Buy USD or use CC-

[DnA2010]

Hi Folks,

I know it is going to cost me either way, we have a DL trip coming up and will need to spend on food, car rental etc, just wondering if you folks tend to just use a credit card, or buy cash ahead? We use Visa Aerogold Infinite if that helps.

Thanks so much!

 

[Donald - my hero]

We tend to make our best guesstimate as to how much we'll be spending and take the cash to cover that. You get hit with the exchange all at once at the rate de jour (if you go to a currency exchange usually best bang for your buck BTW) since if you use your CC you will dinged with each purchase (and depending on your card also a hefty fee) at whatever the rate at the time of purchase is sitting at. When you come home you can either dump the cash into a US savings account, hide it in your undie drawer or exchange it for CDN cash and delight in watching the reverse exchange ! It's too late for this trip but if you plan on going to the states even more than once you should open a US account and toss money in when the exchange is good, doesn't hurt as much when you need to take some out.

 

[MikeJ]

We do the same as Jacqueline - when the exchange rate is good we move a little bit over into our US$ Savings account and then take the cash with us when we go. Another consideration is your credit card. Most cards tack on an additional 2.5% over the posted rates. Some cards do not. If your card does (and I couldn't tell by looking at your CC's web site) then every time you use it it's costing you an additional 2.5% (or an extra $2.50 on every $100 you charge).

- Mike

 

[TimR]

We use CC for most things, but will grab a few hundred in cash before we go for tips and just in case someone doesn't accept a foreign card.

Be aware that if your card charges the normal 2.5% foreign fee that if you have to cancel you'll probably get hit with it both ways - you'll lose 2.5% when you pay and another 2.5% when they refund. There are a few CCs that don't have the fee (we use an amazon.ca card to avoid it), or you could use a USD credit card to avoid this problem.

 

[mab2012]

Both. My preference is to charge everything to a no-forex-fee credit card (Chase Canada has a couple of options). I also move money into a USD account occasionally - supposedly when the CAD is relatively high, though I'm not very good at timing it. Then if the CAD is particularly crappy when we travel, I fall back on the US account. Otherwise we use the credit card, save the forex fee, and get our 1% cash back.

 

[bankr63]

Same as mab, we use the Amazon card. Save the 2.5 percent fee over bank counter or other CC exchange fees, PLUS it gives another 1% back on all transactions. That's 3.5% cheaper than using cash. I generally have about US$100 on hand for incidentals, and top that up at a TD bank machine (no fees for Canadian TD customers) if it starts getting low.

 

[DnA2010]

Thanks folks, that helps us for going forward.