I'll shortly be buying an expensive round-the-world ticket, some CAD$7,000+, and I want to try to avoid paying a 3% currency conversion surcharge (thanks to First USA, my primary credit card issuer) on this large purchase.

One obvious option is to get an additional card with more favorable currency conversion terms. Plenty of good suggestions at http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum...ML/000378.html . But this will take time -- and I need to buy the ticket soon. (I know, I shouldn't have left this to the last minute...)

What to do?

Is my Fleet debit card (bearing a VISA logo) a possibility? A 1% VISA fee would certainly beat 3% on the main First USA card. But Fleet is known to have some awfully high fees for some services, and while it's hard to imagine a fee higher than 3%, I wouldn't want to find out the hard way. (And by using the debit card, I'd be giving up the bonus associated with my First USA card.)

Needless to say, Fleet's web site wasn't helpful. I did look, and carefully at that...