I just checked the Dublin Airport to see if they have bank ATMs. The airport website says that they only have commercial ATMs. These likely charge huge fees. We will be flying into the airport and then getting a bus from the airport that will take us to Belfast. We will spend a few days in Northern Ireland and spend the rest of our vacation in Ireland. I got Euros and Pounds from my bank in the US.
Posted by
Chicago
1278 posts
Not to be trite, but what kind of ATM's are there other than commercial ATM's (I am assuming
this includes bank ATM's)?
I would agree that non-bank ATM's may charge larger fees than a bank, but a) if you have
an online bank ATM card like Schwab, they refund all ATM fees b) you're paying a premium
to get foreign currency from your US bank most likely as well c) even if the fee is a bit high,
in the bigger picture, how much is that fee vs the overall cost of your trip? You probably
won't need that much cash anyways, so we're talking about the fee for a single trip to the ATM.
Nothing wrong with what you've done, but I wouldn't overly stress about it.
Youtube videos are also good ways to check about airport equippage for things like ATM's,
restaurants, etc.
Posted by
Penzance
179 posts
You may be amazed at how little cash you will need.
Posted by
564 posts
A quick check of the DUB website shows AIB ( Allied Irish Banks) ATMs. From Wikipedia:
"Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. is one of the so-called Big Four commercial banks in the Republic of Ireland. AIB offers a full range of personal, business and corporate banking services."
Looks like legit ATMs with normal fees. I'll be there in 25 days!
Brad
Posted by
153 posts
I just got back from Ireland on Monday and found you really don't need cash. Based on the suggestions on these forums, I loaded a credit card on to my Google Wallet and used it 99% of the time. Since I am old school, I did go to a Bank of Ireland ATM and get some euros. I used those euros for tipping mainly. My only big withdrawal was for a tour where I got a cash discount. I had one taxi that preferred cash so I used euros then. It surprised me how little I used cash. In London I never visited an atm. I would check my bank credit card every night to make sure the transactions were correct.
Have a great time!! We loved Ireland.
Posted by
Colorado
18 posts
I needed cash two times in Ireland. Once to tour a church in Dingle and one time for a cab ride. Other than that, not really.
Posted by
Eastern Iowa, USA
9302 posts
Not sure the definition of huge fees. You can certainly expect any ATMs these days to charge 3 or 4 euro use fee, to me, that is fair. The only other fees you will se is if you unwisely choose DCC, then of course any fees your bank charges, but you can hardly blame an ATM for those.
I understand getting a bit of cash, you might as well try the airport ATMs, they disclose the use fee up front, if it is tolerable, fine, if not, you can easily wait and try other ATMs.
Posted by
Bend, OR
1948 posts
Are you asking a question? We rarely use cash anymore when we travel to Europe and ATM’s at the airport have never been a good place to get cash because of their exchange rates.
Posted by
Eastern Iowa, USA
9302 posts
ATM’s at the airport have never been a good place to get cash because of their exchange rates.
I would disagree. Different ATMs do not charge different exchange rates in the EU and UK. The card processor your bank uses (usually related to Mastercard or Visa) handles the exchange, and it runs about 1%.
If you are seeing exchange rates different from that, you are not doing an ATM transaction, you are doing DCC or an exchange transaction.