Money-Cash

You could get euros here before you go (or at the airport before you depart). You can also exchange money at the Dublin airport. But the easiest, cheapest way is just to withdraw money from an ATM when you get there. If it makes you more comfortable to have some euros with you, just exchange a few dollars before you get on the plane. Make sure you notify your bank that you will be traveling so that they don't freeze your card.

Yeah - whatever you do do not exchange dollars for Euros in Europe. Don't even bring dollars other than whatever you need to buy snacks/magazines in the US airport. Get some before you go at your bank and bring your ATM card.

The ratio of Euros to dollars is very low now. That means if you bought Euros before you go you will have the cheapest Euros you will be able to find. AAA has a foreign currency service and they will buy Euros for you. If you buy a thousand dollars worth of Euros there is no handling fee, only the standard cost of business markup.

And AAA's "business markup" makes it one of the most expensive ways of getting euros. Just exchange a little at the airport if you must.

---- only the standard cost of business markup. ---- Yep !! ab 8 to10 market up. I guess that is standard for AAA. Of course, they will wave the fee on a $1000, even AAA is not that greedy.

Monte - this board tries hard to discourage people from speculating in foreign currency markets and futures. If someone buys Euros now and the value drops even further, they will have made a poor investment choice. There is no way for the average person to have any clue whether the dollar value will go up or down so it's highly unwise to try and speculate. I believe AAA requires a membership to exchange currency. Also, they simply use Wells Fargo bank to do the exchange, so you'd be just as well or better (avoiding any AAA fees) to go to your bank directly.

Yes, there are ATM's at the Dublin airport. And, as Nancy said, ATM's are the easiest and cheapest way to obtain cash. I doubt that there is an airport in Europe that doesn't have ATM's.

Thanks for straightening me out on that. I really welcome new knowledge and other points of view, but I feel you all need more life experiences before offering me advice.

Thank you for all of the great advice! I had planned on bringing cash and just exchanging it, but it looks like a better option would be to just use the ATM. I appreciate everyone's input!