Credit Cards

[SonorityGenius]

I want someone to send me to Ireland with cash and credit........

Ohh the possibilities ~

[fishbjc]

That may have been me.  The last two times I've been to europe...AMEX not accepted in most mom/pop restaurants, small shops, small hotels, b&b's, even larger hotels.  It was a real PITA.  Seems that cash is the new AMEX. 

In Ireland, I expected the AMEX to be fully accepted.  I also had an issue, along with a few folks in our group...couldn't get cash from the ATM.  It wasn't accepting our logo.  WTH????

I ended up going to Western Union inside of the Waterford Factory & taking a cash advance from MC.

I was flipping out in Germany.  One bank had several ATM's.  One only gave 100's, one only gave 50's and the other one gave out smaller bills.  Confusing!

[ddd]

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haulingthescoreup wrote:
DD#2 is doing a 6-week internship in Dublin this summer, and we're pondering credit cards. I know there's some sort of currency conversion or something where Cap1 is better, but Cap1, ick. As a college student with minimal income and scores of EQ 675 - TU 681 - EX 698, I don't know what kind of junk they'd give her.

Barclay's is UK, but this is Ireland. Would there be any advantage in a Barclay's/ Juniper card in Ireland, or would that be no different from any other US-issued card? FWIW, I've never heard of Juniper or Barclay's where we live, although I know that's pretty irrelevant in the internet age. All she has now is a USAA Mastercard and a store card.

Any ex-pats or frequent overseas travelers, especially in Ireland, we'd love any input! thanks

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All I can say is Dublin is Great he is going to LOVE that city. I would suggest a combination, Visa.MC and an Amex. You can always keep tbs on him online from the states.

[fishbjc]

My dh, being irish, stopped at every pub in Dublin.  I could barely keep up. 

Dublin is a wonderful city, but please tell her to be very careful.  There are a couple of sections that are down right scary, one being near the Guinness factory.  Very ripe with the homeless and crime.

Unfortunately, one of the institutions ran out of room for people with mental issues & had to turn them out onto the streets.  They were roaming everywhere.

She should have a blast.

[MidnightVoice]

And if she leaves Ireland, tell her to sew a Canadian flag on her jacket 

[haulingthescoreup]

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MidnightVoice wrote:
And if she leaves Ireland, tell her to sew a Canadian flag on her jacket 

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I hear that. The aforementioned backpack and Eurailpass trip was during Vietnam and the Nixon impeachment hearings. I found out that he had resigned in a B&B in Austria where I traded fractured German with the fractured English of a German tourist who had been a POW in Texas: "Ford ist neue Praesident," or however that ought to be spelled without umlauts and other goodies.

Anyway, not a fun time to be a 19-year-old American tourist, even without any sewn-on flags. Unmistakably American, with the North Face backpack and hiking boots and American Express traveler's cheques.

[MidnightVoice]

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haulingthescoreup wrote:

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MidnightVoice wrote:
And if she leaves Ireland, tell her to sew a Canadian flag on her jacket 

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I hear that. The aforementioned backpack and Eurailpass trip was during Vietnam and the Nixon impeachment hearings. I found out that he had resigned in a B&B in Austria where I traded fractured German with the fractured English of a German tourist who had been a POW in Texas: "Ford ist neue Praesident," or however that ought to be spelled without umlauts and other goodies.

Anyway, not a fun time to be a 19-year-old American tourist, even without any sewn-on flags. Unmistakably American, with the North Face backpack and hiking boots and American Express traveler's cheques.

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I was watching "The Seagull" in Ithaca when he resigned.  The director came out at the start of the play and said that we would delay the start so that they could broadcast Nixon'r speech into the auditorium during the interval.  Then we could go back to the play - "back from fantasy to reality" as he said 

But I think now is a worse time to be an American in Europe than then.    More general anti-Americanism, although they still are usually OK to individuals.

A "Don't blame me - I was too young to vote" sticker would help 

Message Edited by MidnightVoice on 02-19-2008 12:46 PM

[rubaty]

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MidnightVoice wrote:

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haulingthescoreup wrote:

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MidnightVoice wrote:
And if she leaves Ireland, tell her to sew a Canadian flag on her jacket 

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I hear that. The aforementioned backpack and Eurailpass trip was during Vietnam and the Nixon impeachment hearings. I found out that he had resigned in a B&B in Austria where I traded fractured German with the fractured English of a German tourist who had been a POW in Texas: "Ford ist neue Praesident," or however that ought to be spelled without umlauts and other goodies.

Anyway, not a fun time to be a 19-year-old American tourist, even without any sewn-on flags. Unmistakably American, with the North Face backpack and hiking boots and American Express traveler's cheques.

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I was watching "The Seagull" in Ithaca when he resigned.  The director came out at the start of the play and said that we would delay the start so that they could broadcast Nixon'r speech into the auditorium during the interval.  Then we could go back to the play - "back from fantasy to reality" as he said 

But I think now is a worse time to be an American in Europe than then.    More general anti-Americanism, although they still are usually OK to individuals.

A "Don't blame me - I was too young to vote" sticker would help 

Message Edited by MidnightVoice on 02-19-2008 12:46 PM

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Despite what you hear on the news, it really isn't that bad here for Americans.  I'm in the military and have lived in the UK and Germany since 2002 and everybody is really nice.  You will always have your bad seeds and the only thing you can do about them is ignore them! 

[rubaty]

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haulingthescoreup wrote:
DD#2 is doing a 6-week internship in Dublin this summer, and we're pondering credit cards. I know there's some sort of currency conversion or something where Cap1 is better, but Cap1, ick. As a college student with minimal income and scores of EQ 675 - TU 681 - EX 698, I don't know what kind of junk they'd give her.

Barclay's is UK, but this is Ireland. Would there be any advantage in a Barclay's/ Juniper card in Ireland, or would that be no different from any other US-issued card? FWIW, I've never heard of Juniper or Barclay's where we live, although I know that's pretty irrelevant in the internet age. All she has now is a USAA Mastercard and a store card.

Any ex-pats or frequent overseas travelers, especially in Ireland, we'd love any input! thanks

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Do you have a debit card through USAA?  If so, my understanding is that they will reimburse 10 ATM transaction fees per month.  The debit card might be a better way to go.

[haulingthescoreup]

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rubaty wrote:
>Do you have a debit card through USAA?  If so, my understanding is that they will reimburse 10 ATM transaction fees per month.  The debit card might be a better way to go.

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She does have one, and that makes sense, too. I talked with a USAA CSR the other day, and my eyes started to glaze over before I grasped it all with the who charges you what at which point in the exchange, but I did grasp that debit cards were useful. Thanks for reminding me! I had a really enthusiastic CSR, and it was like innocently asking a question about computers to someone who turns out to be Bill Gates!