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USnavy
Apr 25, 2011, 11:22 PM
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So I am looking at heading up to Canada in the next few months to climb and am wondering where I can exchange USDs for CADs without having to pay some bullshit surcharge through a third party. Back in the day I remember I could get foreign currency from my bank for no charge, but it seems my bank does not handle any foreign currency anymore. Ideas?
(This post was edited by USnavy on Apr 25, 2011, 11:23 PM)
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majid_sabet
Apr 25, 2011, 11:32 PM
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n00b
just pay them with visa card. the CC rate is charged based on wall street rate.
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jt512
Apr 25, 2011, 11:32 PM
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USnavy wrote: So I am looking at heading up to Canada in the next few months to climb and am wondering where I can exchange USDs for CADs without having to pay some bullshit surcharge through a third party. Back in the day I remember I could get foreign currency from my bank for no charge, but it seems my bank does not handle any foreign currency anymore. Ideas?
The exchange rate will likely be better in Canada than in the U.S, so don't exchange any money until you get to Canada. Then, exchange as little as possible, and pay for as much as possible with credit cards. In my experience, you get a much better exchange rate when paying with a credit card.
Jay
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USnavy
Apr 25, 2011, 11:39 PM
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majid_sabet wrote: n00b just pay them with visa card. the CC rate is charged based on wall street rate.
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Diphthong
Apr 25, 2011, 11:54 PM
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majid_sabet wrote: n00b just pay them with visa card. the CC rate is charged based on wall street rate.
Some are, but not all. Capital One advertises 0% but I haven’t looked into it. Chase hides all kinds of BS in the fine print. Still, 3% isn’t terrible. I’ve got a good Debit Card that I calculated out to about 1.5%, but there’s no protection on it. When going to a third world country like Canukistan you may want to pay the full 3% for the added piece of mind. I’ve found that overseas (Europe and Asia) I can usually get 2-3% by exchanging money, but you have to know where to look because most of them charge a lot.
Most major banks will exchange money if you ask. Most will also tell you that they don’t have a service fee if you’re a member. What they don’t tell you is that their exchange rate is crap.
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guangzhou
Apr 25, 2011, 11:57 PM
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If you have a USAA account, you can just use your ATM card at any ATM and have no fees.
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Diphthong
Apr 26, 2011, 12:01 AM
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guangzhou wrote: If you have a USAA account, you can just use your ATM card at any ATM and have no fees.
I forgot to mention the credit unions, most are good about not having fees. Of course you have to find ATMs that don't charge you for using them. I've always preferred to carry cash when traveling except for big purchases.
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guangzhou
Apr 26, 2011, 12:04 AM
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Diphthong wrote: guangzhou wrote: If you have a USAA account, you can just use your ATM card at any ATM and have no fees. I forgot to mention the credit unions, most are good about not having fees. Of course you have to find ATMs that don't charge you for using them. I've always preferred to carry cash when traveling except for big purchases.
USAA reimburse up to ten ATM fees a month. I use my USAA ATM card all over the world, I never exchange money, always use the ATM.
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majid_sabet
Apr 26, 2011, 12:21 AM
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Diphthong wrote: majid_sabet wrote: n00b just pay them with visa card. the CC rate is charged based on wall street rate. Some are, but not all. Capital One advertises 0% but I haven’t looked into it. Chase hides all kinds of BS in the fine print. Still, 3% isn’t terrible. I’ve got a good Debit Card that I calculated out to about 1.5%, but there’s no protection on it. When going to a third world country like Canukistan you may want to pay the full 3% for the added piece of mind. I’ve found that overseas (Europe and Asia) I can usually get 2-3% by exchanging money, but you have to know where to look because most of them charge a lot. Most major banks will exchange money if you ask. Most will also tell you that they don’t have a service fee if you’re a member. What they don’t tell you is that their exchange rate is crap.
if you pay for whatever with VISA then you pay wall-street rate. if you pull cash out of ATMs then you are correct, they will jack you will all sorts of fees and BS charges.
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majid_sabet
Apr 26, 2011, 12:25 AM
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USnavy wrote: majid_sabet wrote: n00b just pay them with visa card. the CC rate is charged based on wall street rate. Visa, how do you know about that? I dident think your country had that level of technology yet.
commando
I never told you how I was traveling with $10.000 cash hidden in the sole of my boots in the mountains in Pakistan ?
this is when Russians were in Afghanistan but you are too young to know that.
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dr_feelgood
Apr 26, 2011, 1:24 AM
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USnavy wrote: majid_sabet wrote: n00b just pay them with visa card. the CC rate is charged based on wall street rate. Visa, how do you know about that? I dident think your country had that level of technology yet.
Racism, meet Idiocy. Idiocy, Racism.
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USnavy
Apr 26, 2011, 2:50 AM
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majid_sabet wrote: USnavy wrote: majid_sabet wrote: n00b just pay them with visa card. the CC rate is charged based on wall street rate. Visa, how do you know about that? I dident think your country had that level of technology yet. commando I never told you how I was traveling with $10.000 cash hidden in the sole of my boots in the mountains in Pakistan ? this is when Russians were in Afghanistan but you are too young to know that.
(This post was edited by USnavy on Apr 26, 2011, 2:51 AM)
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USnavy
Apr 26, 2011, 2:52 AM
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majid_sabet wrote: Diphthong wrote: majid_sabet wrote: n00b just pay them with visa card. the CC rate is charged based on wall street rate. Some are, but not all. Capital One advertises 0% but I haven’t looked into it. Chase hides all kinds of BS in the fine print. Still, 3% isn’t terrible. I’ve got a good Debit Card that I calculated out to about 1.5%, but there’s no protection on it. When going to a third world country like Canukistan you may want to pay the full 3% for the added piece of mind. I’ve found that overseas (Europe and Asia) I can usually get 2-3% by exchanging money, but you have to know where to look because most of them charge a lot. Most major banks will exchange money if you ask. Most will also tell you that they don’t have a service fee if you’re a member. What they don’t tell you is that their exchange rate is crap. if you pay for whatever with VISA then you pay wall-street rate. if you pull cash out of ATMs then you are correct, they will jack you will all sorts of fees and BS charges.
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Kartessa
Apr 26, 2011, 4:14 AM
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majid_sabet wrote: n00b just pay them with visa card. the CC rate is charged based on wall street rate.
Timmy's doesn't take Visa, MC only.
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dr_feelgood
Apr 26, 2011, 11:32 AM
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Kartessa wrote: majid_sabet wrote: n00b just pay them with visa card. the CC rate is charged based on wall street rate. Timmy's doesn't take Visa, MC only.
They closed down all the timmy ho's in the towns that I work in. The bastards.
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Kartessa
Apr 26, 2011, 11:54 AM
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dr_feelgood wrote: Kartessa wrote: majid_sabet wrote: n00b just pay them with visa card. the CC rate is charged based on wall street rate. Timmy's doesn't take Visa, MC only. They closed down all the timmy ho's in the towns that I work in. The bastards.
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Gmburns2000
Apr 26, 2011, 1:20 PM
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USnavy wrote: So I am looking at heading up to Canada in the next few months to climb and am wondering where I can exchange USDs for CADs without having to pay some bullshit surcharge through a third party. Back in the day I remember I could get foreign currency from my bank for no charge, but it seems my bank does not handle any foreign currency anymore. Ideas?
capital one does not charge foreign transaction fees when used abroad.
Bank of America has an agreement with Scotiabanc that allows you to withdraw cash without paying any fees whatsoever (no ATM fees nor foreign transaction fees). Scotiabanc, as you might tell, is a Canadian bank, but it works in other countries (Chile, for instance).
Citi has a large network of banks and ATMs worldwide. Not sure what kind of presence they have in Canada, but it would be worth checking out (I assume no fees internationally, too).
Also, I believe Charles Schwab reimburses you for fees when you use an ATM, or at least that's what one of my friends in Chile told me.
I use BoA for Scotiabanc in Chile, but once I move to Brasil I'll start using Citi.
If you're worried about opening up another bank account, then I suggest actually opening up two: ING and another bank that will allow you to withdraw cash without fees (BoA, for instance). ING allows you to connect all your bank accounts and tranfer money between them for free. It is INSANELY easy to do. I am not a BoA customer, really. I bank mostly through Citizen's Bank, but I opened the BoA account specifically to take advantage of the free ATM opportunities. I keep very little money in the BoA account, and I transfer all my funds from Citizen's through ING to BoA. It takes less than 30 seconds to do it (actually, I keep my money in ING due to the better interest rate, but you get the point).
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kachoong
Apr 26, 2011, 4:52 PM
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guangzhou wrote: Diphthong wrote: guangzhou wrote: If you have a USAA account, you can just use your ATM card at any ATM and have no fees. I forgot to mention the credit unions, most are good about not having fees. Of course you have to find ATMs that don't charge you for using them. I've always preferred to carry cash when traveling except for big purchases. USAA reimburse up to ten ATM fees a month. I use my USAA ATM card all over the world, I never exchange money, always use the ATM.
^^I also have this benefit. USAA... best customer service I have ever had. Well, except for that one time I...
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gmggg
Apr 26, 2011, 6:28 PM
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USnavy wrote: majid_sabet wrote: USnavy wrote: majid_sabet wrote: n00b just pay them with visa card. the CC rate is charged based on wall street rate. Visa, how do you know about that? I dident think your country had that level of technology yet. commando I never told you how I was traveling with $10.000 cash hidden in the sole of my boots in the mountains in Pakistan ? this is when Russians were in Afghanistan but you are too young to know that. $10 in cash? Man you're ballin, I bet all the ladies want to get with you.
Persistent cultural illiteracy FTW!
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jeepnphreak
Apr 27, 2011, 3:49 PM
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majid_sabet wrote: USnavy wrote: majid_sabet wrote: n00b just pay them with visa card. the CC rate is charged based on wall street rate. Visa, how do you know about that? I dident think your country had that level of technology yet. commando I never told you how I was traveling with $10.000 cash hidden in the sole of my boots in the mountains in Pakistan ? this is when Russians were in Afghanistan but you are too young to know that.
Wow! so at the time you were the richest man in Pakistan.
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majid_sabet
Apr 27, 2011, 4:15 PM
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jeepnphreak wrote: majid_sabet wrote: USnavy wrote: majid_sabet wrote: n00b just pay them with visa card. the CC rate is charged based on wall street rate. Visa, how do you know about that? I dident think your country had that level of technology yet. commando I never told you how I was traveling with $10.000 cash hidden in the sole of my boots in the mountains in Pakistan ? this is when Russians were in Afghanistan but you are too young to know that. Wow! so at the time you were the richest man in Pakistan.
I was wearing the most expensive boots back then next to astronauts.
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edge
Apr 27, 2011, 5:01 PM
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majid_sabet wrote: jeepnphreak wrote: majid_sabet wrote: USnavy wrote: majid_sabet wrote: n00b just pay them with visa card. the CC rate is charged based on wall street rate. Visa, how do you know about that? I dident think your country had that level of technology yet. commando I never told you how I was traveling with $10.000 cash hidden in the sole of my boots in the mountains in Pakistan ? this is when Russians were in Afghanistan but you are too young to know that. Wow! so at the time you were the richest man in Pakistan. I was wearing the most expensive boots back then next to astronauts.
Which astronauts were you next to?
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majid_sabet
Apr 27, 2011, 5:25 PM
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edge wrote: majid_sabet wrote: jeepnphreak wrote: majid_sabet wrote: USnavy wrote: majid_sabet wrote: n00b just pay them with visa card. the CC rate is charged based on wall street rate. Visa, how do you know about that? I dident think your country had that level of technology yet. commando I never told you how I was traveling with $10.000 cash hidden in the sole of my boots in the mountains in Pakistan ? this is when Russians were in Afghanistan but you are too young to know that. Wow! so at the time you were the richest man in Pakistan. I was wearing the most expensive boots back then next to astronauts. Which astronauts were you next to?
I mean my boots were as expensive as boots made for astronauts anyways, I probably should post a TR about the 30 years old story
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chadnsc
Apr 27, 2011, 11:32 PM
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majid_sabet wrote: edge wrote: majid_sabet wrote: jeepnphreak wrote: majid_sabet wrote: USnavy wrote: majid_sabet wrote: n00b just pay them with visa card. the CC rate is charged based on wall street rate. Visa, how do you know about that? I dident think your country had that level of technology yet. commando I never told you how I was traveling with $10.000 cash hidden in the sole of my boots in the mountains in Pakistan ? this is when Russians were in Afghanistan but you are too young to know that. Wow! so at the time you were the richest man in Pakistan. I was wearing the most expensive boots back then next to astronauts. Which astronauts were you next to? I mean my boots were as expensive as boots made for astronauts anyways, I probably should post a TR about the 30 years old story
Yeah considering that a space suit 30 years ago cost around $2 million dollars and a single boot cost $3,500 I doubt that.
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Kartessa
Apr 28, 2011, 2:02 AM
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chadnsc wrote: majid_sabet wrote: edge wrote: majid_sabet wrote: jeepnphreak wrote: majid_sabet wrote: USnavy wrote: majid_sabet wrote: n00b just pay them with visa card. the CC rate is charged based on wall street rate. Visa, how do you know about that? I dident think your country had that level of technology yet. commando I never told you how I was traveling with $10.000 cash hidden in the sole of my boots in the mountains in Pakistan ? this is when Russians were in Afghanistan but you are too young to know that. Wow! so at the time you were the richest man in Pakistan. I was wearing the most expensive boots back then next to astronauts. Which astronauts were you next to? I mean my boots were as expensive as boots made for astronauts anyways, I probably should post a TR about the 30 years old story Yeah considering that a space suit 30 years ago cost around $2 million dollars and a single boot cost $3,500 I doubt that.
Did you seriously look that up?
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