I've been away for nearly four years. They've been four great years. Our real estate investment in Arizona has provided a winter getaway and enabled us to escape Manitoba winters. 2018 was our fifth full winter in Arizona. For us, a full winter is January through April as the practice has been to hang in 'til after Christmas with family. On Boxing Day we tidy up and it's a run for the border on December 27. This year may be different as I finally fully retired at the end of 2017. Thinking maybe we'll get away in early November and possibly return for Christmas...possibly.
We've now joined the legion of Snowbirds who spend a lot of time researching cross border stuff like cell phone roaming costs, US/CA$ exchange rates etc. etc. I'll post about some of these later on. Today it's about the huge foreign exchange transaction fees charges by Canadian banks. A minimum of 2.5% and up to 3% or even 3.5% if you're using a "premium Canadian card"! I wrote about this way back in 2011. Canadian Banks - We Love 'Em and Hate 'Em
Four years ago our research sourced out a suite of cards offered by Chase Canada. Chase had a number of infinity cards with various benefits and annual fees. In the end, we applied for and received the Chase Canada Amazon.ca Rewards Visa. It seemed to meet all the requirements:
A Google search with the title of this post leads to some very helpful sites and discussions about various credit card offerings. It's amazing how many Canadians add comments suggesting that they have a bank issued credit card which does not charge FX transaction fees when in fact they're paying at the very least 2.5% over the actual exchange rate. Just because it doesn't show as a separate amount doesn't mean the bank is not charging it!
We've now joined the legion of Snowbirds who spend a lot of time researching cross border stuff like cell phone roaming costs, US/CA$ exchange rates etc. etc. I'll post about some of these later on. Today it's about the huge foreign exchange transaction fees charges by Canadian banks. A minimum of 2.5% and up to 3% or even 3.5% if you're using a "premium Canadian card"! I wrote about this way back in 2011. Canadian Banks - We Love 'Em and Hate 'Em
Four years ago our research sourced out a suite of cards offered by Chase Canada. Chase had a number of infinity cards with various benefits and annual fees. In the end, we applied for and received the Chase Canada Amazon.ca Rewards Visa. It seemed to meet all the requirements:
- NO Foreign Exchange Transaction Fee
- NO Annual Fee
- 1% cash back on all purchases, 2% for purchases made on Amazon.ca
A Google search with the title of this post leads to some very helpful sites and discussions about various credit card offerings. It's amazing how many Canadians add comments suggesting that they have a bank issued credit card which does not charge FX transaction fees when in fact they're paying at the very least 2.5% over the actual exchange rate. Just because it doesn't show as a separate amount doesn't mean the bank is not charging it!
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