USD Bank Accounts and Credit Cards

[debbiet1]

are the walmarts within a taxi distance without paying a fortune for a taxi?

[red01]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts.
I called the Beach Club Resort where I'll be staying as they have one of the Bank One ATM's in their lobby. They assured me that I could indeed use my TD Canada Trust debit card at this to withdraw funds if I wanted to. My TD card had the PLUS symbol on the back of it which guarantees that the machine will recognize it and allow me to withdraw funds. However the only 'downside' is that there may be a limit set at these machines of how much cash can be disperesed by these PLUS debit cards per day. She said usually it's about $200-$250 per day. This limit has nothing to do with my bank just with BANK ONE policies.
She also explained, as you all have, that debit purchases may not be allowed at most restaurants, stores, etc within the world as they are not set up for this.
It's all good as I have the dining plan, package paid for and can charge to my room if I want, Plus I'm taking about $800 US with me.
TD recommended that I take a US VISA with me for 'just in case' emergencies such as loosing my bank card or having the machines eat it up. They say these things can happen when you least expect or want them to.
So I've applied for the US TD VISA and am hoping it arrives before the 24th of Nov/07.

Despite all of this I guess I'm just panicking that something will happen (usually requiring money)and I won't be able to access my funds. I'm not overally fussy with taking the $800 with me and was looking to bank it and access it while down there. Perhaps taking about $300 for incidentals while in the Parks and for tips.

Again THANK YOU for your help!
Laura.

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

Originally Posted by debbiet1

are the walmarts within a taxi distance without paying a fortune for a taxi?

Unfortunately we can't answer that question for ya as we've always driven. Hopefully someone who has taken a taxi can.

[CanadianGuy]

You're looking at a pretty expensive cab ride in my estimation.. to get from anywhere on-property to one of the Walmarts. I'd suspect between 18$ and 25$ one way.

Knox

[debbiet1]

oh well thats not too bad. I looked into renting a car for the 2 weeks but we dont really need one for that entire time. I just want to go to a local mall or walmart to pick up a few things.

[CanadianGuy]

You can rent a compact car for a WEEK from Alamo for 86$* (taxes and everything in).. so that's why I view 50$ for a cab ride as pricey

(This is rated for December 6 to 12 .. the rate for your travel times may be different)

Knox

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

Originally Posted by CanadianGuy

You can rent a compact car for a WEEK from Alamo for 86$* (taxes and everything in).. so that's why I view 50$ for a cab ride as pricey

Exactly...we do quite a bit of comparison shopping when it comes to our rental cars and we usually end up renting from Alamo as they have excellent discounts and we've never had any problems with their service. When we were down there last month we only paid $75/wk (also with taxes) for an intermediate.

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

Originally Posted by red01

TD recommended that I take a US VISA with me for 'just in case' emergencies such as loosing my bank card or having the machines eat it up. They say these things can happen when you least expect or want them to.
So I've applied for the US TD VISA and am hoping it arrives before the 24th of Nov/07.

Hi Laura,

Just wanted to say that you really don't need a US Visa. You can use all your major Canadian credit cards at WDW. The company simply does the conversion. Some credit cards charge a fee when foreign currencies are used but none of mine do. So, if you're just worried about emergencies, just take your regular cc's. No need to bother with a US one.

[tinkerone]

bmo employee here. no, we do not get any bonus for selling you a mastercard. we are encouraged to get you to have one . it makes for loyal clients and of course, the hope is that you will run a big balance and pay them interest and not another company. putting all that aside, it is one great deal so i suggest to anyone that i know could possible have a need that they get one. since there is no fee involved, even if you only us it say once every other year, why wouldn't you have one. and with the dollar the way it is right now, i can see loads more people getting us charge cards. i just do not see why anyone would pay for the privilage of having one . after all, your doing the company a favor, not the other way around.

[KiKi Mouse]

Does anybody know how long it takes to get this card?
I just saw this thread and we leave for WDW in 1.5 weeks.

[KiKi Mouse]

Mine charges 2.5%. Most do.

[CanadianGuy]

Capital One is the only major provider who does NOT charge this 2.5% fee... at least to my knowledge.

Knox

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

Actually there are some mastercards AND visas that don't as well. American Express, however, does charge a fee. Living right on the border, I'm getting pretty used to checking this stuff out.

There was something on a news program recently that got people all upset about cc's charging them conversion fees that they weren't aware of. After that, DH and I started looking at our statements very closely and doing some inquiring. As with most news stories, they generated a bit of hysteria unnecessarily. It's easy to find out. Just contact your cc company.

[tinkerone]

Originally Posted by KiKi Mouse

Does anybody know how long it takes to get this card?
I just saw this thread and we leave for WDW in 1.5 weeks.

if your a bmo client go in NOW and tell them you need this asap. they can fast track your card, but they will only do this is your know to them.

[KiKi Mouse]

I applied online and told the guy I needed it rushed. He told me he couldn't promise but he would try.
If it comes in time it comes in time.
I wish I would have paid attention to this issue a month ago!