Money exchange questions...

[grover]

The dollar is doing better so of course we want to shuffle more money into our USD account. My question is- Do the banks give you the rate that is quoted on the news for that day?? Or do they not give as good a rate as you are only purchasing a relatively small amount of money.. I deal with CIBC-not sure if that makes any difference. Anyhoo-I just want to know when it is advantagous for me to go exchange money...T
hanks Grover in Winnipeg

 

[DisFan2]

Hi grover,

Most (if not all) banks will pocket the spread - i.e. they buy US from you at less than the rate quoted on the news, and sell US to you at more than that rate. For example, on Thursday (last time I checked), National Bank was buying US at 1.30 and selling it at 1.34 - I think the "actual rate" on the news was about 1.315 (the dollar was trading at roughly 76 cents US).

In most cities you can buy from currency exchange stores - here in Ottawa I go to accu-rate (www.accu-rate.ca) as they give a better rate. The "better" rate may only be by pennies, but hey - it's your money. I don't want to bash the banks, but with all the service charges, high credit card interest rates (when prime is between 4-5% and ccards are at 18%), I'm not in any hurry to give them more of my cash.

 

[cabmom]

http://www.bank-banque-canada.ca/en/exchform.htm

This is the converter I use. When I told a co-worker the exchange she went and had money exchanged. The banks(TD) rate was 2 cents more.

M.

 

[MaMudduck]

Grover,

When you hear the rate on the news, what they are given you is the “commodity" rates. This is traded like stocks on the currency markets and change constantly throughout the day. The printed rates in the paper are usually the closing price for that day of trading. Each bank's head office sets the rate in the morning (as DIS FAN stated keeping the spread- usually 2% either way), if the rate changes too much in one day, the branches are notified and they adjust the selling/buying rates based on the that.

The rate right now (which is the close of trading day) is 1.3106 so the banks would be somewhere at 1.33

 

[tigercat]

Does anyone know how to convert manually? I am trying to find out how to convert US$ to Can. using the exchange rate that Disney is using in the Canadian at Par deal. Also, how to do it the reverse would also be helpful.
tigercat

 

[beglluvr]

I don't have a foolproof formula, because every bank is going to charge different service charges. I've been trying to figure my "at par" deal as well, and I've been using the rate of 1.35 for 1.00 US. I know it won't cost quite that much at the current rate, but that way I will have figured it a bit high. That way, it's like I saved a few bucks.

I also have a link to a site where you can figure it out with the base rates (like on the news).

www.oanda.com/convert/classic

With this, you can expect to pay more after service charges.

 

[lilsonicfan]

to convert manually....

don't you just take the rate that is announced.. like "the dollar is trading at 75.63 cents US today"... then if you do some division ... 1/0.7563 = 1.32... that means 1 dollar CAD is equal to 1.32 USD. and 1 dollar US is equal to 0.7563 CAD.

as i understand it, the at par deal is calculated at the exchange rate of 1 dollar CAD = 69 cents US. That would mean 1 dollar CAD is equal to about 1.44 USD.

It's 1am, so i might be totally wrong ... haha... but i'll give you all a wave anyway!

 

[beglluvr]

lilsonicfan is right about how to figure it out manually. By doing it that way, you get the base rate. Don't forget though, that the bank builds service charges into their exchange rate, so you will always pay more to buy than what the rate is on the news.

 

[maggieofar]

Normally I'm a lurker but thought I'd ask.....

Does anyone know if it better to exchange CDN for US before we leave in Can or should we wait until we get to Fla??
we're going in Jan 04 and cannot wait!!!
78 days to go

 

[hockey mom]

It is better to change at home. In my experiences I was a charged a service charge at most banks in the states.

 

[tigercat]

We always change our money here at home as well. It is much better for us to do it here. We have an U.S.$ account that we are always putting something in. That's how we save up for our vacation. It is always ready for us when we need it.
tigercat

 

[pampam]

The Canadian at Par deal uses the rate of a 31% discount. For example if you are staying at All Stars the package for 3 nights is US$359. If you subtract 31% from that, the total is US$247.71, the price that is charged to Canadians. We have no way of knowing the exact price in CAN$, because the Visa card is charged in US$ upon arrival, and we have no way of knowing what the exchange rate will be on that day. Still, it is good value, because not only is the room discounted, but the Ultimate Park Hopper Pass is discounted as well. I suppose one could buy their US$ now and apply that to their room account, or apply the US$ to their visa account if they thought it would be worth it.

 

[tigercat]

Thank you very much. 31% is what I was looking for. Of course the $ has been very good for us lately so it is an even better deal.
tigercat