Let's get some more information here to help your situation.

1. What expenses do you foresee having in the UK? Rent, food, entertainment, other?

2. I assume that you are having no income in the UK. Please correct me if I am wrong

3. How "high on the hog" do you expect to live? You say you are a student. Is your housing arranged through the university or are you finding your own? etc.


When I was a student abroad, I opened a student account with a single bank transfer from the US. I did a single transfer to minimise fees. Depending on your budgeting, if you can't fund the entire year up-front, consider semi annual or quarterly transfers from the US. Avoid monthly to minimise fees.

From this student account you can get a debit card. Yes, I generally do not like debit cards as much as credit but as a student your options will be limited.

Call AMEX and ask about the UK option but I would open it AFTER you get to the UK, have an address, and a UK current account (aka checking account) that you can use to pay the bill locally. Go to the AMEX UK website to find out more about the cards availble. You can then discuss your options with the UK AMEX rep.

I highly recommend against cancelling your US card for a couple of reasons:
1. You can use it in the UK until you get your UK card
2. It is a back-up card in case you lose your UK card or something else happends
3. Most importantly, it let's you continue to build your credit history in the US. You are just staring to build your credit history so you want to maintain long-term accounts that you pay regularly.

Glossary:
FOREX = Foreign Exchange - the process of changing from one currency to another
GBP = Great Britain Pounds - UK Sterling, local currency in the UK
HSBC Offshore Account = A bank account that is based off the main UK territory in one of the Channel Islands for favourable tax treatment. Unless you are talking larger amounts here, probably not worth it for a 1 year student