 

Awesome, we're going over to RI in June so that will come in handy. My wife's a die-hard Barclays customer so it's good for her.

We use our Nationwide cards abroad. We've had them for a while, so don't pay fees anywhere. They also use a competitive exchange rate.

We've had ours for a while too, and so far so good. The only niggle I have is the 1% charge from Visa when using it outside of Europe. You don't see it broken down, but it is included in the exchange rate.

Awesome, we're going over to RI in June so that will come in handy. My wife's a die-hard Barclays customer so it's good for her.

We've had ours for a while too, and so far so good. The only niggle I have is the 1% charge from Visa when using it outside of Europe. You don't see it broken down, but it is included in the exchange rate.

Interesting. I'll have to look at my statement a bit closer from when I used it in New York in Feb. I was there for business, so wasn't too concerned about the rate, but it seemed to be pretty good so I didn't suspect a fee.

Does anyone have any experience with HSBC cards in the US?  Specifically Michigan since I have a wedding to go to.

Be sure to contact your bank before going abroad. They may have some special overseas thing... but most importantly they wont shut off your card!!  Lol my husband and I were in RI at a market and when it came time to check out, card didn't work. Bank saw a bunch of over seas transactions thought fraud and disabled it. We had to do the walk of shame out of the store. He called his bank after and they turned the card back on. But to avoid a similar situation..contact your bank in advance.

Awesome, we're going over to RI in June so that will come in handy. My wife's a die-hard Barclays customer so it's good for her.

Another RIer?  

Does anyone have any experience with HSBC cards in the US?  Specifically Michigan since I have a wedding to go to.

Be careful, as I believe unless you have a premium account (that you pay monthly for) you will be charged a 2.75% fee in the currency conversion. I have a first direct account (part of HSBC) that I love, but would never use it overseas as the rate is prohibitive.

Probably best to get one of accounts or credit cards above if you have enough time, in fact that is how I got interested in this as I paid high fees to fd/HSBC when abroad a few years ago.

Be sure to contact your bank before going abroad. They may have some special overseas thing... but most importantly they wont shut off your card!!  Lol my husband and I were in RI at a market and when it came time to check out, card didn't work. Bank saw a bunch of over seas transactions thought fraud and disabled it. We had to do the walk of shame out of the store. He called his bank after and they turned the card back on. But to avoid a similar situation..contact your bank in advance.

Another RIer?  

It's not consistent between banks either, as Nationwide state clearly on their website that they don't want to know if you'll be using your card abroad. Barclaycard on the other hand have a form you can fill out online to let them know where and when you're going abroad.

Yes, I'm from RI originally, born and bred in North Kingstown and went to URI. I haven't been back in a long time, I'm looking forward to it. Whereabouts are you from?

Definitely let Barclays know - their fraud protection dept is a bit overzealous at times, which is a bit funny in our instance because the only time we had a problem with fraud on our account, we immediately detected it, but they didn't.  However, whenever I need to get international plane tickets or I'm ordering something from Amazon to be sent to myself at home - they're on the case, transactions get blocked, and much hilarity (NOT!) ensues.  

ouch Mrs. Robinson. Fraud protection can be a double edged sword. :p

Stuart, Warwick mainly, although I lived in a few cities/towns.  I used to deliver for Kingston pizza when I was in school. When ever I go to visit, I'm sure to stop in and get one of the specialty pizzas. =)