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#21
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Watch out for Credit Card fees when travelling to Canada
On Wed, 30 Jul 2008 11:05:19 -0700 (PDT), PeterL
wrote: On Jul 27, 10:43*am, "Bill B" wrote: I convert to Canadian currency at my local bank, there has not been a fee. They will only convert *paper*, *no coin. But what was the conversion rate? Or more specifcally, were there two rates, one for buy and one for sell? If so, the "true" rate is, to first order, the average of the two rates. I remember about ten years ago checking the American Express office near my workplace and finding that on dollar-pound conversions they were charging a spread of about 14%, meaning you were getting screwed out of 7% if you exchanged either way. -- ************* DAVE HATUNEN ) ************* * Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow * * My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps * |
#22
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Watch out for Credit Card fees when travelling to Canada
In article ,
Hatunen wrote: Or more specifcally, were there two rates, one for buy and one for sell? If so, the "true" rate is, to first order, the average of the two rates. Correct you've got it. After all they have to make money on the exchange. In Vancouver BC the best rates I've found is at a money exchange place downtown, but it's only worthwhile going down there for a large amount. My travel approach is some cash for small purchases, credit card for most of my purchases, but I don't use the credit card at smaller businesses for security reasons. |
#23
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Watch out for Credit Card fees when travelling to Canada
Jochen Kriegerowski wrote:
Probably not: You get a different exchange rate when you buy cash at the bank. Buying 100 CAD will cost you more USD than buying an item worth 100 CAD with your credit card. I'm sure that's true when you compare some card issuers with some exchange desks. But to make a blanket statement that claims that is always the case is just plain wrong. -- K. Lang may your lum reek. |
#24
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Watch out for Credit Card fees when travelling to Canada
"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 |
#25
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Watch out for Credit Card fees when travelling to Canada
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. I'm told that Capital One does not assess this fee, but I have no direct knowledge. I always use a debit card affiliated with a checking account whilst traveling in other countries. That is the *only* time I use a debit card, there being no transaction safeguards on them. I also use an account separate from my usual one so that if I do get stung, the thieves won't have access to the vast majority of my money. This fee, which is simply a "junk" fee providing no service, can also be avoided by taking travelers cheques, whose commission is generally much less than the credit card junk fees. And, if one is a member of AAA, he can probably get those cheques for no charge at all. More's the better! Ken H |
#26
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Watch out for Credit Card fees when travelling to Canada
In article ,
Ken Harrison wrote: 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. I'm told that Capital One does not assess this fee, but I have no direct knowledge. I do, they don't -- -------------------------------------------------------- Personal e-mail is the n7bsn but at amsat.org This posting address is a spam-trap and seldom read RV and Camping FAQ can be found at http://www.ralphandellen.us/rv |
#27
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Watch out for Credit Card fees when travelling to Canada
"Ken Harrison" wrote:
I always use a debit card affiliated with a checking account whilst traveling in other countries. That is the *only* time I use a debit card, there being no transaction safeguards on them. I also use an account separate from my usual one so that if I do get stung, the thieves won't have access to the vast majority of my money. Even for everyday use, I keep debit-ATM money in an account that separate from my other accounts, and transfer $$ into it only as I forseeably may need, month-to-month. |
#28
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Watch out for Credit Card fees when travelling to Canada
On Sat, 09 Aug 2008 23:05:42 -0700, Ken Harrison
wrote: This fee, which is simply a "junk" fee providing no service, can also be avoided by taking travelers cheques, whose commission is generally much less than the credit card junk fees. And, if one is a member of AAA, he can probably get those cheques for no charge at all. More's the better! During our travels for the past twenty years in Europe, we've had great difficulty finding businesses other than hotels which will take traveler's checks. We find them pretty useless, unless they're AmEx and you're going to be staying near an AmEx location. -- Larry |
#29
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Watch out for Credit Card fees when travelling to Canada
In article ,
pltrgyst wrote: On Sat, 09 Aug 2008 23:05:42 -0700, Ken Harrison wrote: This fee, which is simply a "junk" fee providing no service, can also be avoided by taking travelers cheques, whose commission is generally much less than the credit card junk fees. And, if one is a member of AAA, he can probably get those cheques for no charge at all. More's the better! During our travels for the past twenty years in Europe, we've had great difficulty finding businesses other than hotels which will take traveler's checks. We find them pretty useless, unless they're AmEx and you're going to be staying near an AmEx location. Depends _who's_ cheques they are. Barclays of London meet a lot less resistance than those of domestic U.S. issuers. |
#30
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Watch out for Credit Card fees when travelling to Canada
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