topic Re: Good CC for US student interning in Ireland this summer? in Credit Cards

Good CC for US student interning in Ireland this summer?

haulingthescoreup — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 21:58:01 GMT

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

Re: Good CC for US student interning in Ireland this summer?

Anonymous — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 22:17:31 GMT

Hauling, this may not be much help, but I did a search of Dublin Banks, and was given a pretty good listing of them...many of which are old familiar's: BoA; Barclay's(never heard of them either before coming here); Citigroup; HSBC, and some others.

http://www.wtonetwork.com/ireland/banking-ireland/index.html

Re: Good CC for US student interning in Ireland this summer?

Anonymous — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 22:19:00 GMT

Many credit unions have only a 1% Foreign Exchange Transaction Fee (yep cap1 is 0%, but concur on the sentiments about them). I tried to find if this is the case with Penfed on their site without success (and I haven't called em about it yet). One thing I always have to remind myself, if one uses an atm to withdraw cash in local currency, there is still usually the foreign atm withdrawal fee (in addition to any FETF) to watch out for (tho' it still can be cheaper overall than using some forex businesses).

Re: Good CC for US student interning in Ireland this summer?

haulingthescoreup — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 22:44:56 GMT

I grew up in the days when American Express was the card that you got for travel overseas; after all, that's what American Express originally did! But someone posted a few months ago that her AmEx card wasn't taken (restaurant in Paris, maybe?) because of all the economic and currency trauma.

All my traveling in my Eurailpass and backpack days was with traveler's checks. Ever so long ago!

edit: I did find this, which seems helpful. Since they refer to MasterCard Europe, I'm not sure that our version is handled the same, although I would guess so.

I didn't realize that Republic of Ireland was using the euro now. Seems kind of sad, most of the old national currencies seem to be gone.

http://www.lookintoireland.com/cards.htm

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 02-17-2008 02:44 PM

Re: Good CC for US student interning in Ireland this summer?

Anonymous — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 23:06:50 GMT

haulingthescoreup wrote:
I grew up in the days when American Express was the card that you got for travel overseas; after all, that's what American Express originally did! But someone posted a few months ago that her AmEx card wasn't taken (restaurant in Paris, maybe?) because of all the economic and currency trauma.

All my traveling in my Eurailpass and backpack days was with traveler's checks. Ever so long ago!

edit: I did find this, which seems helpful. Since they refer to MasterCard Europe, I'm not sure that our version is handled the same, although I would guess so.

I didn't realize that Republic of Ireland was using the euro now. Seems kind of sad, most of the old national currencies seem to be gone.

http://www.lookintoireland.com/cards.htm

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 02-17-2008 02:44 PM

I found this for student's that are going to school there. It tells of banking rules, etc.. I realize she is doing internship, but, some good info still.

http://www.arcadia.edu/abroad/default.aspx?id=6045

And if I open my eyes, I can see the button on the left for internships.

Message Edited by stef37 on 02-17-2008 03:06 PM

Re: Good CC for US student interning in Ireland this summer?

haulingthescoreup — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 23:08:02 GMT

Wow, stef, that is perfect! And her internship is through her university, so it's very relevant. I'm forwarding her the link. Thanks again!

Re: Good CC for US student interning in Ireland this summer?

Anonymous — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 23:08:55 GMT

I stumbled upon it.

I bet she's excited!! I would be.

Re: Good CC for US student interning in Ireland this summer?

Anonymous — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 23:10:15 GMT

Hi Hauling,

I would recommend calling BOA as they use "In-Network" ATM's which include Barclays. I beleeive that there is a no per-transaction fee and overall 1% over interbank rate for cash. This is a pretty good deal.

If I need cash while traveling I always use ATM's rather than exchange rate booths (ie. Cook in the UK/Ireland) for cash "advances" as it is far cheaper to use the ATM if an "In-Network" one is readily available.

Re: Good CC for US student interning in Ireland this summer?

Anonymous — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 00:23:40 GMT

Have you come across this already?

From travel.state.gov:

SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES: Most Irish banks will not accept U.S. $100 bills. ATMs are widely available, but some, particularly in rural areas, may not accept cards from U.S. banks. Credit cards are widely accepted throughout Ireland.

Re: Good CC for US student interning in Ireland this summer?

Anonymous — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 01:23:20 GMT

I've never had a problem anywhere in the world with using a US bank issued ATM card.

The EU banks are prohibited from charging a fee to use their ATM's however international surcharges could apply for non-EU issued bank cards. I would check with several of the banks/credit unions you are looking at to confirm their foreign usage/transaction fees as well as their exchange rate policy before making your final decision.

She shouldn't have too many problems in the Dublin metro area. Extremely rural parts of the country may prove to be more difficult as merchants will prefer to be paid in €.

She will also need to keep the telephone numbers (not US toll-free numbers) for the bankcards handy in the event that she needs to call the US while in IE.

Re: Good CC for US student interning in Ireland this summer?

haulingthescoreup — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 01:47:07 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

I've never had a problem anywhere in the world with using a US bank issued ATM card.

The EU banks are prohibited from charging a fee to use their ATM's however international surcharges could apply for non-EU issued bank cards. I would check with several of the banks/credit unions you are looking at to confirm their foreign usage/transaction fees as well as their exchange rate policy before making your final decision.

She shouldn't have too many problems in the Dublin metro area. Extremely rural parts of the country may prove to be more difficult as merchants will prefer to be paid in €.

She will also need to keep the telephone numbers (not US toll-free numbers) for the bankcards handy in the event that she needs to call the US while in IE.

Thanks, that's very useful!

And thanks to everyone else for all the great info. Wish I'd done something like this back in the day...

Re: Good CC for US student interning in Ireland this summer?

Anonymous — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 02:15:41 GMT

Hi Hauling,

I did this my Jr year and it was a great experience. Just make sure she comes home to graduate. I did but wanted to stay......................lol

Re: Good CC for US student interning in Ireland this summer?

haulingthescoreup — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 03:45:30 GMT

She actually got into an argument with the study abroad people about this, because they wanted her to do at least a semester. But she's on her university's Mock Trial team that has an automatic spot in nationals this year, and she feels that she needs to be here during the academic year.

So it's six weeks in summer. She's trying to get an internship in either law or politics, ideally both. She was born to argue, and does so very well, without her victims ever realizing quite what happened!

Wow, a commercial for visiting Ireland just aired. Weird.

Re: Good CC for US student interning in Ireland this summer?

MidnightVoice — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 13:57:52 GMT

When I go to Europe I keep some US cash in the back of my wallet for when I return. When I get there I pull a coupple hundred bucks in local currency via my debit card and everything else is via credit card. Just use on that has minimal finance charges for overseas spending.

And tell her to drink plenty of Guiness - it is good for you

Re: Good CC for US student interning in Ireland this summer?

haulingthescoreup — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:05:17 GMT

@MidnightVoice wrote:

When I go to Europe I keep some US cash in the back of my wallet for when I return. When I get there I pull a coupple hundred bucks in local currency via my debit card and everything else is via credit card. Just use on that has minimal finance charges for overseas spending.

And tell her to drink plenty of Guiness - it is good for you

Thank you, good advice on juggling cash vs CC.

I'll be sure to tell her about the Guinness. (Brilliant!!) She doesn't drink (or smoke, either), as she regards her parents as models of depravity, so she's in for quite a shock. Her 22-year-old sister did finally learn to choke down beer, so that she can carry something around in her hand at parties. DH and I don't quite know where these two came from.

We're watching "The Commitments" again to get attuned to all things Dublin.

Re: Good CC for US student interning in Ireland this summer?

MidnightVoice — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:10:22 GMT

haulingthescoreup wrote:

I'll be sure to tell her about the Guinness. (Brilliant!!) She doesn't drink (or smoke, either), as she regards her parents as models of depravity, so she's in for quite a shock. Her 22-year-old sister did finally learn to choke down beer, so that she can carry something around in her hand at parties. DH and I don't quite know where these two came from.

We're watching "The Commitments" again to get attuned to all things Dublin.

When I was last in Ireland I was in a small town, and the Post Office was a bar, the general store was a bar, the gas station was a bar..... You could walk down one side of main strret and drink in 15 places, and back the other side and drink in 17!

Re: Good CC for US student interning in Ireland this summer?

haulingthescoreup — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:15:06 GMT

Wow, my liver just cringed thinking of it.

This is not an Ireland question, but does England still have the odd drinking hours, left over from WWI or whenever it was? The idea of a beer at 10 a.m. makes my toes curl up, although 12:01 p.m. on a Saturday sounds just fine! I seem to remember that it was a challenge trying to figure when the pubs would be open, because they closed in the middle of the day or something odd.

Re: Good CC for US student interning in Ireland this summer?

MidnightVoice — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:19:08 GMT

haulingthescoreup wrote:
Wow, my liver just cringed thinking of it.

This is not an Ireland question, but does England still have the odd drinking hours, left over from WWI or whenever it was? The idea of a beer at 10 a.m. makes my toes curl up, although 12:01 p.m. on a Saturday sounds just fine! I seem to remember that it was a challenge trying to figure when the pubs would be open, because they closed in the middle of the day or something odd.

No, they are much more flexible now. But I think the bars at Covent garden still open at 5am so the people who have just finished delivering Fruit and Veg can have a swift pint!

Re: Good CC for US student interning in Ireland this summer?

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 02:33:02 GMT

I was at a B&B in Germany and went down for breakfast - surprised by all of the men at the bar drinking away so early in the morning........

Re: Good CC for US student interning in Ireland this summer?

loubee — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 04:39:35 GMT

haugling/midnight

im an ex brit pat, and I have know idea on what card to advice on , but on the part about the pubs, in ireland you may not find what your looking for but you will always find a pub, great people on both sides of my family my grandparents are irish and i spend half my life there as a child, I have 2 sisters in dublin so haugling if shes need a tour guide, also in uk, alot of our pubs are now 24 hours open,