Best way to reduce exchange rate fees?

[Ted in Halifax]

This one is my Favorite ... If you know someone who works at a store that takes in the occasional US money ... you buy it from their Till. When Cruise ships come to Halifax, often people use their US money in Taverns, stores etc. They usually get Par. If I get a buddy who has American money in his till, I simply buy it at Par and move it to my US dollar account.

This works well in the summer ... but very poor in the winter

 

[disneyfreak89]

I use BMO. No fee US account, and no fee US Mastercard.

We received a letter from BMO a few months ago stating they will charge an annual fee on our US MC if we charge under $1000 US annually. Fortunately, we use our US CC every time we go to the states, so we won't have to worry about that.

We like having our US account. Its easy to transfer money into it with our online banking whenever the exchange rate is good. We also like using our US MC because we don't have to worry about what exchange rate we'll be charged....and its easy to pay it off using our US account. Its all good.

 

[2busy4life]

Old-fashioned, but we still use traveller's cheques.

If you are a CAA member, you can get no-fee traveller's cheques from the CAA. This service is no longer available in Ontario, but if you are near the Quebec border, you can get the traveller's cheques from a Quebec CAA.

Called my local CAA office today (in Ontario) and I can buy them no charge as long as you a CAA member. There rate is better then the bank rate as of today.
Also, CIBC Platinum Visa allows you to purchase Traveler's cheque without any fees but the conversion.

 

[bankr63]

I disagree with a PP about "lack of" savings you on the exchange with a US acct versus just using your Canadian credit card. It can cost 2.5% to 3.5% extra to use a Canadian credit card on the exchange of US Dollars.

Which is pretty close to what they ding you on cash transactions.

A quick example. Friday 24th September, the BOC noon rate was 1.0263. TD Canada Trust's closing US cash buy rate set at 6:00 pm that day (which most banks base on the noon rate) was 1.051. So the bank happily charges all its customers 2.52% to buy US dollars. Not far off the lower end 2.5% your CC charged. If you have a US Borderless Account with TD, the rate is reduced to 1.0415 or 1.52%.

But to get the Borderless plan, you pay a hair less than $60 a year, so you would have to exchange about $6000/year to cover your annual fee on the reduced exchange rates. If you travel to the US alot, that makes sense (Snowbirds etc), but for the annual trip to WDW, I don't spend that much in direct US costs.

I only picked on TD as an example. Every bank makes its money one way or another; some of us hide it better than others - TD makes it pretty evident because their disclosures are actually pretty good.

PS - added as an afterthought:
I checked CIBC (who will not disclose cash exchange rates online), but they do state that the exchange on Visa is the current rate plus 2.5%.

 

[bankr63]

Now THAT is clever!!!

This one is my Favorite ... If you know someone who works at a store that takes in the occasional US money ... you buy it from their Till. When Cruise ships come to Halifax, often people use their US money in Taverns, stores etc. They usually get Par. If I get a buddy who has American money in his till, I simply buy it at Par and move it to my US dollar account.

This works well in the summer ... but very poor in the winter

 

[RC Fan]

We received a letter from BMO a few months ago stating they will charge an annual fee on our US MC if we charge under $1000 US annually. Fortunately, we use our US CC every time we go to the states, so we won't have to worry about that.

Yeah, I saw that in the fine print as well. I think I will be OK with the $1000 as long as our dollar stays high.

 

[canadakath]

We live in a border town and shop across the bridge often. We got a no-fee Target visa, which also gets us a percentage discount at Target and they have no issues with a Canadian billing address. I tend to watch the rates like a hawk, and go to the currency exchange at the bridge to change my money - much better than the bank rate though still slightly higher than the BOC rate of the day. I always exchange amounts of $1000 or more so that I get the best rate. I then continue across the bridge and pay off whatever portion of my Disney vacation is currently on my Target visa right at Target.

We take some cash to Disney, but charge everything else to the Target visa.

The drawback of the Target Visa is that you can not yet access it online from Canada, but if you are there a few times a month like we are it is no big deal.

 

[disneydreamgirl]

We live in a border town and shop across the bridge often. We got a no-fee Target visa, which also gets us a percentage discount at Target and they have no issues with a Canadian billing address. I tend to watch the rates like a hawk, and go to the currency exchange at the bridge to change my money - much better than the bank rate though still slightly higher than the BOC rate of the day. I always exchange amounts of $1000 or more so that I get the best rate. I then continue across the bridge and pay off whatever portion of my Disney vacation is currently on my Target visa right at Target.

We take some cash to Disney, but charge everything else to the Target visa.

The drawback of the Target Visa is that you can not yet access it online from Canada, but if you are there a few times a month like we are it is no big deal.

Neat...I have the odd store charge but didn't know we could get a Target VISA.

I finalized my strategy on Saturday with a CIBC US$ VISA...hope it comes soon as my "pay-it-up" day for our upcoming WDW trip is October 18.

 

[luciyahelan]

I appreciate the concern which is been rose. The things need to be sorted out because it is about the individual but it can be with everyone. I like this particular article It gives me an additional input on the information around the world Thanks a lot and keep going with posting such information.
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[luciyahelan]

Well, it shocking and needed and immediate attention to short out at the earlier.
A very smart and diplomatic answer. It’s really appreciable and general. Well, it’s amazing. The miracle has been done. Well done. I find the few $ I would save that a credit card just works better.
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[coastgirl]

Last year I was shopping in the states a couple of times. I did a lot of shopping on my CC. I did somereturns at Target and noticed that gave me a lower exchange rate back on the return, even though it was the same day.

This also happened when we cancelled our hotel before our trip. That one really hurt.

I'm not sure if this is normal or it just happened those few times.
mw

Have had this happen a few times, as we often order from, say, LLBean, and then may want refunds. Had it happen on a hotel deposit. If the credit card adds, say, 2.5% as a fee on the exchange, you pay it both ways. So, if the dollar is at par, it costs me 102.5 cents per dollar. But if I get a refund, even if it's at par, I pay the same 2.5 cents coming back, and my dollar refund gets me 97.5 cents CDN. So, going back and forth, my money "shrinks" by 5%, independent of whether the exchange rate is good or bad. It's not a huge amount of money, but in one case I did one of those "cancel and rebook at a better rate" transactions with Disney. I specifically asked them to apply my deposit to the new reservation, rather than refunding it to me and charging me for a new deposit. The CM was puzzled, but did it. Saved me enough for a couple of Mickey bars.

 

[disneydreamgirl]

Have had this happen a few times, as we often order from, say, LLBean, and then may want refunds. Had it happen on a hotel deposit. If the credit card adds, say, 2.5% as a fee on the exchange, you pay it both ways. So, if the dollar is at par, it costs me 102.5 cents per dollar. But if I get a refund, even if it's at par, I pay the same 2.5 cents coming back, and my dollar refund gets me 97.5 cents CDN. So, going back and forth, my money "shrinks" by 5%, independent of whether the exchange rate is good or bad. It's not a huge amount of money, but in one case I did one of those "cancel and rebook at a better rate" transactions with Disney. I specifically asked them to apply my deposit to the new reservation, rather than refunding it to me and charging me for a new deposit. The CM was puzzled, but did it. Saved me enough for a couple of Mickey bars.

Good point and smart strategy! Thanks for this...underscores the need to be careful in order to ensure savings.

 

[Ted in Halifax]

Have had this happen a few times, as we often order from, say, LLBean, and then may want refunds. Had it happen on a hotel deposit. If the credit card adds, say, 2.5% as a fee on the exchange, you pay it both ways. So, if the dollar is at par, it costs me 102.5 cents per dollar. But if I get a refund, even if it's at par, I pay the same 2.5 cents coming back, and my dollar refund gets me 97.5 cents CDN. So, going back and forth, my money "shrinks" by 5%, independent of whether the exchange rate is good or bad. It's not a huge amount of money, but in one case I did one of those "cancel and rebook at a better rate" transactions with Disney. I specifically asked them to apply my deposit to the new reservation, rather than refunding it to me and charging me for a new deposit. The CM was puzzled, but did it. Saved me enough for a couple of Mickey bars.

I got hosed big time by Disney (or I guess Visa) in the above method last week. They canceled my existing reservations and charged me for my new reservation plus dining. NOT IMPRESSED!