I just noticed that Amex gift cards at Shoppers now have no foreign conversion fees (only usable in Canada and US). I'm liking this as I want to get rid of my Marriott card at renewal as Marriott points aren't any real use to me.

Yes the processing fee comes out to $10.11 and Amex isn't taken everywhere but it is certainly a nice option.

I tend to buy the $500 cards (paying with Amex gold) mainly for my Costco shopping so at least I know I'm getting the double MR points with the drug store spend. The extra 500 points (hopefully 750 with an Avois transfer) is worth the extra $10 to me to keep building my MR stash.

Anyway, just an FYI for any US bound travellers.