what should i do with my monies?

hey guys,
i fly to leeds from florida tomorrow. we've considered a couple of options for getting my money from here to there. at first, we were going to paypal it, but now we're thinking travelers checks. any advice on what the best way would be?
Bekah

Not traveler's checks.  Paypal is okay, or a service like xe.com would be good.  It depends on how much money you are talking about, though.

not traveler's checks or any form of 'paper'

xe.com as geeta said, or a straight wire transfer from your US bank. If it's a sizable amount, and you have a good relationship with your US bank, you may be able to negotiate a good exchange rate and transfer as GBP, not USD.

thanks guys. travelers checks are out then.

we did wire transfer.  Set up XE before you leave though.  We are in the UK now and can't set up XE until we have three months of bank statements (or so I understand).  Paypal is kind of pricey and wire transfer to and from the US was cheaper than Paypal.  Paypal is probably better for small amounts though.  We transferred a couple of thousand. 

For larger amounts (Thousands) SWIFT Transfer

Call your bank and get their SWIFT details, it is basically an electronic bank to bank wire transfer at business rates.

I use it regularly to move money from the UK to the US and you can use it the other way round.  The bank either end can initiate it so see who does the best deal.  I use Nationwide Building Society in the UK and it is a flat 15 pounds regardless of how much you move.

For larger amounts (Thousands) SWIFT Transfer

Call your bank and get their SWIFT details, it is basically an electronic bank to bank wire transfer at business rates.

I use it regularly to move money from the UK to the US and you can use it the other way round.  The bank either end can initiate it so see who does the best deal.  I use Nationwide Building Society in the UK and it is a flat 15 pounds regardless of how much you move.

Question:

You would do the SWIFT transfer once in the UK, correct?! Is there a way to set up a bank account priror to arriving in the UK? (i'm going to assume, no?!) 

Yes, SWIFT is bank to bank, so you need an account, you can set up an account as soon as you arrive and, so long as you have the SWIFT info from your US Bank you can then start the transfer.

I plan to leave my US account open for spending money when I am back here travelling, so not a big deal for me

Yes, SWIFT is bank to bank, so you need an account, you can set up an account as soon as you arrive and, so long as you have the SWIFT info from your US Bank you can then start the transfer.

I plan to leave my US account open for spending money when I am back here travelling, so not a big deal for me

Good information to know... Thanks so much, Gaz 

I am planning on moving to the UK and getting married this year.  But I am planning on keeping my bank account open for when I am here traveling also.  I just found out about the Kaiku prepaid Visa cards which I can transfer any amount of money onto the card from my bank account and Kaiku has in-network ATMs locations in the UK from which you can withdraw money whether it be GBP or in US Dollars.  Check it out.  And you also invite a person to a second card and transfer money onto their card also. 

https://www.kaiku.com/