Cash or card?

pandio · Veteran Member

Cash or card?

Roy · Guru

I have found that using my debit card to make withdrawals along the way to be most cost effective. My credit union does not charge for foreign transaction fees plus I get the actual conversion rate.

tony2phones · Guru

ATM's best option, tell your bank you will be using your card over here and the dates. Also find out how much your bank is going to charge you for using your card here. Bring E50 each in small notes 2x5 2x10 1x20 for incidentals until you hit a machine.

pandio · Veteran Member

Thank you. My sister didn't want to use a card so I'm just trying to figure out if I should put her money in my bank or if she could buy a prepaid visa card to use or something else????

Roy · Guru

www.bankrate.com/banking/checking/pros-and-cons-of-prepaid-debit-cards/

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

Could she open a special account with her bank (or credit union) specifically for the trip, with it's own, unique Debit Card??

To find the best deal on the lowest-cost pre-paid VISA card that will work in an Irish ATM, you could check here: https://www.bankrate.com/banking/find-the-best-prepaid-debit-card-for-you/

A third alternative, if she has a credit card, would be to let her pay for your meal (or room) and then, you could repay her -- with cash, in Euros.

Placing her cash into your account would work, but factoring in the fees and exchange rate (for fairness) seems rather cumbersome.

Exchanging US dollars to Euros is best done IN a bank and will take a bit of time and won't yield the best exchange rate. If she opts to go that route, tell her NOT to bring any denomination larger than $50 bills. Foreign banks are quite leery of accepting US $100 notes as they are the most frequently targeted for counterfeiting.

pandio · Veteran Member

Thank you all for the input. I will talk to her about these options and see which one she'd like to do. I'll check the link for prepaid cards as well :)

markan · Senior Member

Yeah i agree with the others. ATM is the way to go. Just tell you're bank beforehand. I bring a little bit of cash (EUROS) with me to start out that I get from my bank at home but not much. Just enough in case i need for whatever reason when I get off the plan. But I've never had a problem with ATMs

markan · Senior Member

Meant to type "off the plane" not "off the plan"

Roy · Guru

I always keep a small amount of euros from previous trips to bring as starter money.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Cash can be lost or stolen. What if that happened? How much cash is she thinking of taking? I prefer using a credit card with no foreign fees. For a little spending cash ATMs are the way to go. Is there a reason she wants to only take cash?

pandio · Veteran Member

She's going through some personal stuff. I think she is just going to get a prepaid card off that link. There were a few I think would work well or she can use my sons account. Thanks for all the feed back, I didn't think there were prepaid cards that would work over there for ATM's so I'm glad to see that there are.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Glad to hear that one of the options will work.

Roy · Guru

Michele Erdvig wrote:
Glad to hear that one of the options will work.

I still haven't found a true chip and pin card to use. Has anyone?

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

Roy wrote:
Michele Erdvig wrote:
Glad to hear that one of the options will work.
I still haven't found a true chip and pin card to use. Has anyone?

From my research, it seems that the majority of the US Banking systems and merchants are 'easing' their way through the transition -- much the way Ireland did, some years' ago -- beginning with 'Chip and Signature'. My Credit Union just transitioned to Chip-imbedded cards over the past year and my Debit Card PIN works on Chip-enabled machines such as those at WalMart, Home Depost, etcetera ... but there are still plenty of merchants that require a signature -- particularly if using a Credit Card.
The biggest 'hold up' on the transition was the cost of upgrading CC machines to the new tech. Merchants didn't want to pay for it and banks felt their Fraud Losses were less costly then providing the readers to the merchants. Nearly all of my Cards (Debit and Credit) now include a Chip, but I still find merchants that don't have Chip-Enabled readers here in Florida.
When I visited Ireland last Sept / Oct, my non-chip cards still worked fine in the ATMs and were accepted without problems at the various merchants, so you should still be fine this Summer.

Roy · Guru

I have chip cards, but outside my credit union debit card, do not have pin numbers. My question actually pertains to using chip and pin in Ireland rather the chip and signature. I was able to use Apple Pay a few times in Ireland last summer.