American Express Membership Rewards - Delta AMEX Gold exchange rate markup

hi! I'll be travelling to Canada in 2 weeks. Does anyone know what the exchange rate markup for Delta AMEX Gold is? How does it compare to other CCs such as Discover Plat? Thanks!


jsy9999

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by jsy9999:
Does anyone know what the exchange rate markup for Delta AMEX Gold is? </font>

2%

Yup, exactly 2%. If you've planned ahead, you'll have a card like Capital One or AFBA that charges a straight 1% if it matters to you, but many of the Visa/MC folks get 3% or more out of you.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by JohnAx:
Capital One or AFBA that charges a straight 1%</font>

Same 1% total surcharge with MBNA cards.

Also, be aware that many people have reported that Amex uses a different base exchange rate than what MC/Visa issuers use, such that the stated 2% Amex rate is actually closer to an equivalent 2.5% rate for a Visa or MasterCard account.

I was never able to determine what the actual markup is. But calculation using forex history sites revealed that it's between 2.6% to 2.9%.

There must not be a law that requires them to disclose the actual markup.

If anyone has historical data for Canada and wants to compare, I got C$1.486 = US$1 on 7 July and 10 July, and 1.492 on 26 June. The real-time data base I use (www.xe.com/ucc) was giving about $1.52 around then, but that's a rough approximation. Anyway, you can do better, you can do worse. The MR point I get, which I grudgingly value at half a cent, helps a little.