First we needed to determine just how long were we going to be able to get away for. One week? Good grief...if you are going to travel all the way to Ireland and it costs quite a bit to travel there, might as well go for at least two weeks. Oh heck, we're gonna make it three. Really...can we get away for three weeks? Ok ...throw caution to the wind...Absolutely!!!
Our friends, Jerry and Olga, were leaving in April and would be arriving in France before taking a ferry to Ireland. As much as we would liked to have left with them in April, that just wasn't in the cards for us. Wayne and I had never in our thirty-four years together had ever taken more than one week of vacation, let alone three. I felt lucky and blessed for sure to be taking a three week vacation. A three week vacation to Ireland...Oh Happy Days!!
We wanted to be able to spend as much time in Ireland as possible, so we decided to fly. Jerry had arranged a "house trade" with someone who lived in Clonakilty, Ireland. This would be our "Home Base" for a bit. Now back in April of 1979, I travelled to England and Germany for work. The weather in April was really quite chilly...actually down right cold so we decided to meet the Hills in May.
In January, I began researching for airflights to Ireland in early May and came up with several options. The cheaper flights were transfers, once...maybe twice and this would take us 10 to 15 hours to arrive in Dublin. Wayne quickly decided to fly non-stop to Dublin, even if the flight was two hundred dollars more, we'd have a shorter flight, less chance of baggage loss and fewer worries. Now here's some great advice...plan your trip and book flights early. Each day the price of the flight increases. I waited a few days to get my funds together and the flight went up slightly. Finally...we were booked on United Flight 126 from Dulles Airport, non-stop to Dublin, Ireland, and our return flight booked as well. Our flight was paid for. Woo Hoo - this is becoming a reality now.
Travelling abroad was presenting us with some choices regarding money. The old fashioned way was to obtain traveller's checks. Today there are several options: Credit Cards with the European chip, Travel Cards which you load a chosen amount of money on with a limited amount of reloads and charges by the bank.
The one we chose was a debit card from our bank. The pros of this choice were: usage of our debit card at an ATM would be the same as in the US to obtain cash. Dependent on the country you are in, you would receive cash in the currency of that country. We could also use the card as a point of sale card. At the time of the sale, you decide if you want the sale to be , for example, Euros or US Dollars.
Another pro was if there were any issues regarding the card, we had a number 24/7 to contact our bank regarding our account. We also gave the bank our itinerary so they'd have an idea if there were any fraudulent charges against our account.
The cons were pretty much the same as in the US, fees would be charged at each ATM for cash. In addition though, there would also be a conversion rate charged for money i.e., Euros, Pounds, etc.
We figured you have to pay the conversion rate somewhere, so we might as well just go through the bank.
The best advice we can give is "go to your bank and discuss your travel plans with them. They are prepared to advise you which choice will meet your needs best."
