I do my banking at TD Canada Trust too...about a year ago I set up some US accounts and have been very happy with it.
What I ended up doing was upgrading to their "Select Service" for a whopping $25 per month...but it includes many features I'm now taking advantage of, including...
1. "Borderless Plan" US dollar account (usually US$4.95 per month)
2. US dollar VISA (usually US$39 per year)
3. Canadian dollar First Class VISA infinite (two cards included, usually $170 per year)
...so, those three items alone are worth over $22 per month...unlimited day-to-day banking (e.g. ATM withdrawls, bill payments, etc) is also included, which I had been paying over $10 per month anyway.
As far as the way I manage things, like others here, I transfer money to my "Borderless Plan" online whenever the rate is good...usually $300 at a time...my goal really is to try and balance out the highs and lows of the exchange rates. Then, before I go on a trip to the US I withdraw a bit of cash at my local branch, charge all my trip expenses my US$ VISA, and pay it off when the bill comes. I really like that both for buying US$ and making the US$ VISA payment, it can all be done via TD's online banking!
As far as the rate for buying US$, no matter how you do it, there's going to be transaction fees and/or markups..what you see quoted in the papers when the dollar is "at par" is usually that the "mid-rate" between buying and selling is at par; you'd pay a little more to buy US$, and get a little less to sell US$...that's how banks and foreign exchange outlets make their money. If you just use your Canadian credit card while travelling in the US, most companies will charge you 2.5% on top of the exchange rate. TD claims with their "Borderless Plan", they offer "preferred exchange rates"...who know exactly what that means, but here's some real world experience:
Right now, the dollar is more or less at par. My favourite currency site (www.xe.com) is listing one US dollar is worth 99.939 cents Canadian. TD Canada Trust has a posted exchange rate right now of $1.0252 to buy US dollars. I just bought US$ online using my "Borderless Plan" and paid $1.0148.
So, overall, I find there's two big advantages to working things this way: I save 1% off the cost of foriegn exchange, compared to using a Canadian credit card, and, more importantly, I can attempt to time and hedge my purchases to save in advance for trips and take advantage when rates are better. I've got a vacation booked for Feb. 2011. I'm saving now at close to par... I know there's a chance I'm paying more, should the Canadian dollar skyrocket, but I'm also protecting myself against another drop in the dollar...I'd rather pay par now and eliminate the risk of having to pay 15% more come February!
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