Would Canadian hotel get 5% back from US Bank Cash+?

[flyingpenguin]

I'm unsure if booking a hotel in Canada (Holiday Inn) would qualify for the 5% back on hotels category for the US Bank Cash+. I think I would get hit with the 3% foreign transaction fee (because it would be charged in CAD). So I would overall get 2% cashback using Cash+ if the foreign hotel qualifies for 5% cashback, otherwise -3% from the foreign transaction fee. I know the category is based on the merchant code, but I don't know if a foreign hotel gets coded differently for whatever reason.

The other card I could use is the BofA Travel Rewards, which gets a flat 1.5% back, and has no foreign transaction fee.

Anyone know? Thanks!

[edited for clarity]

[databender]

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@flyingpenguin wrote:

Trying to decide whether to use my Cash+ or BofA Travel Rewards to book a hotel in Canada (Holiday Inn if that matters). I think the Cash+ would incur the 3% foreign transaction fee, so if I can get 5% rewards, then I'll be net 2%. The BofA Travel Rewards gets a flat 1.5% back with no foreign transaction fee.

In other words, would a Holiday Inn in Canada be coded the same as hotels in the US? Anyone know? Thanks!

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I don't know if the Canadian Hotel would count as a foreign transaction, but according to your own math the Cash+ is the way to go, as 2% is still better than BofA's 1.5%. The other things to consider would be travel/hotel benefits on each card and if you would rather have a different Cash+ category if you don't use it for the hotel.

[w20031424]

Ah.. That's why you need to carry CSP.

[databender]

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@w20031424 wrote:

Ah.. That's why you need to carry CSP.

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Looks like neither of us can qualify for CSP at the moment, but at least you're getting your foot in the door with Chase. Off-topic, but since you carry both Citi Forward and Chase Amazon, do you only use the Forward for restaurants/Amazon and keep the Chase Amazon sock-drawered?

[flyingpenguin]

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@databender wrote:

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@flyingpenguin wrote:

Trying to decide whether to use my Cash+ or BofA Travel Rewards to book a hotel in Canada (Holiday Inn if that matters). I think the Cash+ would incur the 3% foreign transaction fee, so if I can get 5% rewards, then I'll be net 2%. The BofA Travel Rewards gets a flat 1.5% back with no foreign transaction fee.

In other words, would a Holiday Inn in Canada be coded the same as hotels in the US? Anyone know? Thanks!

---

I don't know if the Canadian Hotel would count as a foreign transaction, but according to your own math the Cash+ is the way to go, as 2% is still better than BofA's 1.5%. The other things to consider would be travel/hotel benefits on each card and if you would rather have a different Cash+ category if you don't use it for the hotel.

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I might not have phrased it well, but my question is if the foreign hotel will qualify for 5% back on hotels. (I don't know if it would be coded the same as a US hotel.) If not, I would be -3% on the Cash+ and should use my BofA Travel Rewards instead.

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@w20031424 wrote:

Ah.. That's why you need to carry CSP.

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Haha, yeah, I'm starting to see that. My spend is too low to justify the AF though.

[w20031424]

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@databender wrote:

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@w20031424 wrote:

Ah.. That's why you need to carry CSP.

---

Looks like neither of us can qualify for CSP at the moment, but at least you're getting your foot in the door with Chase. Off-topic, but since you carry both Citi Forward and Chase Amazon, do you only use the Forward for restaurants/Amazon and keep the Chase Amazon sock-drawered?

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No, I use the Chase Amazon at drugstore since it gives me 2 points per dollar, and Amazon.com sometimes if I maxed up my Citicard. And I value the Chase Amazon points about 1.2 cent each because you can redeem them for roundtrip ticket at about a 30% discount. And I use these points to redeem domestic tickets and use frequent flyer miles to redeem for international ticket.

Chase Amazon points needed for roundtrip plane ticket.

25K 400$
45K 600$
50K 800$
75K 1000$
90K 1600$

[CreditScholar]

I'd be careful with this one, especially with the exchange rates you'll be given on a forex-charging card. There were some lawsuits previously regarding cards that specifically advertised no forex, yet they essentially buried the fees in the exchange rate instead. The conclusion was that consumers were being mislead, and afterwards that practice became greatly curbed.

I'm not sure if it still holds for cards with forex fees, since they may not be under the same obligation. I know years ago when I used a forex-charging BofA card overseas, the exchange rate I got wasn't always ideal and they slapped me with another 3% on top of that.

Given your margin is only 0.5%, a slight difference in the exchange rate that you're given may eat up the entire difference (and then some perhaps).

[flyingpenguin]

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@CreditScholar wrote:

I'd be careful with this one, especially with the exchange rates you'll be given on a forex-charging card. There were some lawsuits previously regarding cards that specifically advertised no forex, yet they essentially buried the fees in the exchange rate instead. The conclusion was that consumers were being mislead, and afterwards that practice became greatly curbed.

I'm not sure if it still holds for cards with forex fees, since they may not be under the same obligation. I know years ago when I used a forex-charging BofA card overseas, the exchange rate I got wasn't always ideal and they slapped me with another 3% on top of that.

Given your margin is only 0.5%, a slight difference in the exchange rate that you're given may eat up the entire difference (and then some perhaps).

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Interesting point. Wouldn't you also be concerned with the exchange rate on the non-FTF card too though? Even though it doesn't tack on an additional %, it still converts the foreign currency amount to USD.

I saw this 2010 NerdWallet study the other day: http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/top-credit-cards/no-foreign-transaction-fee-credit-card/#study Not a whole lot of data points though, of course.

Good point about the Cash+ only being a net gain of 0.5% at best. Maybe I should just avoid any uncertainty and go with the BofA.

Thanks for your input!

[CreditScholar]

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@flyingpenguin wrote:

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@CreditScholar wrote:

I'd be careful with this one, especially with the exchange rates you'll be given on a forex-charging card. There were some lawsuits previously regarding cards that specifically advertised no forex, yet they essentially buried the fees in the exchange rate instead. The conclusion was that consumers were being mislead, and afterwards that practice became greatly curbed.

I'm not sure if it still holds for cards with forex fees, since they may not be under the same obligation. I know years ago when I used a forex-charging BofA card overseas, the exchange rate I got wasn't always ideal and they slapped me with another 3% on top of that.

Given your margin is only 0.5%, a slight difference in the exchange rate that you're given may eat up the entire difference (and then some perhaps).

---

Interesting point. Wouldn't you also be concerned with the exchange rate on the non-FTF card too though? Even though it doesn't tack on an additional %, it still converts the foreign currency amount to USD.

I saw this 2010 NerdWallet study the other day: http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/top-credit-cards/no-foreign-transaction-fee-credit-card/#study Not a whole lot of data points though, of course.

Good point about the Cash+ only being a net gain of 0.5% at best. Maybe I should just avoid any uncertainty and go with the BofA.

Thanks for your input!

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I've found that my Chase and JPM cards give the correct rates, and I've checked this numerous times. I can't speak about other lenders, but there are reports that the Amex plat/cent also have something extremely close to the correct rates as well.

The issue stemed mostly from cards that were touted to be specifically no forex, yet "they got you" somewhere else. This is why people cried foul. For cards with forex, I think the attitude was "well, it wasn't meant for travel anyways so what did you expect? Use at your own peril." I haven't really looked that far into the exchange rates of forex charging cards, not recently anyways.

[Open123]

Right, need to be very careful when it comes to "non-forex" fee and "fee conversion" for exchange rates.  Most issuers aren't very transparent and you'll run into all sorts of opportunistic foreign merchants who will have no compunction to tack on added fees.

In general, here's what I do:

1.  When using an Amex, always request the charge in USD (or, your home currency), since it's a violation of Amex's T&C for merchants to charge a fee for currency conversion.  

2.  For MC/Visa, always request the chrage in "local" currency, since many merchants will charge a 3% currency conversion even if your card is a "non-forex" one.

When it comes to currency transparency, I've found Amex, Chase and HSBC to be excellent; while, I have no experience with the others.  I'm curious to see how BofA, Barclay and Penfed all handle the conversion rates.  

Reason #1 is why I suspect many merchants abroad eschew Amex.  They can't make the added 3% conversion on the unsuspecting, while Amex will unilaterally reverse any "currency" conversion fees from their accounts when charged in the cardmember's USD (or, home currency).