What is the best way to buy things during a few days in Dublin ?

WLM21

My wife and I shall be travelling to Dublin for a few days in a couple of months, so we must really start to get organised.

What is the best way to buy things during our stay ?

My wife has a Barclaycard credit card (for emergencies normal) and we both have halifax debit cards.

A friend suggested Starling Bank, which I had never heard of until recently. I understand it's an online A/C but having never needed it before I don't know the inns and outs of how it works. is this a good option.

Our hotel / travel and even transportation while we are there will all have been taken care of before we travel

thank you for any advice provided

eskbanker

The options are summarised at https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money/

Katiehound

I always use my Halifax Clarity CC in Eire- you already bank with H so it should be easy to organise. There are no currency transaction fees & the card is free.  Set up a DD & pay balance off each month.
I do not use it for cash from an ATM (there are charges)  Pay for almost everything with CC, have a bit of change. it might not be the cheapest but I get mine from Tesco beforehand.

daveyjp

Just been to Dublin.  We used Barclaycard rewards credit and Starling debit cards, both forex fee free and no issues with either.

 We had no need to use cash for any purchases.  In bars the staff now expect payment by card and have the machine ready.

Brie

I have a Santander card that is similar to Katiehound's.  I do use mine to get cash at an ATM normally on the first day of a holiday.  But I decide in advance how much I want (say £200 worth or something for tips and small purchases) and I set up a payment to the card to be made on the first day of the holiday so the withdrawal is paid off immediately.  I might end up paying 1 day's interest but that is minimal and less of a fuss than looking for a place to buy currency either here or there.  

Nosey question....are you going for Bloomsday?  

WLM21

OP here .. thank you for all the replies

I'll get a Starling card and my wife can get a Halifax Clarity card  .. for emergency use only.

She could even get the Barclays Reward card instead, as she already has a normal Barclaycard

Brie .. Sorry, we are not going to Bloomsday

lr1277

Be careful with Barclaycard. There was a rule applicable till last year, that a customer could only have one Barclaycard at a time. There was talk that rule would be changed but I have heard nothing so far. I don't have a Barclaycard myself so have no skin in the game, but this is based on stuff I read on the internet.

Assuming that rule is in place, your wife could either ask Barclaycard to change her card, or she could cancel her current card and then apply for the Rewards card.

J_B

WLM21 said:

OP here .. thank you for all the replies

She could even get the Barclays Reward card instead, ...................

With this, you can draw out cash from an ATM, fee free

WLM21

daveyjp said:

Just been to Dublin.  We used Barclaycard rewards credit and Starling debit cards, both forex fee free and no issues with either.

 

Went to Starling but there is a message on the website which reads ..

"We’re not accepting applications for euro accounts at the moment, they’ll be available to apply for again soon"

I'm not sure if this is just a temporary thing, but I'll look again in a few days

Eldi_Dos

daveyjp said:

 We had no need to use cash for any purchases.  In bars the staff now expect payment by card and have the machine ready.

Is that a defibrillator machine for when you realise how expensive the bar bill is.

J_B

WLM21 said:

Went to Starling but there is a message on the website which reads ..
"We’re not accepting applications for euro accounts at the moment, they’ll be available to apply for again soon"
I'm not sure if this is just a temporary thing, but I'll look again in a few days

You don't need a Euro account - just an ordinary debit card will give you a decent exchange rate