Making deposits and Canadian exchange on credit cards? Would it help to use a Cdn TA?

[coastgirl]

Hey folks.

I am really thinking about the free dining special for Aug/Sept but can't commit. (Really. Dh got laid off in Feb but we're hopeful of an offer soon. Booking right now seems terribly irresponsible!)

I know I can book and just pay the deposit for now, but if I have to cancel, I don't want to lose on the exchange. I have booked and gotten refunded in the past, and ended up losing a big chunk of change on the exchange/service fee on my CC for US currency exchange. (At least 5 cents on the dollar by the time you go both ways.) Wondering if I booked through a Canadian TA, if I could pay her in Cdn and be refunded in Cdn. Anyone have any experience?

(We used Christine at Fairytale Dreams before and I'm sure she'd know the answer, but I hate asking a lot of questions before I'm likely to book anything.)

 

[OntFamily]

I'm not sure about if the TA will charge you in Canadian or US Dollars, but I wouldn't sweat the currency exchange fee on the deposit to Disney.

On a $200 USD deposit, your cc company's exchange fee will be approx $5. If you cancel, the exchange fee will also be approx $5. So the fee is pretty small on the deposit.

 

[coastgirl]

Yeah, I just did the math...it's 2.5% either way, so 5% if I go in both directions, plus an extra 1% or so for the difference between buying and selling...not huge. Seems to me I lost a chunk of money on a previous trip, but I think I had a lot of it pre-paid by then and was cancelling the reservation so I could extend it for a different deal...on the deposit it wouldn't be huge. Thanks for getting me to back up and take another look!

 

[laura001]

Your TA has no control over what you pay in exchange, she would just have it charged and refunded to your credit card and is at the mercy of the rates. Your deposit is 200.00 so at the most it would be 10.00. Hope that helps.

 

[dancin Disney style]

CAA will allow you to pay with US cash.

You would need to ask if they would refund you in US cash.