American exchange

[spearmint]

Several years ago, the consensus on these boards was that for the ship's final bill, it was better to let your charge card make the conversion to American money rather than the ship on which you were cruising.   Is this still the perceived wisdom?

 

Bill

[d9704011]

Yes.

[LHT28]

I charge onboard  account to my card in USD 

 

i have a "No foreign transaction Fee"    card   for  out of the Country travel

Or use the  TD USD VISA credit card  for  USD purchases

[Fouremco]

43 minutes ago, spearmint said:

Is this still the perceived wisdom?

Yes.

[spearmint]

Hi you three responders.  Thanks.  It is what I hoped and now I know. 🙂

 

Bill

[Kofienut]

18 hours ago, LHT28 said:

I charge onboard  account to my card in USD 

 

i have a "No foreign transaction Fee"    card   for  out of the Country travel

Or use the  TD USD VISA credit card  for  USD purchases

Do you have a favourite no forex card?  Debit, credit, or both?

[LHT28]

11 minutes ago, Kofienut said:

Do you have a favourite no forex card?  Debit, credit, or both?

We have the Home Trust VISA   has no FTF 

I just use it  for travel outside of Canada

[rodndonna]

1 hour ago, Kofienut said:

Do you have a favourite no forex card?  Debit, credit, or both?

 

We have a TD US$ Visa, but that was largely decided based on the fact that we have other TD products (including Canadian Credit cards).

 

If there is a bank you deal with primarily, might be worth looking there as a start and see what they offer.

[gnome12]

40 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

 

We have a TD US$ Visa, but that was largely decided based on the fact that we have other TD products (including Canadian Credit cards).

 

If there is a bank you deal with primarily, might be worth looking there as a start and see what they offer.

I have a Home Trust Visa which I have used quite a bit in the past. It doesn’t charge foreign exchange fees but provides no benefits.
 

Even if I only travelled to the US, I would never consider a US$ credit card, because I have no source of US income. Paying the bill (for me) would require converting funds at the bank’s rate which includes a foreign exchange fee. (If you spend large amounts in US$ you might be able to get a better rate, but not worth it for me.)

 

I just returned from a US trip, and used my EQ Bank Card. This is a prepaid Mastercard attached to an EQ savings account. All funds you hold on the card earn 2.5% until used, there are no foreign exchange fees, and you get 0.5% back on purchases. (It also acts as a bank card at ATMs, and will refund any bank fees paid in Canada, although not if using a foreign ATM.) It is a bit complicated, but it worked fine for me. 

[rodndonna]

9 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

I have a Home Trust Visa which I have used quite a bit in the past. It doesn’t charge foreign exchange fees but provides no benefits.
 

Even if I only travelled to the US, I would never consider a US$ credit card, because I have no source of US income. Paying the bill (for me) would require converting funds at the bank’s rate which includes a foreign exchange fee. (If you spend large amounts in US$ you might be able to get a better rate, but not worth it for me.)

 

I just returned from a US trip, and used my EQ Bank Card. This is a prepaid Mastercard attached to an EQ savings account. All funds you hold on the card earn 2.5% until used, there are no foreign exchange fees, and you get 0.5% back on purchases. (It also acts as a bank card at ATMs, and will refund any bank fees paid in Canada, although not if using a foreign ATM.) It is a bit complicated, but it worked fine for me. 

 

I neglected to mention we keep a US$ account as well, and are always trying to add in (dollar cost averaging and taking advantage of fluctuation conversion rates) which we use to pay for the US Visa all with TD, so that makes the US Visa easier for us.

Edited April 27, 2023 by rodndonna
correction

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, gnome12 said:

I have a Home Trust Visa which I have used quite a bit in the past. It doesn’t charge foreign exchange fees but provides no benefits.
 

 

Foreign EXCHANGE fees  are different than  Foreign Transaction fees

 

  our Home Trust  card gives  cash back

but  we do not use it a lot

[gnome12]

2 hours ago, LHT28 said:

our Home Trust  card gives  cash back

but  we do not use it a lot

It used to give 1% cash back on all purchases, but they stopped giving it for purchases in foreign currency a number of years ago.

[LHT28]

55 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

It used to give 1% cash back on all purchases, but they stopped giving it for purchases in foreign currency a number of years ago.

good to know

I used ours last month to keep it active but was in CAD

[Fouremco]

I too have switched from Home Trust VISA to the EQ Bank card with its several benefits.

[gnome12]

2 hours ago, Fouremco said:

I too have switched from Home Trust VISA to the EQ Bank card with its several benefits.

Just note that it can’t be used where they don’t take credit cards. I tried to use it at Calforex to get some US cash, and the transaction was rejected. Then I realized that I could use it to get cash and use that to pay for the US dollars. A bit slow on the uptake, but it worked fine in the end. 

[dawnvip]

I also have the Hometrust Visa. Used it this past January in Hawaii and received the cash back. AFAIK, the cash back is only on foreign transactions.

I wish they had a banking app tho!

 

[gnome12]

9 hours ago, dawnvip said:

I also have the Hometrust Visa. Used it this past January in Hawaii and received the cash back. AFAIK, the cash back is only on foreign transactions.

I wish they had a banking app tho!

 

This is from the Home Trust website about the Preferred Visa card - the one with no foreign exchange fees.

CashBack Rewards

All of your eligible purchases earn 1% cash back2 — with NO cap — making your money work harder for you on your everyday spending. Save for an adventure, household project or pay down your balance — it’s up to you!

and footnote 2

2Cash advances, balance transfers, interest, fees and foreign transactions (including online purchases in foreign currencies) are not eligible for CashBack Rewards.

 

Since rewards are paid only once a year, I presume that you had some eligible transactions that gave you the reward.