iczs

read on tripadvisor forums that £50 banknotes aren't accepted or are looked upon with suspicion in the UK. Is this true? If it is, any banks in Heathrow that can swap notes denominations with me? (I have 4 hours from my flight touchdown to my coach departure). My bank in Singapore only had £50 denominations when I went to change with them...

colmc

Can't say that I've ever noticed it, as visitor or resident.

PWMFlyer19

It is like say a $100 bill in the US (equivalent big bill in Singapoer?). Some places will ask you if you have something else smaller in nature, or if you go in a taxi, they may not have the change yet if just started shift (or something similiar cash business), but you should be just fine. I would not worry about it.

Thanks.

mtkeller

I've lived in London for 11 months, and I don't think I've seen a £50 note. However, I've also not seen any signs saying that they wouldn't accept them. I think OP should be fine, but it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to see if Travelex or someone could swap some them at LHR for smaller notes at no charge. (Travelex did this for me at PRG with CZK when I only had banknotes and needed coins for the bus ticket machine. Not sure if this is universal or just something they do there since no one shows up with coins and the machines don't take notes.)

The _Banking_Scot

Hi,

Some shops ( incl Greggs and a few Macdonald's have signs saying they do not take £50 notes).

I would think banks at LHR will give smaller notes ( £20 are fine in most shops)

Regards

TBS

exilencfc

They are quite rare and a fair few of those in circulation are fakes, so quite a few businesses don't take them - I used to work for a bakers that didn't. Even if people do take them they will probably look at them suspiciously, test for authenticity etc. I'd definitely try and swop them, they're hassle you don't need

BHDBOY

Entirely agree with this, £50s are likely to be treated with suspicion by some shops (generally smaller stores) and you will probably run into some resistance changing them. Scotland and Northern Ireland have £100 notes which are even more difficult to get rid of because of their high value - never mind the complexity of spending a Scottish or (especially) Northern Irish banknote in England!

Jimmie76

I was in a cab with a girl from the USA one Saturday night who tried to pay for the journey with a £50 and she was very surprised when the driver looked at her as if she had given him a disease . I suggested that she change them at the bank on Monday morning.

I've also see someone trying to pay for a large electrical item in £50's and they were all carefully checked visually & with a pen.

iczs

Would there be anywhere I could change them? I have about 4 hours in heathrow from touchdown at 0555 to my coach departure at 0955 to London Victoria, then about 45 minutes at Victoria coach stn to my departure coach onward. I'll try to spend some at the duty free liquor store, any other ideas!

iczs

Actually in Singapore no one flinches at a S$50 banknote, or indeed a S$100 banknote! Those big ticket item shops even take S$1000 banknotes without question. Oh the luxury.

Savage25

Yeah, I used a S$1000 note the other day.

I've used £50 notes without any problem in London. I've only had trouble with NI £20 notes.

Mizter T

Most ATMs don't dispense £50 notes (how many do?), and as that's the primary way that notes get into circulation these days then they aren't something that's all that common - for that reason alone they're inevitably going to be treated with some caution.

Of course there are those who always have a £50 note or two/several in their wallet, but perhaps that's because they spend them in places that wouldn't bat an eyelid.

I think it's a bit about context - I wouldn't expect any problems with using one to pay the bill in a restaurant, but nor would I expect most corner shops to be all that keen on the concept of being paid for a newspaper and a pint of milk with a £50 note that warmly (though regular customers at corner shops in more affluent parts of town might get different treatment). This is unlike say Switzerland or Italy where high value notes are used without a second thought in everyday transactions.

So, that said about context, I dare you probably wouldn't have a problem using a £50 note on arrival at Heathrow to buy something small like a coffee, because retailers there must surely be used to people arriving in the country with them.

Just to note that in terms of coach services from airports, National Express are quite flexible - I doubt it'd be a problem for you to get on an earlier coach from Heathrow to Victoria coach station, so long as there's a space on board (which is likely). You could then have a quick wander around - e.g. Buckingham Palace and St James' Park is not far away. There's a left luggage facility at the coach station (£2 for up to two hours, £3.50/£5.50 thereafter, depending upon weight).

I dunno, but you might even be able to get an earlier connecting coach departure from Victoria if there is one and there's a space on board, if you say that you've just arrived from Heathrow (your ticket will obviously say as much) - not sure about that though.

Reason077

Part of the problem with £50 notes is that they are an older design which is treated with suspicion due to the possibility of fakes, etc.

The Bank of England is due to release a new, high tech £50 design later this year with new security features that should hopefully increase their acceptability.

iczs

Hi, thanks for this. A little out of topic, but my e ticket states I have a booking on the 0955 coach. So what do I do if I do get out of immigration quick? Go to central bus station and just show them my ticket (non amendable non refundable) , and ask if I can get onto an earlier bus? Any good place for me to have breakfast near victoria coach station? Im arriving on a Sunday. Many thanks!

Mizter T

This National Express FAQ suggests there's an amendment fee, but I don't think that's quite the full story - I'm sure they used to actively state that they'd do their best to accommodate travellers who arrived early (or late) off flights at airports.

You can but ask - I guess it might possibly make a difference if you have a cheapo NX 'funfare', but I really can't see a problem with you getting an earlier coach for the short hop into Victoria if there's space on board - should the ticket counter people be un-cooperative, then you could always just try politely asking a driver of a Victoria-bound coach (the coach departures and relevant bays are shown on departure screens at the bus station), I can't really see them saying no if there's a spare seat (which there will be - if the coach is already full and every passenger is heading to Victoria, then I can't see why the driver would even bother to call at Heathrow, unless there's a driver change or something).

On further consideration, trying to catch an earlier coach from Victoria for your onward journey would likely involve officially amending it (and thus paying the amendment fee) - and if the ticket is a funfare, then as this FAQ explains it's not really worthwhile trying to amend it as it'd normally be cheaper to simply buy a whole new ticket.