Heathrow currency exchange: bureaux, rates, and whether to use them

Bureaux are spread across check-in halls and airside concourses at every terminal, with self-service machines in the same locations as the staffed counters and cash machines scattered through arrivals and departures. The Heathrow page lists 23 bureaux in total; a reader does not need every POI to find the one nearest them.

• Terminal 2 currency exchange: counters in the check-in concourse and after security in the T2A departures area, plus a smaller bureau in the T2B satellite. Cash machines on every level of the building.
• Bureau locations inside Terminal 3: check-in concourse near the main entrance, in the airside departures hall after security, and in arrivals near the meeting point. Long-haul arrivals from the US, Asia and the Gulf concentrate at T3, which makes the arrivals counter the busiest of the four.
• Terminal 4 currency exchange: check-in concourse, airside departures, and arrivals. T4's smaller footprint makes the counters easier to find than T3 or T5.
• Terminal 5 currency exchange location: counters in the T5A main check-in concourse, after security in the airside hall, and on arrivals. The T5B and T5C satellites do not have their own bureau; airside passengers at the satellites use the main T5A counter before riding the transit train out.

Self-service exchange machines sit alongside the staffed counters at most locations and at some unstaffed positions. The machine rate is similar to the counter; the saving is on the queue, not the price. Cash machines are concentrated near the arrivals exits and the airside food courts; the full list sits on Heathrow's own page.

Global Exchange is the contracted operator for currency exchange at Heathrow, having taken over from Travelex in recent years. Older travellers and signage you may see in the airport sometimes still reference Travelex; the contracted bureaux are Global Exchange.

Standard opening hours at most counters are 05:00 to 22:00 daily, aligned with the operating day at each terminal. A handful of locations in the early-morning long-haul arrivals corridor open earlier; a handful of late-evening counters close at midnight. The self-service machines and the cash machines are available 24/7 wherever they sit in publicly accessible areas of the terminal.

The bureau range covers:

• Cash exchange: walk-up purchase of foreign currency, paid in GBP or by card.
• Buy-back: unspent foreign currency converted back to GBP, or unspent GBP back to your home currency on the way out.
• Multi-currency travel cards: a prepaid card loaded with several currencies, sold at the counter as an alternative to cash.
• Online order with airport collection: better rate than the walk-up; place the order on the operator's site, collect at any Heathrow Global Exchange counter with ID and the confirmation reference.

Customer service for orders, refunds and queries runs through Global Exchange UK directly rather than through Heathrow. The operator publishes a UK contact line; the live number is on the Global Exchange site.

The honest answer matters more than any other part of this page. Airport bureau rates are typically 5 to 10 percentage points worse than the mid-market rate on common currencies (US dollars, euro, Swiss franc), and more on less common ones (Indian rupees, Thai baht, Turkish lira, South African rand, anything not stocked by high-street banks).

The mid-market rate is the rate banks use to trade with each other, the figure quoted on Google, on XE.com, and (for GBP-based pairs) on the Bank of England daily rate. It is not a rate a retail customer ever gets, but it is the baseline against which retail rates are compared.

The two things to know about airport bureau pricing:

• "No commission" does not mean good value. The bureau makes its margin in the spread between the buy and sell prices. A 0% commission rate plus a 7% spread is worse than a 1% commission rate plus a 2% spread; the headline figure is the smaller part.
• The buy-sell spread is asymmetric. The rate the bureau gives you when buying foreign currency is worse than the mid-market rate; the rate when buying back GBP is also worse. The bureau wins on both legs.

Independent UK consumer outlets (MoneySavingExpert, Which?) regularly compare airport bureaux to high-street and online alternatives; the airport counter is consistently the most expensive for any given amount. The page below covers the alternatives.

The honest field of alternatives. None of these is sponsored or endorsed; each has its own fees and caveats.

Multi-currency cards (for spending abroad)

Prepaid or debit cards that hold balances in multiple currencies and convert at the mid-market rate (or close to it) when you spend. The named UK operators include Wise, Revolut, Monzo, Starling, and Currensea; each has its own fee model. Top up in GBP, spend in the local currency, conversion happens at near-mid-market with a small operator fee. ATM withdrawals abroad usually carry a free monthly allowance then a small percentage fee. Best for spending; less useful if you genuinely need cash on arrival in a country with limited card acceptance.

Order ahead for airport collection

The same operator (Global Exchange or another) running a Heathrow bureau usually offers a better rate when you order online and collect at the airport than when you walk up. The saving is typically a few percentage points; the convenience cost is placing the order at least a day ahead. The walk-up rate is the worst rate at the same counter for the same currency.

Withdraw local cash at the destination

For arriving international passengers, an ATM at the destination on the way out of the airport often beats exchanging GBP cash bought at Heathrow. The combined ATM fee plus the foreign-currency conversion fee from your home bank is usually less than the airport bureau spread. The exception is destinations with high local ATM fees or strict cash controls; check the destination country before flying.

High-street banks before flying

UK banks usually offer better rates than airport bureaux for common currencies (USD, EUR, CHF, AUD, CAD) when ordered a few working days ahead. Some require an account with the bank; some sell to anyone. Less useful at short notice and for less common currencies, which are often "order in" with a week's lead time.

Contactless cards (for spending in the UK)

For arriving international readers, this is the simplest plan. A foreign contactless card (debit or credit) works on every London transport mode and almost every retail point in the UK. TfL contactless and Oyster pay-as-you-go covers the public-transport side. You may not need GBP cash at all.

The page is honest about when the bureau is the genuine fit:

• Small last-minute amounts: needing £30 for an unexpected purchase before the flight is not worth the order-ahead overhead.
• Buy-back on return: a small amount of leftover foreign currency converted back to GBP on the way out of the airport is a sensible use, even at the spread, because the alternative is keeping the cash for an unspecified next trip.
• Less common currencies: currencies UK high-street banks do not stock (some African, Central Asian, Pacific currencies) may only be available at the airport.
• No time to order ahead: a flight booked the day before with no chance to set up a multi-currency card or order through a bank.
• No fintech card available: a traveller without a UK bank account or who cannot open a fintech account in time.

These are real use cases. For everything else, the alternatives above are cheaper.

For an arriving international passenger, the single most useful fact on this page: London is overwhelmingly cashless. You may not need GBP cash at all.

• Heathrow Express, Elizabeth Line, Piccadilly Line, London buses: all accept contactless cards (debit and credit) and contactless mobile (Apple Pay, Google Pay) directly, with daily caps applied automatically. Tap in at the gate; no ticket needed. A foreign contactless card works for tap-in just like a UK one.
• Black cabs: every black cab takes contactless card and contactless mobile as standard since 2016. The tip can also be added through the contactless reader.
• Uber, Bolt, FreeNow: paid through the app on the card already attached; no cash needed at any point.
• Shops, restaurants, pubs, museums, attractions: contactless is universal in central London. Cash-only venues are vanishingly rare.

Cash is still useful for very small transactions (street food, market stalls, small independent shops outside the central zones, tipping where you want to leave a precise amount), but these are edge cases. Arriving in London with no GBP and a working contactless card is a perfectly reasonable plan and saves the airport-bureau spread.