# Canadian Credit Cards - Best Perks



## cedebe (Feb 1, 2012)

Sorry if there's already a similar thread, but I couldn't find it, hence this one.

As mentioned elsewhere, both here and on other forums, Tangerine is making disappointing changes to its MasterCard. In addition, Chase's Amazon.ca Visa is no longer open to new applicants causing some to believe this card is going the way of the dodo. 

Since these are currently my primary cards, I'm now looking at possible replacements--particularly for 0% forex. I came across the Home Trust Preferred Visa on RFD. No one seems to have it, though; just a bunch of talk on the forum of its existence. Also suggested was the Fido MasterCard, but I don't quite care for how they combine their cash back and '0%' forex fee, so I'm leaning towards the Home Trust card, should I qualify. 

Does anyone have any experience with either card, or another to suggest with no annual fee?


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## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

> Does anyone have any experience with either card, or another to suggest with no annual fee?


 I just don't understand why people so scared of annual fees. For example we have CIBC Visa, annual fees is about $90, but we get 4% cash back on groceries and gas, 2% on Tim Hortons and Telus and 1% on everything else, so every year we earn much more than $1,000 in rebates


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## Mookie (Feb 29, 2012)

Have you checked Greedyrates? Whether you're looking for cash back, travel rewards, or no fee credit cards, they've probably got something for you.

http://www.greedyrates.ca


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## cedebe (Feb 1, 2012)

gibor365 said:


> I just don't understand why people so scared of annual fees. For example we have CIBC Visa, annual fees is about $90, but we get 4% cash back on groceries and gas, 2% on Tim Hortons and Telus and 1% on everything else, so every year we earn much more than $1,000 in rebates


I'm a single person who doesn't spend that much on groceries, nor do I have a car, and I don't eat at Tim Horton's.  I will likely keep my Tangerine MC as I do my primary banking w/ Tangerine and it's easiest to make payments on that card, but a significant amount of my spending is done in USD, hence the preference for no forex fees.


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## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

Mookie said:


> Have you checked Greedyrates? Whether you're looking for cash back, travel rewards, or no fee credit cards, they've probably got something for you.
> 
> http://www.greedyrates.ca


Interesting website, ...and got card that I own  CIBC Dividend Visa Infinite


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## Dilbert (Nov 20, 2016)

I use TD infinite Aeroplan Visa. It is free if you have a TD All Inclusive chequing account, which in turn, is free if you maintain a $5K balance. But I travel a lot on business too so the accumulation of aeroplan miles combined, is worthwhile.


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## SW20 MR2 (Dec 18, 2010)

There is no best card. It depends on what type of rewards you want and how much you spend. In some cases, it's worth it to pay the annual fee.

I like cashback, and I use a combination of 2 cards to maximize my rewards. I use the Cap One Costco cashback to get 3% on restaurants and 2% on gas. I use the Tangerine to get 2% on recurring bills (this one is awesome), groceries, and public transit. For everything else, I was using the Tangerine, but with the recent changes, I'll move all other spend to my Costco card. This combo works well for me, and there's no annual fees.


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## My Own Advisor (Sep 24, 2012)

I use a grandfathered CapOne cash back card - no annual fee and 1.5% cash back on _everything_. Good deal.

I think if you shop at Costco regularly that CapOne Costco card is a good one.


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## Dilbert (Nov 20, 2016)

Thanks for the tip guys, I just signed up for the Costco card as I am close to FIRE and thought it would be a good idea to have both a Visa and an MC.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Dilbert said:


> I use TD infinite Aeroplan. It is free if you have a TD All Inclusive chequing account, which in turn, is free if you maintain a $5K balance. But I travel a lot on business too so the accumulation of aeroplan miles combined, is worthwhile.


Same. I also carry Marriott Rewards card for 0% forex fee and some hotel status perks (1 free hotel night/year offsets its annual fee)

If you aren't travelling a lot for work then Tangerine Mastercard and Amazon Visa make a very good pair sans the annual fees

I carry the Tangerine as a backup to Visa and leave the Amazon card at home for online purchases


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## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

> There is no best card. It depends on what type of rewards you want and how much you spend. In some cases, it's worth it to pay the annual fee.


 True! This is why I have several CC. For groceries, Tim Hortons, Telus and gas I use 4% CIBC Visa, also I use it to rent cars as it includes damage collision waiver (and they pay you back very fast ). For FX transactions and Amazon purchases (2% rebate) I use Amazon Visa, for Parking , Presto, Home Depot etc - I use Tangerine (2% rebate). I also have AMEX, but used it last time in France on toll roads (as they didn't accept any other cards)... I also have PC Mastercard, but sinse I have CIBC Visa, mostly use it only for points


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

Marriott Visa for all FX transactions and out of country ATM access.

Costco Mastercard for Costco, gas, and restaurants.

CIBC Visa for aeroplan point....will be trading this for something else soon. Good for rental cars. Aeroplan is a crap program now.


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## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

> Aeroplan is a crap program now.


 all such program is a crap . I want only hard CASH rebate + CDW


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

I much prefer cash back to rewards miles because of all the hoops involved in redeeming them..

I get a lot of aeroplan miles just from work booking flights and then collect enough more to get perks like Maple Leaf lounge etc

I use them for short haul flights to get to remote places or to a major hub where I can buy a discount direct flight


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## Dilbert (Nov 20, 2016)

gibor365 said:


> all such program is a crap . I want only hard CASH rebate + CDW


Not really, I sell my miles for cold hard tax free, cash!


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

This past winter we went to South America. The flight cost $1100. if we bought it.

If we used Aeroplan points and flew on Air Canada the cost of each ticket was over $800. (fees and add ons). Plus 60,000 points.

Fortunately we were able to select a United flight using Aeroplan points. The cost was $250. per person. A substantial difference. 

We have experienced the same when using points to go to Europe. The point value on many of these flights, net of charges, is 1/2 of one percent to one percent. So now we save what few points we have left for short haul flights.

That is why we are dumping Aeroplan. We used to be able to get the same deal on Lufthansa as we get if we select United. The Lufthansa loophole has been closed. We are told that Aeroplan is diligently working to close the United loophole.

We also have Delta miles. When we get a Delta Airlines ticket with Skymiles points the cost is usually about 1/3 or less of the Aeroplan points ticket cost. Sometimes even lower for US destinations. Aeroplan, for us, is a giant ripoff.


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## Eder (Feb 16, 2011)

cedebe said:


> and I don't eat at Tim Horton's.


No one really "eats" at Timmy's...they merely swallow the slop and pretend its edible. I'm with you.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

ian said:


> We have experienced the same when using points to go to Europe. The point value on many of these flights, net of charges, is 1/2 of one percent to one percent. So now we save what few points we have left for short haul flights.
> 
> That is why we are dumping Aeroplan. We used to be able to get the same deal on Lufthansa as we get if we select United. The Lufthansa loophole has been closed. We are told that Aeroplan is diligently working to close the United loophole.
> 
> We also have Delta miles. When we get a Delta Airlines ticket with Skymiles points the cost is usually about 1/3 or less of the Aeroplan points ticket cost. Sometimes even lower for US destinations. Aeroplan, for us, is a giant ripoff.


Yea it's frustrating

I've found both air miles and aeroplan work best for short haul flights because these flights are very expensive to buy but the points are calculated by distance so they're relatively cheap by rewards points. You can drive the same distance in about the same time when you account for security and waiting for connection etc, but it is convenient to leave the car at home instead of paying for gas and parking etc

I agree they aren't what they're cracked up to be. Visa makes away like bandits with the high merchant fees too


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

We cannot understand the popularity of Tim Hortons. We find the quality of the coffee is extremely variable but mostly bordering on mediocre to poor. Not certain why this is. And many of the Tim Horton's that we have frequented could stand with some staff re-organization and training from MacDonalds. The staff apperar to be working at cross purposes, disorganized, and extremely slow. 

We actually prefer MacDonalds coffee to Tims because it is consistent. Not great but we know we what we will be getting-no surprise a la Tims. And the service is usually much better. 

We only go to either one if there is no choice on a road trip. Or at Tim's often for a bathroom break only because the lineup is so long.


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## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

> We actually prefer MacDonalds coffee to Tims because it is consistent. Not great but we know we what we will be getting-no surprise a la Tims.


 Coffee in both are ****, but my daughter and wife (sometimes) like donuts


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## mordko (Jan 23, 2016)

Tim's chilly is ok. And some of the sandwiches. And McDonalds is awesome.


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## Dilbert (Nov 20, 2016)

mordko said:


> Tim's chilly is ok. And some of the sandwiches. And McDonalds is awesome.


+1 I don't claim to be a coffee guru, but I can't drink Tims and do enjoy McD's.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Best purchase I ever made was a $250 semi-auto Saeco espresso machine and a travel mug. With locally roasted fair trade beans I can make better coffee than 90% of "cafés" in Canada/US. Pays for itself in less than a year and parts are readily available online, can be upgraded/fixed/maintained with a phillips screwdriver.. The same machine was sold at Starbucks for twice the cost. I'd give Timmies coffee a 4/10.. it's warm, black and slightly better than ranger coffee


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

We have been making coffee the same way for 40 plus years. We grind the beans, boil the kettle, and run it through a Melita drip filter. Always a dark coffee or medium/dark coffee.

Went into Starbucks and the server was trying to impress us with their 'pour over method' She looked at me like I had two heads when I told her we had been doing this for 40 years.


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## Dilbert (Nov 20, 2016)

m3s said:


> Best purchase I ever made was a $250 semi-auto Saeco espresso machine and a travel mug. With locally roasted fair trade beans I can make better coffee than 90% of "cafés" in Canada/US. Pays for itself in less than a year and parts are readily available online, can be upgraded/fixed/maintained with a phillips screwdriver.. The same machine was sold at Starbucks for twice the cost. I'd give Timmies coffee a 4/10.. it's warm, black and slightly better than ranger coffee


Now to bring the thread back OT, what credit card did use to buy it?:joyous:


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

For major purchases I typically use a premium fee card for the extended warranty or price protection, so probably Visa Infinite

I've never managed to use either of those perks though. The one time I tried I think MBNA denied me with some bs fine print


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## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

> We have been making coffee the same way for 40 plus years. We grind the beans, boil the kettle, and run it through a Melita drip filter. Always a dark coffee or medium/dark coffee.


 Doing the same and it's much better than any fast food/restaurant coffee .
But Canadians like THI, this is why I mentioned it


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## cedebe (Feb 1, 2012)

Dilbert said:


> Not really, I sell my miles for cold hard tax free, cash!


May I ask where you're selling your miles, Dilbert? 



ian said:


> This past winter we went to South America. The flight cost $1100. if we bought it.
> 
> If we used Aeroplan points and flew on Air Canada the cost of each ticket was over $800. (fees and add ons). Plus 60,000 points.
> 
> ...


I still have an Aeroplan Visa Classic from CIBC ($29/yr, no longer offered) for the purpose of collecting miles, as I prefer to fly AC over an American airline when available. A few yrs ago, their fees on a flight to FL from YVR were so outrageous I flew out of Seattle instead. Oddly, though, last year I noted that the fees from YVR to FLL return were less than $100, which was shocking, and most welcome! I'm not going anywhere this summer, so haven't monitored the situation to see if last year was an anomaly or if Aeroplan has actually dropped their fees overall.



Dilbert said:


> Now to bring the thread back OT, what credit card did use to buy it?:joyous:


Thanks for trying to get it back on track.  

I'm going to conclude that no one is Home Trust Visa Preferred holder here, or particularly interested in becoming one. Only one person has the card in the RFD thread, but I'm interested enough in it that I'll call on Tuesday to see the likelihood of them approving me before applying online. It was implied elsewhere that the preferred card is for mortgage holders, but the application doesn't state this as a requirement. I'm in school w/ half my usual income, but I have good credit, I'd say, so here's hoping...


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

I heard that Chase Bank Canada was going to cancel their Amazon Visa offering. To my knowledge this was only 1 of 2 cards in Canada that charged realtime FX exchange fees on foreign transactions and did not levy the standard 2.5 percnet admin fee/

Only one left now I believe is the Marriott Rewards version which carries a 100 fee but includes one free night at a Marriott level 5 property. We have this card. For our lifestyle it has been a winner.


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## cedebe (Feb 1, 2012)

I don't know about the 'realtime' aspect, but the Home Trust Preferred card I've mentioned has 0% forex fee, hence my interest in it. The Marriott card is $120/yr, but considering it's a Chase product, I question how long it will last.


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## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

> I heard that Chase Bank Canada was going to cancel their Amazon Visa offering


 Where this info is coming from?


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## none (Jan 15, 2013)

This is true. It is no longer being offered.


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## My Own Advisor (Sep 24, 2012)

m3s said:


> I've found both air miles and aeroplan work best for short haul flights because these flights are very expensive to buy but the points are calculated by distance so they're relatively cheap by rewards points.


Agreed. Use Aeroplan for domestic or within N.A. flights. (15,000 or 25,000 points.) Avoid it for international/overseas travel.


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## TomB16 (Jun 8, 2014)

cedebe said:


> I'm a single person who doesn't spend that much on groceries, nor do I have a car, and I don't eat at Tim Horton's.  I will likely keep my Tangerine MC as I do my primary banking w/ Tangerine and it's easiest to make payments on that card, but a significant amount of my spending is done in USD, hence the preference for no forex fees.


I think the only way to avoid FX on USD CC purchases is to use Norbert's Gambit to convert money and then transfer to a USD account and have a USD credit card.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

ian said:


> I heard that Chase Bank Canada was going to cancel their Amazon Visa offering. To my knowledge this was only 1 of 2 cards in Canada that charged realtime FX exchange fees on foreign transactions and did not levy the standard 2.5 percnet admin fee/
> 
> Only one left now I believe is the Marriott Rewards version which carries a 100 fee but includes one free night at a Marriott level 5 property. We have this card. For our lifestyle it has been a winner.


Where did you hear that?

I got the amazon card before the Marriott version existed but now the amazon card is kind of redundant. I shop regularly on amazon and I'm also out of country a lot for work and spend several months/year in Marriotts

When I travel for work I'm covered by HRG travel insurance but as far as I can tell my Visa Infinite travel insurance is superior to the Chase cards for personal travel. I don't believe Chase covers any medical expenses

When you consider the rewards can offset the FX fees it's probably worth the difference for the travel insurance, but I have also had cases when I needed to have a hotel reverse large USD charges and 0% fx fee was $$$ in that case!

For now I'll leave the amazon card at home for online purchases, especially amazon or PayPal USD purchases. I use the Marriott card for Marriotts and misc expenses out of country that wouldn't benefit from travel insurance

Not sure if Visa Infinite would deny travel coverage if you booked the travel with another card?


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

ian said:


> I heard that Chase Bank Canada was going to cancel their Amazon Visa offering. To my knowledge this was only 1 of 2 cards in Canada that charged realtime FX exchange fees on foreign transactions and did not levy the standard 2.5 percent admin fee.


I heard that they have stopped new approvals but nothing about cancellation?


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## cedebe (Feb 1, 2012)

TomB16 said:


> I think the only way to avoid FX on USD CC purchases is to use Norbert's Gambit to convert money and then transfer to a USD account and have a USD credit card.


No, the other alternative is to get the Home Trust Preferred Visa as mentioned in my original post. I was wondering if anyone here had it, but it seems no one else has even heard of it.


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

My understanding is that existing Chase Amazon cards are fine. Chase is simply not accepting new applications.

Our Marriott Chase card has turned out to be a real winner for us. Mainly because we have a fair amount of FX transactions and we travel quite a bit.


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## My Own Advisor (Sep 24, 2012)

none said:


> This is true. It is no longer being offered.


https://www.amazon.ca/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201516220


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## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

My Own Advisor said:


> https://www.amazon.ca/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201516220


I read it, but I couldn;t find any info that this card will be gone competely


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## twa2w (Mar 5, 2016)

cedebe said:


> No, the other alternative is to get the Home Trust Preferred Visa as mentioned in my original post. I was wondering if anyone here had it, but it seems no one else has even heard of it.


 Do you have the card? Even for a no fee card, it doesn't seem to have many features?


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

Second Paragraph:

As of April 3, 2017, we are no longer accepting applications for the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card and there is no other way to get the card at this time.


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## cedebe (Feb 1, 2012)

twa2w said:


> Do you have the card? Even for a no fee card, it doesn't seem to have many features?


I've applied for the card and am waiting to hear back. The primary feature of the card for me is the fact that there are no forex fees. The majority of my purchases are outside of Canada, so this is a very big deal.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

gibor365 said:


> I read it, but I couldn;t find any info that this card will be gone competely


No there have been no withdrawal announcements. I suspect they are revisiting their terms, and will reopen apps when those terms are finalized. e.g. 1% cashback does not motivate me to use the card unless it is in a foreign currency, then it is 3.5% savings. I have some knowledgeable forum acquaintances that don't get it, and think that ATMs give comparable FX.


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## zylon (Oct 27, 2010)

I used my Chase-amazon-rewards-Visa for a USD purchase this week.
- looks like I was dinged about 2.5% fx conversion.
- so much for that little fx-free perk.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Be weary of establishments who will charge your home currency by default.. hence scoring the 2.5% bonus for themselves.. ask for the local currency..

I should look at using amazon visa for foreign cash advances again. The fine print says 1% fee with a $5 min charge, so above $200 should beat a debit card

I believe the reason I chose to get foreign cash with the TD debit card is because it incurred fewer foreign ATM charges (but now it says only in NA..)


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## cedebe (Feb 1, 2012)

zylon said:


> I used my Chase-amazon-rewards-Visa for a USD purchase this week.
> - looks like I was dinged about 2.5% fx conversion.
> - so much for that little fx-free perk.


I've only ever been dinged on Ebay when the option to convert to CAD was 'on.'


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## zylon (Oct 27, 2010)

cedebe said:


> I've only ever been dinged on Ebay when the option to convert to CAD was 'on.'


It might be a recent change;
I hadn't used my card for quite a while until this week.


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## cedebe (Feb 1, 2012)

zylon said:


> It might be a recent change;
> I hadn't used my card for quite a while until this week.


Chase's website clearly states there are no additional surcharges--same info as always. Things are different if you're making Ebay purchases, however, if you select the 'credit card' option instead of Paypal... then you'll get dinged for fees by Paypal as they convert the currency into CAD and give themselves a percentage for their trouble.


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

We used our Chase Marriott card for Visa and cash advances from Jan through to mid March in South and Central America and in a few US airports. 

I check the FX rates every so often. They were all coming over at the XE website FX rate down to the the third decimal point.

Same for cash advances. Great deal for the bank. They give us 1/2 percent interest on our balance, then charge 2.5 percent to withdraw. No wonder their stock is such a solid investment.

If we use our bank ATM card outside Canada our bank rate was consistently 2.5 to 3 percent highter than the XE website rate. Plus they dinged me $5. Marriott Visa cash advance charges 1 percent, minimum $5. May not seem like a lot but when you use foreign ATM's frequently it adds it. Plus, we often either avoid and extra merchant charge for using a credit card or we get a discount for cash. Either way it is a win win.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

I have Amazon Visa as my default PayPal card and I had it set it to something like "Bill me in the currency listed on the seller's invoice"

However I can't seem to find that setting in PayPal anymore, and I see people are reporting that PayPal no longer gives you the currency options on checkout..

It appears that PayPal is also now trying to score some more 2.5% fees. See recent discussion in this RFD thread


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## zylon (Oct 27, 2010)

I just remembered something.

Since the last time I used my card for USD purchase, my card has been _'re-numbered'_.

Maybe that makes me a new customer where old perks don't apply.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

So apparenlty PayPal changed their website in Nov 2016 and now you have to dig really deep to set the default conversion:

From Settings/Payments/Manage preapproved payments/Set Available Funding Sources/*Conversion Options*/Bill me in the currency listed on the seller's invoice

It used to be easier to find.. sneaky PayPal


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## zylon (Oct 27, 2010)

^^^ Thanks *m3s*


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

m3s said:


> So apparenlty PayPal changed their website in Nov 2016 and now you have to dig really deep to set the default conversion:
> 
> From Settings/Payments/Manage preapproved payments/Set Available Funding Sources/*Conversion Options*/Bill me in the currency listed on the seller's invoice
> 
> It used to be easier to find.. sneaky PayPal


Yes I remember having the same problem and had to reverse the charge until I found this other setting. (That is what probably happened to zylon)


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## cashinstinct (Apr 4, 2009)

Thanks for the tip, changed it too.

I don't have much purchases in USD dollars so I don't have a specific credit card, but the less profit Paypal makes, the better I feel.


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## Dilbert (Nov 20, 2016)

Okay, so I got my new Capone/Costco card in the mail today. All they offer is an $8K credit limit. So I call them and spend the better part of an hour talking to the CSR and then, her Supervisor. All I asked for was $15K and got a flat out, no!

I have zero debt and an excellent, unblemished credit history. 

They said you need to be with them at least six months before they will even consider it....Caveat emptor folks.


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## mordko (Jan 23, 2016)

Had the same problem with Tangerine. When I got the card they set the limit at $12K. It was tight; I asked for more but they refused. Another card just kept bumping the limit up until it went to $25K - without asking. 

They all have their little algorithms that some bright spark developed. Certainly cheaper than old-fashioned small town face-to-face banking but sometimes I wonder what do they really know about your creditworthiness.


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

I applied for, and received a Chase Bank Canada Amazon card. It had a 4k limit which was odd. 

Three months later I realized that I could get a fee based Chase Bank Marriott card. So I applied for that. Same data that I used for the Amazon card. The Marriott came with a 14K limit. Much better. Same bank. Same credit application. Same period in time. Go figure.

Costco Capital One has been 15K since we got it. No increase but we hardly need it. All the while, our CIBC Visa credit limit keeps going up and we are using it less and less. Now sitting at $31K. Never asked for an increase, don't need one, don't really want one.


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## My Own Advisor (Sep 24, 2012)

Marriott Chase great for international travel and one free night per year offsets fee and then some.

CapOne Costco is great overall.

Aeroplan VISA is tempting but I dislike Aeroplan.

Amazon Chase is good for simple online stuff. Rogers has a similar credit card now as well.
https://www.rogersbank.com/en/25stndrd


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## Dilbert (Nov 20, 2016)

Yeah, I'll likely keep the CapOne Costco card anyway. I just think it is too funny to have a TD/Aeroplan Visa with a $50K limit and a measly $8K on the MC. I do a fair bit of travel and entertaining, it just won't cut it!

However, I'll be retired this time next year and it will be a useful card then.


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## zylon (Oct 27, 2010)

kcowan said:


> ... (That is what probably happened to zylon)


Correctamundo, Sir!


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## dP21 (Apr 1, 2011)

Dilbert said:


> Okay, so I got my new Capone/Costco card in the mail today. All they offer is an $8K credit limit. So I call them and spend the better part of an hour talking to the CSR and then, her Supervisor. All I asked for was $15K and got a flat out, no!
> 
> I have zero debt and an excellent, unblemished credit history.
> 
> They said you need to be with them at least six months before they will even consider it....Caveat emptor folks.


Same thing here. I have excellent credit and had been using their card for some time (>6 months) and ran out of credit hence why I called in. Nope, not approved. Then stopped using save for Gas and Restaurant. 

PS - no incentive to using @ Costco except for the Costco membership card being embedded in it.


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## mordko (Jan 23, 2016)

Dilbert said:


> Yeah, I'll likely keep the CapOne Costco card anyway. I just think it is too funny to have a TD/Aeroplan Visa with a $50K limit .


I think they add up the limits you have between cards and other debt and then grade against your credit score. Technically you could max them all so giving you 10 cards with unsecured debt of $50K is considered high risk.


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## SW20 MR2 (Dec 18, 2010)

With the recent changes announced by Tangerine on their card, it caused me to re-look at my setup. I ended up applying for a BMO World Elite travel card (flat 2% travel rewards). It's part of a bundle where you get a free chequing account, and the card ends up being free. I was looking for a new bank anyways, so it should work out well. I will keep using the Cap One Costco cashback card for spend at restaurants.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

kcowan said:


> I heard that they have stopped new approvals but nothing about cancellation?


Using my card in Paris now. Charges seem to be OK but they have put a limit on ATM withdrawals of $C19 making the whole cash advance aspect useless. I think they are trying to get rid of us by attrition.


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## Koogie (Dec 15, 2014)

If you are talking about the Amazon Visa, it worked fine for me in the US last week. They have even upped my credit limit.


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## Spudd (Oct 11, 2011)

kcowan said:


> Using my card in Paris now. Charges seem to be OK but they have put a limit on ATM withdrawals of $C19 making the whole cash advance aspect useless. I think they are trying to get rid of us by attrition.


$C19? Is that a typo?


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## 30seconds (Jan 11, 2014)

Here is a great thread > https://forums.redflagdeals.c om/best-credit-card-combinations-maximize-rewards-2092652/ (added a space between the .c om)

Everyday Purchases

1) Scotia American Express gold - $250 welcome bonus and annual $99 fee waived for first year. 4x points in gas, grocery, dining, and entertainment (that's 4% cash back when points used for travel and roughly 3% when used in Scotia rewards). 1% cash back on non-4% categories.

2) Tangerine Mastercard - gets me 2% cash back in three other categories and has no annual fee. I use it for recurring bills, drug store purchases, and furniture. I got the 4% bonus in 3 categories for 3 months promo, but this is currently over. As of the end of April, it's 0.5% cash back on non-2% categories instead of 1%.


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## cedebe (Feb 1, 2012)

Koogie said:


> If you are talking about the Amazon Visa, it worked fine for me in the US last week. They have even upped my credit limit.


Did you ask for that or was it automatic? I ask b/c my experience w/ this card is I needed to ask, and it was still quite low, IMO, whereas a BMO MC did it w/out my knowing once years ago. (No perks w/ that card so I got rid of it.)


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

Spudd said:


> $C19? Is that a typo?


I wish! Customer service confirmed it and said there was nothing they could do. I asked where I could talk to "the system".

I will be escalating but it seems that FAX is the only alternative. Another poster over on redflagdeals confirmed that it also happened to him.


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