Cheapest way to spend money aboard during holidays?

TestLink

My bank account is with PTSB, including their Visa Debit card. I am planning to go to scotland in July.

1. I would like to know what is the cheapest way to do money transactions abroad - shopping / pay for bus, tram / hotels etc - Use PTSB debit card?. I also have a Skrill debit card.

2. Where is the cheapest place to get to get Sterling in cash, is AnPost the best place? I heard that Money Exchange facilities at airports charge more.

Appreciate any help?

coylemj

You must be going to some city if you mention bus & tram, I'd check the local transportation website to see what payment methods they handle - in London for example it's Oyster or nothing on the regular red buses.

You need to be aware if there are charges per transaction for using either of those debit cards, check the issuer's website for the charges.

For small transactions you'll need some cash so get some sterling and I have invariably found that the table of value is always: 1. AIB or BoI 2. An Post 3. The other of those two banks. So on the day you are buying sterling, check AIB and BoI's website and whichever of them is better, go for it. I am taking into account the fact that An Port doesn't charge commission - they are never the best place to buy sterling. And never buy currency in an airport - by leaving it to the last minute you get royally screwed because the nature of their tenancy in the airport will be that there is no competition.

TestLink

Many thanks for the advice.

I am going to Scotland.

My wife has an AIB account. Is it just a matter of going in and get the sterling or do I have to order it earlier and collect it?

Also could I return leftover sterling at AIB itself?

dev100

Hotels and the big stuff all on a credit card if u have one and cash for the rest

theteal

Get yourself a Revolut card. It links to an app on your phone. Once you have an internet connection, you can top it up at will. It doesn't charge any conversion rates for the first year. I've used mine in several European countries with out issue in the last few months.

Edit: I should probably say get the app first, you order the card through app

coylemj

ITguru wrote: »

My wife has an AIB account. Is it just a matter of going in and get the sterling or do I have to order it earlier and collect it?

Also could I return leftover sterling at AIB itself?

All branches have plenty of sterling, it's not a currency you need to order in advance. She might manage to avoid the commission (it's only €1.27 in AIB) if she pays with her AIB ATM card. AIB will buy back unused notes but at a different rate - the 'spread' between buy and sell is how they make money on FX.

She will probably end up with Scottish banknotes and if at the end of the trip she only has a small amount which isn't worth converting when she gets home, tell her to try get them changed before she comes home (any shop will oblige) to Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) notes as the Ulster Bank here will exchange them for Bank of England notes so she won't have a problem bringing those notes to England on a future trip.

Ulster Bank is a subsidiary of RBS and a condition of RBS being licensed to print Scottish notes is that they must exchange them on demand to BoE notes. Which is how if you come back from a trip to NI, you can convert First Trust sterling notes (to BoE) one for one in AIB and similarly you can convert Bank of Ireland (Donegall Place, Belfast) sterling notes to BoE notes in BoI branches in the south.

TestLink

coylemj,

Do you know how much is PTSB commission?

coylemj

ITguru wrote: »

coylemj,

Do you know how much is PTSB commission?

Sorry, don't know.

TestLink

I called PTSB. It is 1%.

coylemj

ITguru wrote: »

I called PTSB. It is 1%.

Is there a cap on their commission? It's €1.27 in AIB and €1.25 in BoI. If it's 1% all the way then it's misleading as the 1% should simply be included in the quoted FX rates.

TestLink

The cap is 6 euro.