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CSA TRAVEL INFORMATION GUIDE
As an alternative to the inconvenience of having to pre-pay for gasoline with the station attendant,
or even leaving your credit card unsupervised with the attendant while you pump your gas, consider
purchasing a local re-loadable pre-paid gasoline card for the chain of gasoline stations you frequent.
Advise Your Credit Card Company before Leaving
In today’s age of internet and general credit card fraud, when leaving Canada with any Canadian-
issued credit card, it is a good idea to telephone the card issuer before you leave to advise them of
(a) your departure date, (b) what countries you will be visiting, and (c) when you will be returning to
Canada.
The security department of some credit card companies, seeing purchases on your card from foreign
destinations, especially if there are several multiple transactions on one day, or even one large
transaction, may presume that your card (or at least your card number) has been stolen and is being
used illegally. The merchant, swiping your card through their point-of-sale terminal, may receive a
“declined” or “call for authorization”message. This of course is embarrassing if you know you have
sufficient credit available on your card.
By simply calling your credit card company before you leave, they will add a notation to your account
that will permit transactions being made on your card in the country you have told them you are
visiting.
Traveller’s Cheques
At one time traveller’s cheques were regarded “as good as cash”when travelling internationally.
In today’s age of fraud and high-tech counterfeiting of cheques and even banknotes, the same
guaranteed acceptance of traveller’s cheques may no longer exist.
When visiting a foreign country, many store merchants as well as some financial institutions may
be reluctant to cash traveller’s cheques in any amount or certainly amounts over a certain dollar
value, without insisting on putting a hold-funds on the transaction until the traveller’s cheques are
processed through central bank clearing to ensure they are genuine and honoured by the issuing
bank or cheque company.
Depending on your location, these hold-funds could be 10 banking days or more before you can
access the money.
Best solution for long-term travellers – Currency Exchange Programs
By far the best solution for a long-term traveller, such as a snowbird who winters in the same
destination, is to open a local bank account at a U.S.-based financial institution and arrange for a
monthly currency exchange transfer – such as the association-endorsed Snowbird Currency Exchange
program (SCE).
Upon enrolment, once each month, the Snowbird Currency Exchange program withdraws an amount
that you specify from your Canadian bank account. The funds are pooled together with the funds of
all other participants that month, and converted into U.S. currency at a preferred “bulk” buying rate.
The collective funds are then transferred as a single transaction to a holding account at a major U.S.-
based bank. All necessary cross-border customs paperwork (in the case of $10,000 or more) is done
for you. The funds are then, on the fifth banking day of the month, paid out to individual snowbird
U.S.-based bank accounts similar to an electronic payroll system. Your U.S.-based bank accepts the
incoming direct-deposit as cleared funds, thereby removing any inconvenient holds being placed on
your money.