During the winter holiday season we will be including this foreign exchange table, to give you an idea of the cost of your winter holiday currency. These rates should only vary slightly from week to week. Standard foreign exchange commissions of 1 per cent for cash and 1.5 per cent for traveller's cheques apply.
Until the day arrives when we all carry our own "electronic purse", denominated in ECUs, it will continue to be a good idea to have some cash with you as you arrive at your holiday destination. If you travel on a weekend, local banks won't be open until Monday, and the exchange rate offered at your hotel will probably be heavily weighted in their favour, not yours. But for security reasons it isn't wise to carry large sums of cash: don't forget that you are hardly going to bring it all with you to the piste or beach.
The alternative is plastic, but not necessarily a credit card. The major Irish banks have now joined Cirrus, the international ATM network and this means that you can use your personal ATM card and PIN number at 300,000 ATM machines worldwide, including EU countries. You receive back the equivalent value local currency at a cost of 2 per cent of the withdrawal or a minimum £2 in Europe and 2.5 per cent or £2.50 in the rest of the world.
A typical £100 equivalent cash withdrawal will therefore cost just £2, charged to your account back home.
Having access to Cirrus is especially helpful if you are travelling to France or Austria, where cash withdrawals from credit or Euro cards are more often refused.
The Euro-cheque and card are losing their limited popularity. Bank branches don't like them much, nor do many retailers. The commission is only 1.6 per cent of the cheque, or £1 plus bank handling charges, but you are limited to writing a cheque that is the local currency equivalent of £140. If you withdraw cash with the Euro card, the cost is 0.25 per cent of the amount plus a flat £1.25.
If you are travelling to North America, or renting a car anywhere, you should probably bring a credit card. Most banks charge between 1.75 and 2 per cent commission on foreign transactions.
