Getting an American Visa Credit Card

We use cash for our travels to the USA. Had some compromised charges in the past (resolved by Visa). Those have to be reported within time limit of 31 days, which makes it a hassle of checking the account regularly on line.

In addition we carry RBC Visa with a decreased limit to $2000, just in case.

This combination works well for us.

I like to use my BMO Mastercard in USA because I get AirMiles.

Like so many others I use the RBC USA (Georgia) accounts. I use their debit card for fuel while on the road without any difficulty. At some pumps you have to make sure you state it is a debit card you are using to avoid the dreaded zip code problem.

I also change the address on my CDN bank issued BMO US$ MasterCard to my US address just for the duration. There is an on-line option for e-statements. The Zip code always works at gas pumps. I use this card as my primary fueling card when traveling in the US. For all other US transactions I use my RBC USA (Georgia) account and Visa Card taking advantage of RBC’s great integration between their CDN and US accounts. My RBC USA (Georgia) account and credit card use my USA address all year around which greatly facilitates on-line purchases. My RBC USA (Georgia) cards will work fine at the pump too but I like having a bit of redundancy with the BMO card. No fee for the latter if one uses it for $1000 or more in a year, otherwise I think $35/year.

I change the address on my regular BMO MasterCard to my US address for the duration of my stay then change it back to my Canadian address. They don't ever send us anything in snail mail so that's not an issue but I need a ZIP code I can use at the gas pump. DW and I ride motorcycles so we gas up every time we go out - that can add up to a lot of standing in line.

Tripalot, we transfer money from our RBC US account in Canada to our US RBC Visa card while we are down south all the time. It works great.
I buy US funds on line and put them in my Canadian US account. It works very well. Macktee

Falcon35 wrote:
We have a TD USA $ visa card that seems to work well and we save the 2 + percent charge.
It is no charge because we have a Borderless Plan account with TD and as long as we keep a minimum amount in the account it is no charge. It also gives us the opportunity write US$ cheques on that account.

X2 + we obtained a TD US based bank account that gives us a debit card for making purchases and it also allows us to obtain US dollars from our Canadian US dollar account at an ATM machine. If you have a US dollar account in Canada you cannot access that money while in the US.
You can have money transferred from your Canadian based US dollar account to the US based account. It takes 2 or 3 business days for the money to get from one account to the other.

We have a TD USA $ visa card that seems to work well and we save the 2 + percent charge.
It is no charge because we have a Borderless Plan account with TD and as long as we keep a minimum amount in the account it is no charge. It also gives us the opportunity write US$ cheques on that account.

We have a Sears/Chase card and an Amazon/Chase Canadian credit card to get away from the 2%-3% exchange fees but we can't use a US address as the billing address so they won't work at the pump. We went to Wells Fargo three years ago and they said if we took a $25 fee secured card for a year we would get a regular card after that. They lied. When you phone to ask they say maybe after next review period... We were excellent customer and always paid on time so we cancelled it last year and asked at other banks and were told no social security number - no card. At least they were honest.
Brian

Hi Moisheh,

There is an exception to the 2 to 3% charge. Amazon offers a Visa credit card that doesn't charge a fee for buying things in US funds. It's not worth bothering about unless you are purchasing a high dollar item, or gas for a 7000 kilometer trip.