Traveling to Niagara Falls (GWL) - Credit Cards

[MindyMouse76]

So we are super excited. Traveling from Pennsylvania to Niagara Falls this summer for the very first time! It will be me, my husband and our 9 year old daughter. After much research, we decided to stay at the Great Wolf Lodge. We love the rooms (Stayed at the PA one several times)! We also want to stay 4 nights since we are traveling over 7 hours to get there. We figured it will give us more to do being at the GWL. We will still do all of the Niagara attractions while we are there as well. We already booked the Oh Canada Dinner Theater. Last May when we were at Disney, we did the HDDR and loved it. I hope we have the same experience here.

My question is related to the Credit Card Foreign Transaction Fees. I looked at my credit card bill online yesterday and saw I got nailed with the fee for the Oh Canada Dinner Theater and for my deposit for GWL. Is there any way around this? We will use cash while we are up there for food and activities. My worry is paying the balance for GWL when we get there. I don't see any way around it. Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks!!

 

[Computermama]

That's really a question you should probably ask your credit card company. It's them that's charging the fees, not GWL, or anything Canadian. Beyond that, it's either use a different credit card, or some other method of payment.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

Also something to keep in mind this year marks the first year where the Maid of the Misit will not be sailing from the Canadian side of the falls. A new company run by Hornblower cruise is now operating them under the name Niagara cruises. http://www.niagaracruises.com/

 

[Muskrat191]

The foreign transaction fee (forex fee) is something your credit card adds. For Canadians, we only have one choice of credit card that has no forex fee - cards issues by Chase Bank. From what I understand, there are more no-forex credit cards available to Americans, but I don't know who offers them.

The forex fee can add up - it is usually about 2.5% on top of the exchange rate set by Visa, MasterCard, etc. However, it is still worth comparing the exchange rate on the credit card (including the forex fee) to the exchange rate you can get for cash.

One other thing if you plan to be using cash. Canada has discontinued the penny. If you are paying cash, the price will be rounded to the nearest nickel. Credit/debit transactions will not be rounded.

 

[PensFan]

Also something to keep in mind this year marks the first year where the Maid of the Misit will not be sailing from the Canadian side of the falls. A new company run by Hornblower cruise is now operating them under the name Niagara cruises. http://www.niagaracruises.com/

Wow news to me!

Lame that you'd have to cross the boarder to ride it now!

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

Wow news to me!

Lame that you'd have to cross the boarder to ride it now!

you don't have to cross the border it's just a different company. A few years ago Niagara Parks opened up a bidding process for companies to bid rather than just renew a contract like the Us side did. Hornblower Canada won out and sold the maid of the mist boats to the US company who only leased them originally from the Canadian company. Hornblower Canada over the winter then built two new boats "Niagara Thunder" and Niagara Wonder" that are much bigger and have a higher capacity than the old boats. They also just opened on the Victoria Day weekend.

 

[rjan67]

U.S. Target Visa does not charge the fee and it is free with no annual charge.