Buying Stuff in Canada

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Chris362

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Apr 27, 2014
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I can't find the answers I'm looking for with the search engine. So, forgive me if this has been asked and answered.

I'm taking the RV to Alaska next month. Missouri to Fairbanks, through Colorado.

While in Canada;

Can I swipe my US debit/credit card (local Bank, Great Southern) in Canada to pay for gas?
If I can, are there any fees tacked on?
I tried calling the bank, but the rep I spoke with left me confused. She said if I ran it at the pump as credit, there shouldn't be any extra fees. Shouldn't be?

I pretty sure there are several fees for ATMs, but what about other places; restaurants, convenience stores.....

Also, my bank will exchange currency for a flat $7.00 fee, regardless of the amount. Is this the best way to get cash?

What is the best way to pay for gas?

Thanks to anyone that chimes in. All info is appreciated.
 
I am Canadian...When travelling in the States, I have found that I can use my debit card to withdraw cash from a bank, but cant use it in a store (Walmart etc) Not sure if it works the same the other way around.......As for credit cards, they work fine, no fees other than the exchange rate. Right now, the Canadian buck is about 90 cents US, so you will come out ahead.
 
Chris362 said:
I can't find the answers I'm looking for with the search engine. So, forgive me if this has been asked and answered.

I'm taking the RV to Alaska next month. Missouri to Fairbanks, through Colorado.

While in Canada;

Can I swipe my US debit/credit card (local Bank, Great Southern) in Canada to pay for gas?
If I can, are there any fees tacked on?
I tried calling the bank, but the rep I spoke with left me confused. She said if I ran it at the pump as credit, there shouldn't be any extra fees. Shouldn't be?

I pretty sure there are several fees for ATMs, but what about other places; restaurants, convenience stores.....

Also, my bank will exchange currency for a flat $7.00 fee, regardless of the amount. Is this the best way to get cash?

What is the best way to pay for gas?

Thanks to anyone that chimes in. All info is appreciated.
yes you can use your debit/CC to buy gas.Most CC  companys charge a 3% exchange commission.Visa does and iam sure the others do also
no one charges debit or credit card fees at any retail outlets .Some private ATM machine or ones  not affiliated with your bank will charge a useage fee same as in the usa.YES by all means if your bank will sell u CDN money at no commission and a flat fee of 7.00 do it as when we buy us up here its anywhere from.75% to 2.50% roughly per dollar changed plus the going exchange rate
 
poncho62 said:
I am Canadian...When travelling in the States, I have found that I can use my debit card to withdraw cash from a bank, but cant use it in a store (Walmart etc) Not sure if it works the same the other way around.......As for credit cards, they work fine, no fees other than the exchange rate. Right now, the Canadian buck is about 90 cents US, so you will come out ahead.

that's weird because I use my royal bank debit card and my scotia bank debit card all the time when iam in the us.have for last few years never ever refused
at Walmart or target or anywhere. CC(eg Visa) charge you 3% commission plus whatever the exchange is if u use a CDN CC in the usa so I try to never use my CDN CC when in the usa. I use cash as much as possible.I now have a wellsfargo account and a visa debit card.I get my US money at the roal bank at .75% exchange rate. hell of a lot better than 2.5 -3%  CC companys and other banks charge
 
Maybe things have changed....been about 5 years since I was in US......debit would only work at banks....also Royal bank card
 
poncho62 said:
Maybe things have changed....been about 5 years since I was in US......debit would only work at banks....also Royal bank card

could be? All I know is my royal bank Debit card has always worked in the usa and so has my scotia Debit card and \I have been snowbirding with them for about 9 years now.I Use them at resturants,winco for food,walmart.home depot.lowes,sears  etc
 
No problem with your US-issued credit cards - most places accept Visa and Mastercard. The "fee" for use in a non-dollar currency is built into the exchange rate the bank charges when converting from $C to $US. It is usually not the very best rate available, but in our experience (now a dozen years ago) it wasn't far off the official rate either. Never had reason to complain.

We also used our US debit card to get Canadian cash from ATMs. Most ATMs had an ATM fee, but the only other fee we paid was the exchange rate differential.  Some banks charge you a fee when you use any ATM not part of their local network, so that would apply if your bank does that.  I don't recall if we used debit card at any retail merchants.
 
Discover card is not accepted most of the places I have been.  PEI up to Nova Scotia.  Maybe one place out of twenty. 
 
Never had a problem using Visa or MasterCard logo debit or credit cards in Canada, or found fees unreasonable.

We always notify our bank and credit card companies when traveling; they will document where and when you'll be traveling.  Well, we do now after triggering a fraud alert for unusual account activity.
 
I find the extra 3-5% that the CC company tacks on in addition to the most advantageous (to them) exchange rate on that day obscene. I use a Capitol One MasterCard which has NO added fees. They charge only the exchange rate. I understand that PenFed cards may do this also.

I hated it years ago when I had a gas powered boat and would buy 160 gallons of overpriced Canadian gas every 3 days or so, and then pay an additional $15.00 "fee" for using a credit card. Now with my diesel powered boat I carry enough fuel to not buy any in Canada.

I'd look closely at a Capitol One card before I went.

Ken
 
bucks2 said:
I find the extra 3-5% that the CC company tacks on in addition to the most advantageous (to them) exchange rate on that day obscene. I use a Capitol One MasterCard which has NO added fees. They charge only the exchange rate. I understand that PenFed cards may do this also.

I hated it years ago when I had a gas powered boat and would buy 160 gallons of overpriced Canadian gas every 3 days or so, and then pay an additional $15.00 "fee" for using a credit card. Now with my diesel powered boat I carry enough fuel to not buy any in Canada.

I'd look closely at a Capitol One card before I went.

Ken
I hear you on the terrible fuel prices we endure up here but our medical,s  almost free  with no deductables($63$) per month in BC Free in lots of other provinces like Alberta
 
I can vouch for a capital one card nd Penn Fed card.  We use them all overbEurope, and never a charge or never refused.  The only problem was in Toures at the TGV I had to use my AMEX card.  MC and AMEX charge a exchange rate.

Jim

Same for Canada. AMEX and MC will be converting to the new chip card this year....
 
buchanan said:
I hear you on the terrible fuel prices we endure up here but our medical,s  almost free  with no deductables($63$) per month in BC Free in lots of other provinces like Alberta

They charge me full price to visit a Dr in Canada and my US insurance whines and cry's about paying anything. Shouldn't you give me a discount on my fuel??????  ;D

Ken
 
bucks2 said:
They charge me full price to visit a Dr in Canada and my US insurance whines and cry's about paying anything. Shouldn't you give me a discount on my fuel??????  ;D

Ken

Haha ,A vist to a doctor in Canada is 1/3 what it costs in the us so Your insurance company should have given u a gas credit cause u saved them$$$ ;D
 
Thanks everyone.
From what I'm reading, I'm guessing the cheapest way is to estimate my gas and other purchases while in Canada and get that amount from my bank for the $7.00.
....and not to need medical attention in Canada.
 
bucks2 is the only one who reported being charged an extra fee to use a US credit card in Canada, but he didn't mention which card(s). I haven't had that experience with MC or Visa in either Canada or Europe, but it's been awhile.

You may find this official Q&A from Visa to be informative. Basically it says the exchange rate is calculated daily based on international currency prices and that there is no transaction fee to the card user.

http://usa.visa.com/personal/card-benefits/travel/exchange-rates-faq.jsp
 
Per the Visa site it says: "Additionally, your final transaction amount may differ depending on whether the merchant converts the currency at the point of sale or if the bank that issues your card assesses a foreign transaction fee."

I can tell you that both Wells Fargo and Chase Visa cards and Discover card do charge a small "foreign transaction fee". I forget if AmEx charges a fee, but I think they do. These fees are small.
In Canada I used  a Charles Schwab Bank debit card to get cash because they reimburse all fees charged.

ken
currently in Victoria, BC
 
    Gary, as another poster indicated, they are cute in how they do it.  Similar to my using my Canadian Visa, it gets buried in the exchange rate.  As a retired banker one of the few perks that carries on is an ability to convert C$ to US$ at a staff rate, but it only applies to cash transactions, so if I withdraw from a US ATM, or have them move money from my chequing to a US domiciled chequing account, I get charges customer rate, and then if I use my Cdn Visa, the exchange rate goes up without explanation. 
    I will not use my USA bank debit card on the internet, so last winter when we wanted a couple of items that were not available locally, I did use my Cdn Visa, and the extra exchange rate was still being charged, at an additional 2.5%.  Since the amounts were small and we wanted the things while in Florida, it wasn't a deal breaker, but annoying nonetheless.
  All that to say, converting to cash for a flat fee is likely the least expensive by far, but while you won't be travelling through a high crime area, you do still need to be concerned.  Traveler's cheques may be another option if your bank doesn't charge too much for issuing them.
  Have a great trip.  Too bad you're going to be on the wrong coast.

Ed
 
Agree, Ed, and I stated that in my original message on this subject. If you shop around, you may get a better exchange rate and that may well be worthwhile on large conversions. But the rate that Visa and MC charges usually wasn't too far off the official rate and you don't have get money in advance or carry around a lot of cash. More convenient at a small extra cost.

Note that local banks don't usually charge just the official exchange rate either. They calculate their own rate for the service, plus they often add on a fixed transaction fee as well. The best monetary deal is usually to find a bank that charges a fixed transaction fee plus the official daily exchange rate, and then exchange a fairly large amount of dollars to amortize the fixed fee over the entire amount.
 
Chris362 said:
Thanks everyone.
From what I'm reading, I'm guessing the cheapest way is to estimate my gas and other purchases while in Canada and get that amount from my bank for the $7.00.
....and not to need medical attention in Canada.
that's a strange answer regarding medical.First off  make surer u have travel insurance as we all do. second off if u need to see a doctor in Canada is about one third what u pay in the us if for some reason u don't have a medical plan.your health insurance in the us is extremely high until u get to age 65 when your medicare pays for most of it. A friend of mine whom lives in Oregon and is 59 pays around 600$ per month and his deductible is $7000.I pay 65 and no dedcutable
 

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