Originally Posted by
airoli
So, are there better options to get foreign cash? What would it have cost you to get USD200 in cash at a bank in Canada or the US? Certainly, a cash withdrawal using a credit card would be worse...
And edited to add: For CAD - USD, the spread on cash exchange rates may be relatively small due to volume. But when I get SEK, TRY, ILS etc. I struggle to imagine there would be more favorable options than debit card at ATM in destination country...?
I think it's still a pretty good option. The rate is better than what you'd get at a retail bank or exchange counter and there are no per-transaction fees (at least in my example). Where it falls down is countries that charge huge scam fees to foreign debit cards - India, Thailand and the Philippines come to mind. So if you just need a small amount of local cash for emergencies it becomes way cheaper to use an exchange counter or order it from your local bank at a poor rate but with no fixed fees.
For currencies you use frequently, such as USD for Canadians, one option is to open a free USD savings account at a Canadian institution (RBC and Tangerine both offer them), buy your USD in bulk through an online forex trader like XE or Knightsbridge, then withdraw cash before you leave home. This will pretty reliably save you 2%, but is probably only worth the hassle if you're using several thousand dollars worth of US cash per year. For pocket money here and there, it isn't worth the time IMO.