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Flying / Driving into USA ?


Kip Powick

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Took the "Admiral" into the US to celebrate our Anniversary.......Didn't take enough US cash.

Used MasterCard....zowie:Sob: When all is said and done MasterCard and your MasterCard holder charge 41.31% to change the US charge to CDN $$$

Thank goodness I was not that short of US cash ......but still..soapbox.gif.9f7cb5d66fd31f1ee34ee67e4e4a098b.gif

 

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34 minutes ago, blues deville said:

Using a credit card now stateside can be costly with extra charges and their extreme exchange rates 

Not really if you were to use a $US credit card funded by your borderless account. The (TD) bank charges the employee rate to exchange currency. 1.5%  

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1 hour ago, thor said:

Not really if you were to use a $US credit card funded by your borderless account. The (TD) bank charges the employee rate to exchange currency. 1.5%  

Well then stand corrected. 

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46 minutes ago, st27 said:

FYI...there is a $60/yr charge for that with RBC.

So far, I have yet to find a solution to minimize the exchange problem.

Buy a really good printer and good paper....... then........:D

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10 hours ago, st27 said:

FYI...there is a $60/yr charge for that with RBC.

So far, I have yet to find a solution to minimize the exchange problem.

Maintain $5k in an all inclusive and you don't pay for the infinity visa travel and $US3k you don't pay  any fees on the US borderless which includes the US$ visa.

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22 hours ago, Kip Powick said:

Took the "Admiral" into the US to celebrate our Anniversary.......Didn't take enough US cash.

Used MasterCard....zowie:Sob: When all is said and done MasterCard and your MasterCard holder charge 41.31% to change the US charge to CDN $$$

Thank goodness I was not that short of US cash ......but still..soapbox.gif.9f7cb5d66fd31f1ee34ee67e4e4a098b.gif

 

Yo Kip. Why don't you just use your bank debit card?

We're in Maui right now & my last purchase, using an RBC debit card, had an exchange rate of 1.3578.

Not too bad...but maybe there is something inherently risky about using debit cards transborder that I'm not aware of?

Cheers!

 

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28 minutes ago, FireFox said:

Yo Kip. Why don't you just use your bank debit card?

I never thought of it, and I don't know if RBC allows that.

Just did some quick numbers...for example

Your rate = 1.3578 x 200.00 USD = 276.00

My rate   = 1.41     x 200.00  USD = 282.00...............then I get 1% off for using this CC so my cost is actually $279.18

So your rate was $3.18 CDN less than mine (for $200.00)

Obviously you got a better deal and I wasn't hurt that much because I ran out of USD and had to use the CC for just a bit but if one was racking up USD charges in the $1000.00 range you would certainly get a better deal.

I will check with my bank.....and then you have to hope every store you frequent would accept an RBC card...where as MasterCard is accepted EVERYWHERE.....apparently:lol:

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40 minutes ago, Fido said:

Don't shop in the USA

problem solved

Well put, spend your money in Canada and support Canadian workers.  :thumbup:  Who knows, if enough of us did that, perhaps the cost difference would disappear. 

 

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AMEX Platinum (US).....no charges for currency exchange; market exchange rate; worldwide lounge access; $200/ yr reimbursement for airline charges ( includes gift cards); $15/mo free Uber; concierge service; SPG membership; Hilton Gold; reimbursement for Nexus fee; and more! For certain, one of the best and the US AMEX platinum is better than the Cdn platinum....and cheaper too!

This is NOT a paid endoresement.

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2 hours ago, Malcolm said:

Well put, spend your money in Canada and support Canadian workers.  :thumbup:  Who knows, if enough of us did that, perhaps the cost difference would disappear.

Kinda hard to treat  your spouse to a weekend in NY and pay for meals, entertainment, and hotels and hold to your mantra of "shop in Canada"....

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52 minutes ago, Kip Powick said:

Kinda hard to treat  your spouse to a weekend in NY and pay for meals, entertainment, and hotels and hold to your mantra of "shop in Canada"....

58cf46cd1a770_CanFlagSmilie.gif.44a3d1919d17b36f5b76be0b6e327d12.gif

no where in Canada ?  How about YVR or YYJ or YQB, but I do understand.

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On 2017-03-18 at 4:16 PM, Kip Powick said:

Took the "Admiral" into the US to celebrate our Anniversary.......Didn't take enough US cash.

Used MasterCard....zowie:Sob: When all is said and done MasterCard and your MasterCard holder charge 41.31% to change the US charge to CDN $$$

Thank goodness I was not that short of US cash ......but still..soapbox.gif.9f7cb5d66fd31f1ee34ee67e4e4a098b.gif

 

Yesterday I renewed a KOA membership using my Capital One MasterCard, which also seconds as my Costco card.

 The renewal cost was $30 US.

Checked my account online and am being charged $40.02.

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1 hour ago, Jaydee said:

Checked my account online and am being charged $40.02.

Here is what Capital One is charging you as a bank rate.......(this is the OFFICIAL MasterCard exchange rate calculator)

Unless you have some deal going I don't know how you got such a low BANK RATE   (You can see I entered it  to change your US to CDN)

ScreenShot002.aefjpg.jpg.b21318149f0631ec547b17caf4cc0512.jpg

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That rate fluctuates day to day so it can be up or down

I have been charged 2 different rates on the same day using the same card.

 

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I negotiated no special rate sir, just what Costco has negotiated with Capital One.  I can only guess Capital One doesn't charge all those extra fees.

Whatever the reason it appears to be a much better deal than what RBC is offering,  maybe it's time to look elsewhere. Again, not advertising but my Capital One experience through Costco has been flawless. One thing I really like is in the time it takes me to get home from the store I can go online and verify my CC spending. Got my rebate cheque for $647 in January...took it to Costco and instant cash. On top of that my spending history gives me a Costco card for free. Also one less card to carry around in the wallet.

I also always keep a positive balance so I never pay one cent interest all year long. Win Win situation.

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2 minutes ago, Jaydee said:

......................but my Capital One experience through Costco has been flawless.......................

Went back to my original post and saw that I did not indicate the 'Brand" of CC. My card is  an ASPIRE Capital One !! I also have a a PLATINUM Capital One card which we use exclusively for Costco.

I agree, their mobile App and their website  is great and like you I never pay interest. If I buy something today, it will be paid for today. Some folks don't like that idea seeing you are giving them your money prematurely but that is the way we have always done it.

I am going to see if there is a difference in BANK RATE between the ASPIRE and PLATINUM cards.

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Thats the way it should be done kip.  If you carry a balance and pay interest it negates the reward component of using the card in the first place.  Treat it like cash.

 

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The way I see it you can have $$$$ sitting in a bank account making next to ZERO interest or you can have $$$$ sitting on a CC saving you paying up to 20% interest. I'm sure the CC company doesn't like it but I work for ME, not them.

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1 hour ago, Jaydee said:

I negotiated no special rate sir, just what Costco has negotiated with Capital One.  I can only guess Capital One doesn't charge all those extra fees.

Just finished with Cap One on the phone...Their bank rate is 2.5% for every Cap One card they have....however I could not confirm with Costco if they negate that 2.5% for using the Cap One MasterCard Platinum (Costco)......................store not open yet.

 

I did stumble across this though......makes me wonder about ever using the Cap One Costco card again...read all the comments, especially late last year and again this year... (I have never had any problems with the Cap One Costco Card)

http://www.howtosavemoney.ca/capital-one-costco-platinum-mastercard-review

 

 

Found this as well.....................

Unfortunately, none of Canada’s largest credit card companies (RBC, TD, CIBC, BMO, Scotia, Capital One, Canadian Tire or PC Bank) offer a credit card without a foreign transaction fee. They all charge a foreign transaction fee of 2.5%, on top of the exchange rate set by Visa or Mastercard. They do the same for debit cards either when making a purchase at a U.S. retailer or from an ATM.

 

********************talked to Costco.....they state 2.5 % is added to any transaction which is USD converted to CDN... 

Have no idea why your $30.00 USD was converted at 0.2%....perhaps they have not finished with you yet :lol:

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