Cash – buy in advance or withdraw from ATM?

[Aliks]

We are heading to Quebec in a few days, and have the perennial question of which card to use for payments.

As there are are no FX-fee-free cards that give loyalty points, I normally use my MBNA Mastercard which is FX-fee-free but still gives 0.5% cashback.

Inevitably there will be some situations where cash is needed so we want some Canadian dollars. We can buy CAD at Waterloo station with a 2% fee (as they offer weaker exchange rates) or just use the MBNA card for ATM withdrawal, however, this route involves extra fees from practically every bank in the supply chain and can easily add 5% to the cost.

It seems like buying £150 of CAD to cover a 2 week holiday is the best option but did I miss anything? I guess saving a couple of quid doesnt really matter much, but I like to check every few years in case the odds have changed, and I never like handing over fees to gouging middlemen who do nothing useful.

[Luca M]

I would investigate if Canadian ATM charge a fee to non customers, and if they do, is there one that charge less or is free. Based on that, a good option would be to have a UK account that does not charge Forex Fee and apply MasterCard near perfect exchange rate, e.g. Starling, Chase, Monzo etc.

If you also Travel to the USA often, then Chase would be my recommendation. You can also get 1% cashback on your forex spend with Chase (for the first year), so better then your MBNA