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I've got a trip to Ireland coming up, so naturally I've had to start thinking about how to go about getting Euros--bad timing, I know--but having never travelled abroad by myself before, and never having travelled abroad at all on my own funds, I'm not exactly sure how to go about getting the money I'll need.

The first--and most obvious--choice is obviously just getting sterling straight exchanged for euros at a Bureau de Change, but I've since seen a second option: cash passports; pre-paid cards that are loaded at a fixed exchange rate of the day you topped them up, and several types of them don't incur any costs for even withdrawing cash from an ATM abroad. You just transfer money straight from your account to the card, and you're golden.

Has anyone here used cash passports before? This is the first I've heard of them, though a bit of digging tells me they've been around for a good few years. I'd rather carry a free card and a little cash as opposed to either all the funds for my trip or incurring charges for using my regular debit card abroad, but I can't help feeling there's a snag based off the fact that I've heard literally nobody mention them until now. Surely there's a reason that everyone still exchanges directly at a Bureau instead, right?

Or are lots of people simply missing a trick?

Given the rate of drop and seeming situation i would favor the cash option.

cash passport seems fine but if rate drops your losing money.
spunds like a old travelers cheuque.

You can get debit/credit cards that will let you lift cash from an ATM, or use in a foreign shop, with no charges and an exchange rate close to the current visa/mastercard rate, if you shop around.

I'm sure you could get a pre-paid card in EUR as well, paying the exchange rate at the time you transfer.

I've no idea if the GBP is going to go up or down further though.

Herzlos wrote:
I'm sure you could get a pre-paid card in EUR as well, paying the exchange rate at the time you transfer.

As far as I can tell that's exactly what a cash passport is. You select which currency it uses--Euros in my case--and transfer cash to it from my bank account at the rate of exchange at the time. I'm thinking it may be safer to do that early on at a more stable rate than try and hold out for cash at a higher one closer to the time. I may lose a few quid, but it'd be less than I'd lose if it took another--fairly likely--tumble in the future.

I've always relied on using my credit cards whenever possible. They convert at the spot at the time of purchase. Just make sure you use a card that doesn't charge FX fees. Some still do, so double check. Plus there's the bonus of getting points, or whatever your card perk is!
For cash needs, just go with the real deal, cash is cash and doesn't have restrictions on where it can be used. I've always done bank ATM's in the country I'm visiting. Once again, spot conversion without paying commissions, outrageous FX spreads, etc. And, the usual caveat, make sure your ATM card provider doesn't have an outrageous fee attached to using it outside network/country. If at all possible, only do one withdrawal, that keeps any possible fee to a one-time bite only. Repeated ATM fees can add up quickly.

I only plan to go to Ireland--though I'll be visiting it reasonably often; maybe every few weeks/months--and most of the cash passports I've seen don't charge any fees for use there. The main downside I have with cash is that when it's lost, it's lost. With a cash passport there are several that give you a free second card in case you lose the first, and all your money is still there if you do. I'll carry a small amount of cash on me like I do here, but I don't want to be walking around with more of it than I need.

As for credit cards, I don't have one, and don't plan to get one until I absolutely need to.

EDIT: Basically I want to know if anyone has used one and how it went, because it seems fine from here but if something looks too good to be true...