Best way to spend in US if from Ireland

joshy8

Hi, I live in Ireland and am travelling to the US for holidays. What is the best way to spend dollars there. I understand pre-paid credit cards are a good option but which pre-paid card offers the best rates if you are loading it up by paying in Euros

NiftyDigits

This is a UK based board. Perhaps you can research Irish prepaid cards and post the details here.

From my cursory research, it would appear a credit card from any of these banks; Bank of Ireland, AIB, Permanent TSB and KBC Bank will prove better value than an average Prepaid card, such as the The PostFX™ Prepaid MasterCard® .
The caveat, whilst not really a caveat, is that you should preload the credit card. It's not a caveat, as you would preload a Prepaid card anyway.
I think the cross border fees of the credit cards above, range from 1.75% to 2.25%. So, taking the highest rate of 2.25%, that would give you a rate of US$1.2573 for cash withdrawals and purchases, against a rate of US1.2456 for the The PostFX™ Prepaid MasterCard® . In addition, you would have to pay an additional US$2.50 per ATM withdrawal when using the Prepaid card and your money will be stuck in US$.
Their advertising of "cheaper than a credit card" is just a barefaced lie.

My advice to you would be to forget about Prepaid cards. Try to get a couple of the credit cards above and preload the one with the lowest cross border percentage charge and use it for ATM withdrawals. Use the other for purchases. It seems that around 2% overall is not bad for Ireland.

I would advise that you go through the credit card fees and charges with a finetooth comb. For instance VISA CC charges differ from Mastercard CC charges.

[Deleted User]

joshy8 wrote: »

Hi, I live in Ireland and am travelling to the US for holidays. What is the best way to spend dollars there. I understand pre-paid credit cards are a good option but which pre-paid card offers the best rates if you are loading it up by paying in Euros

You might find the answer on this website - if not then ask the question on there as it has some very good posters.
Personally I always take cash with a credit card as a back-up. A couple of thousand dollars in brand new $50 notes ( as they usually are from a bank ) are really quite easy to carry around with you all the time.

NiftyDigits

Deleted_User wrote: »

You might find the answer on this website - if not then ask the question on there as it has some very good posters.
Personally I always take cash with a credit card as a back-up. A couple of thousand dollars in brand new $50 notes ( as they usually are from a bank ) are really quite easy to carry around with you all the time.

Seems that there is something missing from your post.

[Deleted User]

NiftyDigits wrote: »

Seems that there is something missing from your post.

Ah,you spotted the deliberate mistake.

https://www.askaboutmoney.com

NiftyDigits

Deleted_User wrote: »

Ah,you spotted the deliberate mistake.

https://www.askaboutmoney.com

Taken from that website: http://www.moneyguideireland.com/bank-debit-and-credit-card-charges-outside-the-eurozone.html

Tallies with what I have written, though some charges have risen since then. BOI CC has risen from 1.75% to 2.25%.

Preload the CC to avoid ATM withdrawal charges.

dzug1

NiftyDigits wrote: »

Preload the CC to avoid ATM withdrawal charges.

Many UK credit cards have a clause in the T&C saying thou shalt not preload - though enforcement may be erratic


Whether it's the same in the ROI - pass

NiftyDigits

dzug1 wrote: »

Many UK credit cards have a clause in the T&C saying thou shalt not preload - though enforcement may be erratic


Whether it's the same in the ROI - pass

I don't see the point of your post.

If I write thou shall preload, thou can preload.