Credit Cards in Ireland

I don't think that the Europeans have discovered Discover.

Having a back up Visa or Master Card would be a good idea. I got complacent about not bringing a second card on a domestic trip to a neighboring state ( even advising the Card company of travel). My card was compromised the first day of travel and the bank started to deny charges. (Fortunately my wife's Discover was accepted in California). So yes, bring a credit card from a second bank or credit union.

Having a second Visa or MasterCard is a good idea for a backup, in case something happened to your "main" Visa. As for Discover, I've never taken mine to Europe, so never looked very hard to see what merchants might accept it, but I remember seeing a Diner's Club decal on a restaurant door in Lisbon once. I know that Diner's Club is part of the Novus network now, and my Discover (which I hardly use in the USA anymore) also has a small Diner's Club logo on the back, so it might be usable in some places in Ireland, but it's a long shot. Same thing with American Express - maybe -- but EVERYBODY who accepts credit cards accepts Visa.

Be sure you've notified the credit and debit card companies to advise them that you'll be using their cards in Ireland, so they don't block your transactions thinking that some identity thief was trying to use them overseas. Getting cash from an ATM with your Debit card is the best way to get Euros. Have a great trip!

The most widely accepted cards are Visa and Mastercard. Other cards like Am Exp, Diners, etc. may be accepted here and there but it is not dependable.

I keep hoping that I'll be able to use Discover. In the meantime, here's a link to the map https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/help-center/account/international-use.html?icmpgn=publichelpcenter Ireland is not on the list.

One credit card isn't enough. I've had very few trips where one doesn't go kafooey for some reason or another and it's usually late in the day before I bother to unscrew it --but I've done it in less than ten minutes because I've had the time right then. I travel with three - - last trip two were dead when I got off the plane and I'd done the right stuff.

Traveling with MC, Visa, and AmExp, the latter gets the most use / highest bills and I travel way on the cheap side of the line. Discover - - beats me, but you don't see the logo very often.

There's not much sense in lugging euro unless you already have some. Both airports have ATMs.

My credit card is the typical "swipe" card back in the US. Here in the UK they use the pin and chip card type. How do I over come the difficulty through out Europe and does the rest of Europe use the Chip and Pin? Any experience with this? any recommendations? I'm already here in the UK and will go traveling about in a few weeks.

Much of Europe uses chip+pin. Some countries use chip+sig more than others. You are only likely to experience problems using a magstripe only card (a) with people who aren't familiar with them (temporary as they look things up, consult etc), or (b) unattended kiosk (which probably can't be resolved).

@James-in Scotland 2 months ago, every merchant with a credit card machine could either insert a chip card, or swipe a swipe card. If a signature was involved, it spit out a slip of paper that could be signed at the bottom, then spit out a receipt for the customer. A couple of times someone had to remind themselves (or we reminded them) that our card required us to sign. As Marco noted, in the unlikely event you encounter an employee in the UK or elsewhere in the world who's not familiar with the exact procedures for ringing up a swipe+signature transaction, they can consult a colleague or look it up.