Amazon Visa no longer taking applications

[FigmentSpark]

Does anyone know of any other Canadian credit card with no FX markup? The Amazon.ca Visa is no longer taking applications, as of April 3. That 2.5% that the cards and banks add really adds up.

 

[ABCanada]

Does anyone know of any other Canadian credit card with no FX markup? The Amazon.ca Visa is no longer taking applications, as of April 3. That 2.5% that the cards and banks add really adds up.

Marriott card has no FX fee. Annual fee is $120 but you get a free night for that which I find saves you much more than the fee. (Cash cost for my free night would have been close to $300. Although I might have looked for less expensive accommodation it would have been well over the $120.)

Check the sticky above for more discussion on cards and FX strategies.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Thanks. A free night is nothing to 'sneeze at', for sure.

 

[bankr63]

Also look at the Rogers Platinum.

They do charge 2.5% forex but offer 4% cash back on Foreign transactions, leaving you with 1.5% cash back (1.75% on C$ purchases).

$29 annual fee, free first year, waived subsequent years if you setup your Rogers bill to PAP the card

The fly in the ointment for me is that they say that the reward can be used only to purchase other Rogers products. However, someone else here indicated that is not true and the cash back simply appears as a credit on the statement. Although I am a Rogers customer, I am seldom a HAPPY Rogers customer.

 

[efrant]

[snip]

The fly in the ointment for me is that they say that the reward can be used only to purchase other Rogers products. However, someone else here indicated that is not true and the cash back simply appears as a credit on the statement.

Yes, you can get the reward as a credit on your card, but only once a year (that may be an issue for some). Here is exactly what Rogers says:

Redeem your cash back rewards towards anything Rogers including: Rogers, Fido and chatr monthly bills, purchases in Rogers and Fido branded stores, purchases at The Shopping Channel, subscriptions to Texture, Toronto Blue Jays tickets, merchandise at Jays Shop online or in store, and at Rogers Centre concessions. [...] Or, contact Rogers Bank once per year by December to receive statement credit in January for value of rewards earned.

Source: https://www.rogersbank.com/en/card_details/rogers_platinum_mastercard

Although I am a Rogers customer, I am seldom a HAPPY Rogers customer.

I couldn't agree more with this!

 

[FigmentSpark]

This is interesting.

 

[oceanwave]

Is it for USD that your looking at the credit card for? If so you can get a USD credit card. There is a $35 annual fee, but you get the next years fee rebated if you spend $1,000 USD on the card in a year.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Yes, to spend USD, but I was hoping to avoid paying so much in fx. When the rates are this low, every little bit counts, right? We have a USD card, as well, so I may just stick with that, but I'll also look at the Roger's card. Honestly, our USD card doesn't have any loyalty, so convenience of the one currency and controlling our purchase price is all it's got going for it.

 

[allykat73]

I have the Rogers card and I like it. I have my Rogers bill charged monthly so there is no fee added. I can redeem my cash back monthly or save it up and use it whenever I want and it does appear as a credit on my bill which is great. I charge all the US charges to that card as well so I can get the 4% cash back....it all adds up.

 

[FigmentSpark]

We are fido, so that would work for me, too.

 

[efrant]

Your other option is the Marriott Visa as mentioned earlier. I recently got that one myself. The $120 annual fee is waived the first year, and the sign-up bonus is 50,000 Marriott points (which are convertible to ~16,700 Starwood points or Aeroplan miles). Even if you don't want to keep the card, it's worth getting it for the first year just for the sign-up bonus. 50k Marriott points will get you 6 free nights (at the lowest category Marriott hotels) or 5-8 free nights (at the lowest category Starwood hotels). And if you do decide to keep the card for more than a year, the $120 annual fee is pretty much offset by the annual free night voucher that you get (can use it for category 1-5 hotels). Whether or not it's better for you than the Rogers card would depend on what value you put on Marriott/Starwood/Aeroplan points. Spending $10k on the Rogers card will give you $150-$175 back in cash. Spending $10k on the Marriott card will give you anywhere from 10k-50k Marriott points (depending on what you are spending on).

 

[FigmentSpark]

My primary card is the Aeroplan card, so I don't want to take too much spending away from that. This would be for USD purchases that are adhoc through the year and possibly for travel, if the rate is better than what I got when I moved money to my USD account.

 

[FigmentSpark]

But free hotel sounds really nice... or at least the addition of the points.

 

[efrant]

But free hotel sounds really nice... or at least the addition of the points.

Yeah, I hear you. I don't use this as my main card (I use a TD Aeroplan Visa and/or Amex Gold). I only plan to use the Marriott card outside of Canada (to save the 2.5% forex fee), and for any purchases at Marriott/Starwood hotels (to earn 5x points). The annual free night covers the annual fee, and 6 free nights is a great sign-up bonus.

 

[ABCanada]

Another consideration, Marriott without the 2.5% versus Rogers with the Cash Back, is exchange on FX Cash Advances.

I have found taking a cash advance on my Marriott card is better than a cash withdrawal from my bank account in a foreign country. There is a $5 fee but the rate seems to be much better so the net cost is lower. I have not used this in the US but in Europe and Britain, where I seem to use more cash, it has come in handy. I just make sure I move enough funds over prior to the cash advance to avoid any interest charges.

Since there would be no Cash Back on this transaction this would not work with the Rogers card.

One of the bankers on the board could probably comment on whether what I have observed is correct.

 

[bankr63]

That is a really interesting point @ABCanada, and I believe you are correct. Rogers cash advances will cost you 3.5% Marriott would probably be 0% (not sure if they exclude cash transactions from the FX exemption, but sounds like they do). If you are actually using your Marriott card at the time, it can be difficult though as you would need to clear the card first and then overpay by what you are taking out. Most cards apply payments to the retail bucket before the cash bucket, so you need bring both down to zero to avoid interest.

As a TD customer, when I need cash in the US I go to a TD Bank machine and use my debit card to withdraw cash. There are no added fees for Canadian TD customers at US TD Bank; nearest branch to Disney is on S. Kirkman near Universal, although TD ATM machines seem to crop up and disappear regularly - wasted a good hour trying to chase one down on Irlo Bronson that was located at a non-existent address. So with TD I only pay the FX (2.5%). Since I tend to take out $100, this is roughly $2.50 fx fee on the transaction, which would be cheaper than your $5 fee. But if I take out $200 or more, the Marriott looks good.

 

[Greg36]

We use the Rogers card as well, as others have said. I like the 4% cash back as it addresses the 2.5% extra fee. I also like mastercard's currency converter to get a sense of the current cost of a transaction: https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/consumers/get-support/convert-currency.html

I find the exchange rate has been all over the place so far this year...

Roger's card is great if you use Roger's services. They just take whatever rewards we bank each month and apply it directly to my bill. Really, this is as good as cash back as you are saving what you would have had to pay for the bill anyways.