I have a visa but am not sure if it is cheaper to use canadian dollars since visa charges a 3% fee. What do people suggest? Also, is it better to convert the money in the U.S. or when I arrive in Canada?

The best way to get money is to hit an ATM machine once you get to Canada. Then you don't have to "convert" anything. I'd use a combo of cash and credit cards - you still get a pretty good rate on your card, even with the fee.

Karen

If your Visa card issuer charges you an extra 2% for foreign currency conversions, I recommend that you get another credit card right away, immediately.

I have two Visa cards. One of them stays deep in my pocket when I am out of the country because it charges the extra 2% fee. I take it along strictly as an emergency, last resort backup.

Instead, I use a Visa card issued via MBNA (a bank). So far, my MBNA Visa does not charge anything but the standard 1% Visa conversion fee.

There is absolutely no reason at all to pay that extra 2% to a bank just for the use of your credit card. The bank is already making a 4% or more on your charge as it is.

You need to make sure that your conversions are based on the bank wholesale exchange rate. The Visa markup, or fee, is based on that rate.
I have checked several times in the past and I always have paid the wholesale rate plus 1%. The exchange rate fluctuates all day long, and so far, as best I can tell, I am paying somewhere between the high exchange rate for the day and the low rate for the day, plus 1%.

The little guy can do no better than the wholesale bank rate for a spot transaction. But, you sure as shooting do NOT need to pay that extra 2% for no value added.

If you want an MBNA card, you can get them easily if you are a member of AAA. If not, MBNA has a website with several varieties of cards on it.

I think anyone who already has a Visa card and a reasonable credit standing can get a credit card from MBNA.

I know that having a credit card when out of the country is vital if you are planning to rent a car.

Hold the deal on the MBNA card!!
There is a discussion taking place right now (March 22) on the European forum with respect to MBNA Visa Cards and extra charges.

I posted my comments above before I read the European Forum today. Had I read that discussion first, my comments would have been different!~~~~~

Because MBNA issues through so many affiliates and in so many guises it is hard to know. But the general drift of the comments is that SOME of the MBNA cards will have the extra amount added on.

I am calling AAA in the morning and checkout what is going on with the AAA Visa.

So any and all comments I made above about MBNA need to be put on hold pending further review and extensive clarification.

My experience as a Canadian when I travel outside of Canada is that ATM cash vs credit card is very close. The ATM gives a slightly better rate but my bank charges a $3 fee per withdrawal so it is about even. The frequent flyer points on the credit card tip the balance for me.

You are lucky that you are only charged $3 for atm transactions. I am charged 10 for every 100. I thought bank of america was good but now that I am charged such a high atm fee and 3% when money is converted, I no longer think it is as good.

Last year, a friend told me that Scotia Bank is an affiliate of Bank of America. I went to Scotia Bank every time I could to get cash from the aTM.
There was no charge from BOA on my statement. But, I am able to withdraw cash from my checking accouont via an aTM at no extra charge as long as I use a BOA terminal.

In England, I used Barclay's Bank, which is an affiliate also of BOA, and there were no extra charges on my statement.

To think I spent 45 minutes talking to bank of america about their rates when I use the card abroad at places like ATMs and they never bothered to mention Scotia Bank. When you said there was no fee did that mean that you also didn't have to pay the 3% fee?

I did not use my credit card withs BOA in Canada. Had I done so, I would have been soaked the 3%.

I just used my aTM card to access my checking account. Nothing else.

If MBNA starts charging that 2% fee, I will see if Capital One or Fleet Boston still issues credit cards that charge only the standard 1% Visa add on.

When I use my aTM, I figure I paid the daily exchange rate plus the standard Visa markup of 1%. I kept my receipts two years ago, looked up all of the exchange rates for the day of the transaction, and reconstructed the rate I actually paid.

As near as I could tell, I paid a rate somewhere between the high rate for the date and the low rate. The 1% was of course added on. But, the bank wholesale rate of exchange plus 1% is the best the little guy like me can do.

If you carry in a wad of cash, you pay some escalated rate that comes out to about 5%.

I think that is one reason these banks are adding on the 2%. They know they are still a couple of points under the paper money exchange rate.

At some of the airports, the rate will be as much as 10%. I just about lost my teeth last year in Gatwick Airport.
I was looking for a money source and saw an manned exchange booth. The posted rate was outrageous in my opinion.

Fortunately, there was a Barclay's ATM on the side and I used it. I kept the receipt and as near as I could figure on that exchange it was a rate within the daily bounds plus 1%

One must realize that exchange rates fluctuate all day long, 24 hours a day, because somewhere banks are open.
It is impossible to get the exact rate at the exact time of transaction.
So if I figure that my effective rate was between the two extremes, high and low, plus 1%, I have not been cheated.

If I walk up to an airport cambio and fork over a sock-on of 10%, I figure I have been "took".

I have no idea if this is a good company but they do a direct shuttle from the airport to Whistler.
http://www.perimeterbus.com/

Oops. That was suppose to be posted to a person looking for a bus to Whistler. Sorry about that. What I meant to paste here is what BOA told me about using a check card. I am not sure if they would have said the same thing about atm cards. However, what I am sure that based on the email I got from BOA, they would charge some sort of a conversion fee plus a fee from having used a foreign atm.
------------------------------------
When you use your Check Card in a foreign ATM there is a 1% of the U.S.
dollar amount Foreign Currency Adjustment factor applied to the rate of
exchange. This adjustment factor is applied by VISA International.
Additionally, there is a $5.00 charge that Bank of America applies to
each ATM transaction for accessing the international ATM system. These
are independent of any charges applied by the proprietor of the foreign
ATM. The 1% will work out to $1 for every $100 U.S. Dollar or $10 for
every $1000

sabrina:

They only charge that $5 fee if you withdraw from a foreign ATM not affiliated with BOA. Like bob brown, I used my BOA regular ATM card to withdraw money from my checking account several times from Scotiabank ATMs on my last few trips to Canada and got charged zero fees. I use a regular ATM card and not a check card though.

For credit card charges, I didn't use my BOA Visa, which charges a 3% conversion and used my Capital One card, which only charges the 1% Visa/Mastercard conversion fee.

Just to add to this, another reason for using Scotiabank if you are a Bank of America customer is that Scotiabank won't charge you the $1.50 "convenience" fee that is levied by Candian banks for ATM transactions by customers of other banks. The ATM Global Alliance applies to Scotiabank, Bank of America, Barclays in the UK, Deutsche bank in Germany, BNP Paribas, in France, and Westpac in Australia.

There aren't many "brands" of bank in Canada, so a Scotiabank

I hit post too soon. Here's a website that will locate the nearest branches and ATMs for the places you will be visiting: http://locator.scotiabank.com/ScotiaExt/default.asp