I am not new to European travel, having lived in Europe as well as traveled there many, many times. Before my current trip to Ireland, I notified my bank that I would be traveling throughout all of Ireland. Of course, in my head, I knew that this included northern Ireland, but I did not specifically mention this to my bank. This resulted in my credit card and ATM being rejected in Northern Ireland when I attempted to withdraw British pounds. I was lucky in that my banker lives across the street from me, and a quick text remedied the situation, but I would like to remind future travelers to specifically mention to their banks that they will be withdrawing euros in Ireland and pounds sterling in northern Ireland.
Posted by
Colorado Springs
2980 posts
Good tip...thanks.
Posted by
3123 posts
The fact that it's two different countries is also relevant for cell phones if you want to get a local SIM card. I spent a lot of time trying unsuccessfully to find a SIM card that would cover both UK and Ireland. (My USA cell phone provider doesn't allow international SIM cards, only local ones for foreign countries.) I ended up just keeping my USA cell phone plan and having their help desk reprogram it for overseas use.
Posted by
Michigan, United States
703 posts
Thanks for the reminder.