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Email this1:20 pm
March 2, 2015
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If I were traveling to Western Europe next month, I'm curious to know if it would be better to use a no forex fee cc such as Home Trust visa (no cashback) or Brim cc rather than accumulate miles on an awards card such as td Aeroplan visa with a forex fee?
Or if it's worth the time applying for some other (first yr annual fee waived) no forex fee cc for just one upcoming overseas trip use, with only $1000-2000 expected charges?
Also do all visa cc use same currency exchange rate?
1:47 pm
April 6, 2013
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TD will apply a 2½% fee on top of the Visa exchange rate.
Whether or not the TD Aeroplan Visa is worthwhile depends on whether or not the earned miles and card benefits are worth at least 2½%.
4:52 pm
April 14, 2021
Online
yuj said
Or if it's worth the time applying for some other (first yr annual fee waived) no forex fee cc for just one upcoming overseas trip use, with only $1000-2000 expected charges?
You can make pre-/advance payments onto your card so that you start the trip with a credit balance.
10:22 pm
October 29, 2017
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HermanH said
yuj said
Or if it's worth the time applying for some other (first yr annual fee waived) no forex fee cc for just one upcoming overseas trip use, with only $1000-2000 expected charges?You can make pre-/advance payments onto your card so that you start the trip with a credit balance.
There will still be a conversion fee. Additional money added only increases credit?
11:49 pm
April 14, 2021
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It is true that there will always be conversion fees. I made the suggestion in case you thought your credit limit was too low to adequately meet your trip's needs.
9:22 am
March 30, 2017
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yuj said
If I were traveling to Western Europe next month, I'm curious to know if it would be better to use a no forex fee cc such as Home Trust visa (no cashback) or Brim cc rather than accumulate miles on an awards card such as td Aeroplan visa with a forex fee?
Or if it's worth the time applying for some other (first yr annual fee waived) no forex fee cc for just one upcoming overseas trip use, with only $1000-2000 expected charges?
Also do all visa cc use same currency exchange rate?
My advice will be since the expected spend is small, just use a card that does not charge fx fee. You are not going to earn much pts etc anyway and even if pts are ‘worth’ more than the fee, the net benefit is not worth it, cuz u r essentially ‘prepaying’ for the ‘to be used benefits’
8:14 am
April 22, 2019
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I have two no-forex cards, the Scotia Amex Gold, which I got by waiving the annual fee with a Scotiabank Ultimate account (got the GCR bonus, $40 for the account, $100 for the card, plus there was 30,000 WB after spending $1k). It gets 5x rewards on restaurants and groceries, so it might be worth it if you want to go through the hassle. Depending on where you go, Amex might not be accepted everywhere either. It looks like there's a FYF deal going on right now too.
The other card is the MBNA Amazon, a no-fee card (WB is $50 plus 5% cashback on Amazon.ca, groceries and restaurants). Technically the MBNA Amazon card is just 2.5% cashback on foreign exchange transactions. I like having a Mastercard for Costco purchases too, since I don't have the capital one card.
If you're not really into churning cards for bonus points, I'd personally recommend the MBNA Amazon.
10:43 am
July 3, 2020
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My opinion is stick with Home Trust visa (no cashback) or Brim cc. $2000 charge isn't very high and some fx free cards exclude the bonus rate in category in the fine print. You might not have time to rake in enough to redeem enough points to maximize value before the next annual fee.
Every visa card uses the same currency transaction rate with a bake in fee from Visa which you can't avoid. (A small but hidden fee) You can only avoid the extra 2½% your bank issuer tack on. I think MC takes a tinier fee, like maybe a penny or 2 for every $100 compared to visa.
lancedragons said
The other card is the MBNA Amazon, a no-fee card (WB is $50 plus 5% cashback on Amazon.ca, groceries and restaurants). Technically the MBNA Amazon card is just 2.5% cashback on foreign exchange transactions. I like having a Mastercard for Costco purchases too, since I don't have the capital one card.
Personally, I don't like this card because you can only spend in Amazon. And if you do any returns, that is a 5% charge!
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