When I go down and plan to spend more than my credit limit on my card I buy $500 ones at Royal Bank and it only costs me $4.

My sister who has no credit cards at all buys them all the time for online shopping and for going down to the states. At $4 on $500 it's still WAY cheaper than exchanging money at the bank. You pay Visa's exchange rate (which is usually +2.5%). So for $504 you get $487.80 US when we're at par. The bank would give you closer to $475 if you did straight up cash.


I suggested is as an alternative if you don't have a CC that will carry the amount you plan to spend though. CC is still the best option.

The best place to get cash exchanged is probably the VBCE...

http://www.vbce.ca/

It should always be at last a couple points cheaper than using your credit card.

I know that both my PC Mastercard and MBNA Mastercard both explicitly state that they charge an extra 1.5% fee on currency conversions.

However... if you're not dealing with large denominations, it's not that big of a deal... maybe the convenience of using plastic is worth the extra fee.

+1 for Vancouver Bullion and Currency Exchange.

I've exchanged other currencies there and never thought to exchange US. It should be basically at par right now, yes?

went to the bank
203.46 cad for 200 usd