Questions for Canadian owners

[SmilingGrump]

Originally Posted by Lizard Valley

It's interesting that you would bring up the Target card. Just for fun, I applied for the Target credit card online, to see if I could get one with my Canadian address. It was approved on the spot, received it at home within a week. It only has a 200$ limit, but hey, at least I can get the 5% discount

The next time I'm at a Target, I'll probably get the debit card and just use that for the discount...now that I have a US bank account to debit from

BTW, I wanted the US bank account so that I wouldn't have to pay my mf's in one shot with my credit card at the beginning of the year. I wanted to be able to pay monthly.

Hmmmm

My wife applied in person and she got a response requesting more information she'd already supplied 2 weeks later in the mail (Kohl's approved her on the spot lol). I guess I should tell her to apply online!

[Canadian Disney Mom]

Originally Posted by Lizard Valley

1. What is the most efficient and economical (keeping in mind exchange rates) way that you have found to pay your yearly maintenance fees?

We have been members since 2005. We have always paid our dues using our good ole Canadian CIBC Visa. We don't have a US bank account. We also don't use cash when we are travelling in the US - credit cards always give you a better exchange rate then a bank as the same uplift is not there.

Originally Posted by Lizard Valley

2. How do you manage the payments you receive for points you have rented out, again taking advantage of good exchange rates?

We have rented out points in the past and the renter paid by check. We also have a paypal account that is linked to both our Visa & bank account so we could accept rental payment that way as well if we chose to, but I think you need to pay a % to withdraw it from paypal. Be wary of Western Union.

[DougEMG]

Originally Posted by Lizard Valley

Hi everyone, OP here, Doug EMG asked me to let him know if I can up with a cheaper/better solution. So, I've done some research, and I've come up with some good stuff for us Canadian owners:

RBC has a unique product, that is aimed at Canadian snowbirds. You can open up an RBC Bank US Access bank account right from a Canadian RBC branch. It's a real US bank account, with free cheques, and a Visa debit card, for $2.95/mth. It can be fully linked with an RBC Canadian $ bank account (free), as well as an RBC Canadian USD bank account (also free), with one sign in. This allows you to move money from your US Access account in the US to either account in Canada, instantly and online. You would use the US Access account to set up monthly payments for your mf's

The other unique feature is that these are (reportedly) the only USD bank accounts that can be fully linked to your Canadian Paypal account and will allow you to move USD from Paypal into either your US Access account, or into your Canadian USD account, therefore keeping the money in USD's and not having to incur Paypal's crazy foreign transaction fees. If you're regularly renting out points, this can save quite a bit of money.

So, I have gone ahead and set this all up . Note: I don't bank with RBC. I just walked into my local branch, told them I wanted to open a US dollar savings account (called e-savings) and a US Access account. They knew exactly what I was talking about. Someone was available, and we got everything done in about 45 min's (including chit chat). I also opened a free Canadian $ everyday banking account, to get the debit card and be able to do online banking. The two RBC Canada bank accounts were good to go right away, the US Access application was sent to the U.S. from the bank.

A week later, I received my US Access banking information. I called the number, and a very efficient employee from RBC Bank (USA) talked me through setting up my online banking, subscribing to e-statements, linking this account to my Canadian RBC accounts, ordered my cheques, and my Visa debit account. Easy-peasy.

I have since successfully linked both the US Access account and the USD e-savings account to Paypal, and confirmed that I can send money both ways, with no fees. (There is a trick here, you have to use a very specific routing number for the e-savings account, and it's not the one the bank will give you, this is where the research helped). I have also sent money to both USD accounts using XE.com.

So now, I can pay my mf's monthly, and I can accept point rental payments via paypal without paying a currency conversion transaction fee

My first day back at work after spending two weeks down in WDW and I went into RBC and had them set up the two accounts for me today; the Canadian US$ account and the USA US$ account. Went very smoothly. Now just to wait till I get the info on the USA US$ account so I can link it up to PayPal.

Thanks