Where can we get the best exchange rate for US trip?

QWe are looking forward to a September break in Florida. Where can we get the bestvalue currency exchange? We need to bring a lot of cash for a family of four. I have Visa credit and debit cards with AIB.

AA debit card isn’t the cheapest way to get currency abroad (see table) but it’s not far off it, especially for purchases, if not cash withdrawals. And it is definitely the handiest. It’s also more secure not to carry around great wads of cash. So try to make this the mainstay of your holiday spending, using it to pay in shops and restaurants wherever possible.

Bring your credit card too to use as an emergency back-up, topping up your account before you go to avoid cash withdrawal fees.

Our table includes AIB’s 1.5% cash advance charge for credit card cash withdrawals. You can avoid this if you have a positive balance in your account.

And without this onerous charge, it costs much the same to withdraw money from an ATM with your credit card as it does with a debit card.

You will also need to get dollars in cash to stick in your wallet for when you arrive in the airport.

Good commission-free deals can be had from No1currency.ie, with 13 outlets nationwide (or will deliver), and Currencyexchange.ie, which has two shops in Dublin.

These two bureaux de change are particularly competitive because they do a lot of online business, but others may charge a lot more.

An Post doesn’t offer a bad deal, coming in a little cheaper than AIB.

It doesn’t charge any commission – but then it partly makes up for this with higher exchange rates and only ranks mid-table in our little survey.

The cheapest foreign exchange deals are from currency exchange websites such as TransferMate.com.

These specialise in sending large sums of money abroad from one bank account to another, so may not be suitable for holiday cash unless you have a close relative in Florida.

Q What are the best-value holiday destinations after Brexit?

A Sunny Britain is the best option for a cheap deal. Sterling continued to fall this week as new doubts arose about the UK’s economic prospects, post-Brexit. Late last week you could get around 85.5p to the euro – 21% more than at this time last year.

So if you ever wanted to visit the Giant’s Causeway and the Titanic exhibition in Belfast, now’s the time to do it. Maybe take the ferry over to Scotland, while you’re at it, to see the fabulous scenery along its west coast. On the way back, buy some clothes and do a week’s grocery shopping to help pay for the trip!

Alas, when it comes to significant post-Brexit currency benefits, the UK is the only destination where you’ll get them. The euro was also damaged by the fallout from Brexit and it only rose substantially compared to sterling.

Against the dollar, the euro is worth a bit more than this time last year, but around the same as the year before. Other EU countries such as Denmark and Poland are too closely linked to the euro to move that much against it.