Thanks to all for the advice. As to your question, gnomad (and I might be talking out my posterior here) I am assuming that it is not in most US bank's interest to deal in foreign currencies. If one wants to buy a different currency, one has to order it in advance, almost as much as a week to ten business days.

As it turns out, I called my bank again (credit union) and spoke to one of the managers. She said that they would deal with it by crediting my account in US dollars to the amount in UK pounds. Then once the cheque clears, I'll be credited the full amount in US dollars.

I did think about sending it back to National Express and asking them to credit my card, and I may still do that.

Again, thanks for the help.

Debra Cowan