Dear Fellow (and probably Wiser) Travel Experts,

My wife and I will be in the U.K. this summer for 10 weeks. During this time, we will be renting a flat in Oxford, England. To pay the rent for the flat, they would like payment in GBP sterling. Does anyone have any recommendations about the most costless (i.e., the least amount of fees) to perform such a transaction electronically?

Additionally, while we are there, we'd like an ATM card that involves the least amount of fees to perform cash withdraws in the U.K. Unfortunately, 10 weeks is probably too short a time to spend the effort establishing a U.K.-bank account, so we need something we could establish in the U.S. (or over the Internet) before we depart.

We *did* find that the Capital One VISA credit cards do not charge foreign transaction fees (unlike most VISA's or even AMEX cards) for paying GBP sterling. That solves the credit card issue, but not the ATM card issue or the electronic payment of the rent (they won't accept credit cards, I don't think).

Thanks.