Watch out for Credit Card fees when travelling to Canada

We just got back from a 2 month trip to East Coast and Canada.-- Beautiful
and loved it despite $1.59/Liter for diesel!
I have always been told to use a credit card when out of the US since you
get the benefit of paying in Canada Dollars which are running at about $.95
US then the credit card company converts your charge to $US. As far as this
goes, it is true and I saved about $25 when the transactions were posted.
What I was not aware of was that CITI card charges a "Foreign Transaction
Fee" on every purchase. This totaled up to a charge of over $100 US. It's
my fault for not reading all the fine print but this didn't happen 7 years
ago when I was using an ATT card in Canada. I just wanted to let you guys
to be aware of this. I should have done what I did with some of my cash on
hand which was to go to a Royal Bank of Canada and have them change $100 US
to Canadian for a $3 fee so that I would have pocket money.(btw Canadian
money is pretty) that would have been cheaper .
Anyway we had a great trip and I wanted to save you guys some cash. Don't
be a dummy like me!

Yep, and it didn't cost CITI one penny more to do the Canadian transactions.


"Rtavi" wrote in message
...
We just got back from a 2 month trip to East Coast and Canada.--
Beautiful and loved it despite $1.59/Liter for diesel!
I have always been told to use a credit card when out of the US since you
get the benefit of paying in Canada Dollars which are running at about
$.95 US then the credit card company converts your charge to $US. As far
as this goes, it is true and I saved about $25 when the transactions were
posted. What I was not aware of was that CITI card charges a "Foreign
Transaction Fee" on every purchase. This totaled up to a charge of over
$100 US. It's my fault for not reading all the fine print but this didn't
happen 7 years ago when I was using an ATT card in Canada. I just wanted
to let you guys to be aware of this. I should have done what I did with
some of my cash on hand which was to go to a Royal Bank of Canada and have
them change $100 US to Canadian for a $3 fee so that I would have pocket
money.(btw Canadian money is pretty) that would have been cheaper .
Anyway we had a great trip and I wanted to save you guys some cash. Don't
be a dummy like me!

On 7/27/08 9:35 AM, in article ,
"Dennis" wrote:

Yep, and it didn't cost CITI one penny more to do the Canadian transactions.


"Rtavi" wrote in message
...
We just got back from a 2 month trip to East Coast and Canada.--
Beautiful and loved it despite $1.59/Liter for diesel!
I have always been told to use a credit card when out of the US since you
get the benefit of paying in Canada Dollars which are running at about
$.95 US then the credit card company converts your charge to $US. As far
as this goes, it is true and I saved about $25 when the transactions were
posted. What I was not aware of was that CITI card charges a "Foreign
Transaction Fee" on every purchase. This totaled up to a charge of over
$100 US. It's my fault for not reading all the fine print but this didn't
happen 7 years ago when I was using an ATT card in Canada. I just wanted
to let you guys to be aware of this. I should have done what I did with
some of my cash on hand which was to go to a Royal Bank of Canada and have
them change $100 US to Canadian for a $3 fee so that I would have pocket
money.(btw Canadian money is pretty) that would have been cheaper .
Anyway we had a great trip and I wanted to save you guys some cash. Don't
be a dummy like me!



When I was in Boston, Bank of America soaked me plenty (I think it was
$4.50), but my own bank, Bank of Montreal only charged me $1.50.

--
Martha T2 Canada
1500mg. Metformin, 4mg. Avandia

"Rtavi" wrote in message
...

We just got back from a 2 month trip to East Coast and Canada.--
Beautiful and loved it despite $1.59/Liter for diesel!
I have always been told to use a credit card when out of the US since you
get the benefit of paying in Canada Dollars which are running at about
$.95 US then the credit card company converts your charge to $US. As far
as this goes, it is true and I saved about $25 when the transactions were
posted. What I was not aware of was that CITI card charges a "Foreign
Transaction Fee" on every purchase. This totaled up to a charge of over
$100 US. It's my fault for not reading all the fine print but this didn't
happen 7 years ago when I was using an ATT card in Canada. I just wanted
to let you guys to be aware of this. I should have done what I did with
some of my cash on hand which was to go to a Royal Bank of Canada and have
them change $100 US to Canadian for a $3 fee so that I would have pocket
money.(btw Canadian money is pretty) that would have been cheaper .


No, what you should have done is gotten a credit card that doesn't
charge a foreign transaction fee. Most of them, but not all, now do.

Like you I mostly use a Citi card for domestic use, but I have a
Capitol One card that I use when travelling internationally. They
don't charge such a fee.

--
Ken Blake
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

In article ,
"Dennis" wrote:

Yep, and it didn't cost CITI one penny more to do the Canadian transactions.

Just covering the big money they lost on their dumb sub prime
investments.

Rtavi wrote:

transactions were posted. What I was not aware of was that CITI card
charges a "Foreign Transaction Fee" on every purchase. This totaled
up to a charge of over $100 US. It's my fault for not reading all
the fine print but this didn't happen 7 years ago when I was using
an
ATT card in Canada. I just wanted to let you guys to be aware of
this. I should have done what I did with some of my cash on hand
which was to go to a Royal Bank of Canada and have them change $100
US to Canadian for a $3 fee so that I would have pocket money

I don't think you can get a credit card from anyone anymore that
doesn't charge a fee for Foreign exchange.

Also, the next time you visit Canada, ask if there is a fee before
exchanging cash. I have never paid a fee to exchange cash in Canada.
I have walked out the door of a few banks and gone down the street to
another bank.

Tom J

On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 12:46:05 -0400, "Tom J"
wrote:

Rtavi wrote:

transactions were posted. What I was not aware of was that CITI card
charges a "Foreign Transaction Fee" on every purchase. This totaled
up to a charge of over $100 US. It's my fault for not reading all
the fine print but this didn't happen 7 years ago when I was using
an
ATT card in Canada. I just wanted to let you guys to be aware of
this. I should have done what I did with some of my cash on hand
which was to go to a Royal Bank of Canada and have them change $100
US to Canadian for a $3 fee so that I would have pocket money

I don't think you can get a credit card from anyone anymore that
doesn't charge a fee for Foreign exchange.

Also, the next time you visit Canada, ask if there is a fee before
exchanging cash. I have never paid a fee to exchange cash in Canada.
I have walked out the door of a few banks and gone down the street to
another bank.

Do be prepated with the current "real" exchange rate from a
source like Oanda. Many exchange desks and companies don't charge
a fee, but they get you with a bad exchange rate.

--
************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

Hatunen wrote:
On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 12:46:05 -0400, "Tom J"
wrote:

I don't think you can get a credit card from anyone anymore that
doesn't charge a fee for Foreign exchange.

Also, the next time you visit Canada, ask if there is a fee before
exchanging cash. I have never paid a fee to exchange cash in
Canada.
I have walked out the door of a few banks and gone down the street
to
another bank.

Do be prepated with the current "real" exchange rate from a
source like Oanda. Many exchange desks and companies don't charge
a fee, but they get you with a bad exchange rate.

I do know what the official exchange rate is before I walk into a bank
when in Canada. Haven't been the last 2 years, but in 15 trips with
the RV & over 30 with an 18 wheeler, I never paid a bank a fee above
the standard exchange, even when it was $1.00 US to $1.56 Canadian.
There was a time in the early 90's that the 5th Wheel Truck Stops
would even pay a premium for US cash.

Tom J

I live in Canada, and I visit the USA often.

What the Canadian banks do is to manipulate the rate. That is, if the
"prime" exchange rate posted is that $1 US dollar is worth $1.10, then
what the bank states is that they will "buy" US$ from you for $1.05 or
they will "Sell" US$ to you for $1.15.

In essense, the fee is burried in the point spread between "buy" and
"sell" around prime rate.

When I visit the USA and use my credit card, the exchange rate spead
is quite good, but there is small fee added to every transaction.
Still, it does not work out too badly.


On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 20:34:26 -0400, "Tom J"
wrote:

Hatunen wrote:
On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 12:46:05 -0400, "Tom J"
wrote:

I don't think you can get a credit card from anyone anymore that
doesn't charge a fee for Foreign exchange.

Also, the next time you visit Canada, ask if there is a fee before
exchanging cash. I have never paid a fee to exchange cash in
Canada.
I have walked out the door of a few banks and gone down the street
to
another bank.

Do be prepated with the current "real" exchange rate from a
source like Oanda. Many exchange desks and companies don't charge
a fee, but they get you with a bad exchange rate.

I do know what the official exchange rate is before I walk into a bank
when in Canada. Haven't been the last 2 years, but in 15 trips with
the RV & over 30 with an 18 wheeler, I never paid a bank a fee above
the standard exchange, even when it was $1.00 US to $1.56 Canadian.
There was a time in the early 90's that the 5th Wheel Truck Stops
would even pay a premium for US cash.

Tom J

In article ,
Tom J wrote:

Also, the next time you visit Canada, ask if there is a fee before
exchanging cash. I have never paid a fee to exchange cash in Canada.
I have walked out the door of a few banks and gone down the street to
another bank.

You've *always* paid a fee for exchanging currency. Whether you knew it
or not.

Some places quote a single exchange rate, plus a transaction fee. (This _is_
preferable if you're exchanging a large amount of currency.)

Others quote different rates depending on which side of the transaction
they're on. (They make their money on the differential in the rates.)