Currency Exchange - larger sums

[GregBu 1]

My wife and I are about to travel back to Nova Scotia for our Canadian Wedding. We have a lot of wedding expenses to pay off, and I plan to bring about $5,000 US currency to cover it all.

However, I am hoping to find the best way to convert that much currency without taking a bath in exchange rates.

Right now I'm thinking about just taking cash and finding a bank in Canada. However, I'm open-minded, any other suggestions?

Here are our options...

My wife has a Vancity account we could do an international wire transfer to...

We could buy American Express Travelers Checks in US or Canadian currency...

I could make my bank jack up the daily ATM withdrawal limit on my card and every day I could withdraw the max amount (probably won't work, not enough time to get all that money)...

I could order Canadian Currency from my local bank...

We're going to be landing in Halifax and doing our banking there most likely, any ideas or suggestions?

[HS2 7]

However you look at this you will be hit with exchange rate fees

From my experience use your debit card or credit card and let the banks fight it out. I went to nova scotia a couple of years ago ( beautiful by the way) and tried a bunch of things to save some money but in in the end there was no way around it. I found using the debit card more convenient and hassel free and the currency exchange rate to work in my favor. Exchanging US dollars to Canadian dollares in Canada is definitly a rip off

If you do a wire transfer you will get charged a wire transfer fee and the exchange rate will not be in your favore.That is how banks make money. This happens to me when i wire transfer money overseas. If your bank does not have an affiliate bank in Canada you will get charged twice the wire transfer fee.The intermidiate bank will take their fee out of the amount you will send.

I dont know about travel checks but i am sure there will be a fee to cash them and they are still in US dollares so exchange fees will apply to that transaction as well.

One more thing, keep in mind that the US dollare is starting to tank due to the ongoing "debt celing " debate.

Good luck and congratulations

[skr 0]

However you look at this you will be hit with exchange rate fees

From my experience use your debit card or credit card and let the banks fight it out. I went to nova scotia a couple of years ago ( beautiful by the way) and tried a bunch of things to save some money but in in the end there was no way around it. I found using the debit card more convenient and hassel free and the currency exchange rate to work in my favor. Exchanging US dollars to Canadian dollares in Canada is definitly a rip off

If you do a wire transfer you will get charged a wire transfer fee and the exchange rate will not be in your favore.That is how banks make money. This happens to me when i wire transfer money overseas. If your bank does not have an affiliate bank in Canada you will get charged twice the wire transfer fee.The intermidiate bank will take their fee out of the amount you will send.

I dont know about travel checks but i am sure there will be a fee to cash them and they are still in US dollares so exchange fees will apply to that transaction as well.

I just travelled to Europe with traveller's cheques. There isn't a fee to cash them but there is a fee to purchase them (plus the exchange rate). If you do go this route, check with your bank to see if your service plan included the purchase of t.c. Mine does so I didn't have to pay a purchase fee. They work like cash, although most places may require you to show ID when you use them. When I visit my hubby in the US I use my debit card. I don't bother with the banks and their fees, I go the cash back route at the grocery store. Don't think this will work for you as there's a very small limit on the amount you can get, usually less than $100. Here in Ottawa, there's a currency exchange place that offers the best exchange rates (better than the banks). See if you can find something similar in Halifax. Otherwise, I suggest you use your credit card and hope the US dollar goes up a bit (but not too much, I need to exchange in the opposite direction!).

[Colleens 40]

Have your wife open an RBC and an RBC US dollar account. You can deposit US dollars into the US dollar account and then transfer them to the Canadian RBC account. She can also open up a RBC USA account and that way if she collects unemployment while looking for a job in the US it can be direct deposited into the canadian account and then she can transfer it on-line to the US account and you get no fees charged at all.

It is a bit of a pain that there are not a lot of RBC branches in the US (mostly in the south eastern states) but it has really worked well for me.

[Flames9_RN 358]

And always Customhouse. I'm sure if you do a search on here for Customhouse you will find mine and others experiences with them.

[GregBu 1]

Thanks for the replies. It's looking like the exchange rate for Halifax banks is much more favorable than what local banks here in Texas will give me. I'm just making a few phone calls to confirm that.