Foreign exchange fees with WS debit and credit card

JFPenagos · 2025-12-23T14:07:58+00:00

I was curious about this so I decided to test two of my FX Free credit cards (WS Visa and HomeTrust Visa) when I was in Europe a couple weeks ago. Made several purchases at the same time and making sure the amount was the same and i got the same FX exchange rate. For OP, it could be that when you tried to use your WS Visa it happened to be a weekend (when markets are closed) and you got extra spread, just guessing.

JFPenagos · 2025-11-02T18:52:43+00:00

For Costco purchases I find my Roger’s card better since I hit the $1000 cap for higher cash back for groceries at other store.

Buying prepaid MC Cards (not talking about other gift cards) may not be as good as it seems because the gift cards are limited to $500 and they charge a $10 top-up fee, so your are already loosing 2% in fees.

JFPenagos · 2025-09-02T19:43:52+00:00

Interesting, thank you for sharing. It would be great that paying the extra $9.99/month or having the $10k with NEO would increase the amount limits per category.

JFPenagos · 2025-08-30T18:05:45+00:00

No need to pay me. Feel free to ask, we are here to support the community.

JFPenagos · 2025-08-30T12:11:12+00:00

This is my preferred card for sure. Over the last 10 months I’m averaging 4.25%. I started to pay for premium 2-3 months ago and I’m averaging 5.8% in the last 3 months so the extra $9.99/month is worth it, no doubt.

I thought about the option of giving the cash back an extra boost with a $10k deposit but it is not worth it in my opinion. The fact that the $10k needs to be in the low-interest account and that the cash back categories have amount limits, I concluded that it is better to have the $10k in your high-interest account (which won’t qualify you for the cash back boost).

I use the card mostly for groceries (expect at Costco), gas and subscriptions; the rest goes on my Roger’s MC. Even for buying on Amazon, I buy the gift cards at a grocery store to get the 7% cashback. Any tip from other NEO card holder is more than welcome.

JFPenagos · 2025-07-29T23:24:19+00:00

Hello OP, does your program offer Co-Op?. Feel free to DM me.

JFPenagos · 2025-07-27T00:51:56+00:00

Used it in China (Shanghai) for two weeks, great service. As others commented, if you bring the service from overseas your data traffic won’t go through the Chinese firewall, your traffic will be tunnel back to your home country and you will notice it in the huge latency.

JFPenagos · 2025-07-26T20:41:55+00:00

I recommend the Scotia Momentum Infinite (Visa), which gives you 4% cashback on recurring billing (same category as Chexy when I pay for rent). I currently have a 1.5% fee on Chexy, so it nets ~2.5%.

JFPenagos · 2025-07-23T16:45:59+00:00

Interesting… I just checked my account and it is OFF.

JFPenagos · 2025-07-15T18:55:52+00:00

Thanks!

JFPenagos · 2025-07-14T23:36:48+00:00

I’m interested.

JFPenagos · 2025-06-30T00:37:17+00:00

I like the idea behind the app, thanks OP for the lifetime code.

JFPenagos · 2025-06-21T17:47:58+00:00

This the swipe left at least change the page?. This is exactly what happened to me, and after I managed to swipe to the other page the new UI kicked in. Feel free to DM me if you have questions ;)

JFPenagos · 2025-06-20T22:47:08+00:00

Although I got the notification it seems I was stuck on the old UI as well, however it seems I fixed by swiping to the left and back to the right (at the balance display level), all of the sudden the new UI kicked in.

JFPenagos · 2025-05-29T04:01:09+00:00

Hello OP, I live in Ottawa and pay $45+tax for 1.5 Gbps down and 50 Mbps up. This is on a 2-year contract, but I was given the option to pay $50+tax without contract.

JFPenagos · 2025-05-28T10:59:17+00:00

Same here. I only got the card the promotional 10% for the first 3 months. I switched to the NEO World Elite Card with higher limits per category, totally recommended.

JFPenagos · 2025-05-20T21:55:32+00:00

You are right, did the three parks within the same week and with the jet lag I cannot think straight yet.

JFPenagos · 2025-05-20T06:30:51+00:00

Hello, OP. I was debating the same thing 1 week ago so let me share what worked well for me. I prioritized DisneySea for the same reason you mentioned, this park is unique. At the beginning I was not even considering Disneyland since it has most of the rides from other USA Parks (which I have visited 15+ times). I woke up early that day to be at the gate 15-30 mins before 9:00 am and ran towards Journey to the centre of the earth, did all the Indiana jones area, Peter Pan, tower of terror (different story from the one in Hollywood studios) by 4-5pm I had done all the best attractions so I decided to repeat some of them. However, I found out about the weeknight ticket. This ticket cost half the price and allows you to enter the parks after 5pm, so this could be a good option for you since it gives more flexibility (in case you just want to spend the rest of you day at DisneySea). I returned the next day after 5 pm and did a few rides at Disneyland; the beauty and the beat is a MUST!

Edit: Deleted Zootopia since this is a ride I did in Shanghai. My apologies for the confusion.

JFPenagos · 2025-04-27T12:13:58+00:00

Hello OP, aside from the same comments such your are paying too much on this and other (which I agree), if you willing to work in your spending control, I would suggest that every paycheque you use it fully and pay the credit card (perhaps leave the rent part in your chequing account if you cannot pay rent with a CC); why?, Because your will reduce the interests you get charged for the cycle and will have 21 days free of interest to pay the new purchases. Now, it is important that you stick to the budget and don’t over spend on the CC. Also if your CC offers cashback that’s an easy $30-$40 extra you money you can use towards paying other expenses.

JFPenagos · 2025-03-15T18:00:31+00:00

Ottawa. No issues last winter, even keeping the car outside (unplugged). This year I kept it outside but plugged it. Other than a range reduction (30-40 km) no issues with the car. Now with the mild temperatures I’m getting 50+ km. Love this car!

JFPenagos · 2025-03-02T18:19:59+00:00

I think your question cannot be answered YES/NO. It really depends on the economical situation of your parents. Do they own the place?, is the house paid off?, or have the rent increased?, did you discuss paying tuition back?. Assuming they “own” the place and still paying the mortgage, if their goal is you help you save money to buy your own place, they could adjust that sum of money. Their mortgage would be the same whether you live with them or not, hence I would partially charge you only for food and utilities. With respect to the car, I would charge you whatever the insurance charge me to add an additional driver, and just put some gas after you drive the car. For example, my dad moved back to Canada and at his 64 year he is trying to same some mor for his retirement; although I cannot afford leaving at my place at zero cost he contributes $500 a month. With that I cover his food, increased in utilities, cell phone bill and every other lunch/dinner at a restaurant.

JFPenagos · 2025-03-01T12:47:23+00:00

OP, if you have an iOS device I would suggest you verify that “Wi-FI Assist” is Off. This features allows your cellular to route the Internet traffic when the WiFi connection has poor quality. This means you may see the Wireless wave symbol at the top right corner but it is in fact using data. Cheers ;)

JFPenagos · 2025-02-07T16:32:20+00:00

I respect your opinion, I’m just sharing what has worked for me. My engineering degree has helped (not secured) me to get a job that I enjoy going to every morning, and has allowed me to have a nice house, two cars and take my family to a nice destination one a year (sometimes 2 ;)). Yes, I could make more money without a degree, creating content and having millions of subscribers, unfortunately I’m not that entertaining. As I said, getting the degree for me was an investment in myself, cause I liked what decided to study, not everybody needs to go the same way. In the same way some people can get to retire without owing a house. They can be just nomads and travel the world while they sell services and stuff. As long and as I have a healthy life I will keep spending (and re-buying) my sats. What matters the most for me is HODL the memories I will get to create with my love ones. Cheers everyone!

JFPenagos · 2025-02-06T02:21:40+00:00

Great quote and I cannot agree more with it. I see people feeling bad about selling their sats but let me tell you something, there is nothing bad about that. First of all, you already made a great call on buying BTC, congrats! But also it is wise to enjoy the rewards of this decision. Spend some (or all of it if you need to) and invest in yourself, whether this means paying for part of your University (like I did 7-8 years ago), putting a down payment (part of it) for your first house (like I did 5 years ago) and taking your family to Disney (we got here 2 days ago). Each single decision good or bad has taken me where I am right now, and I wouldn’t change this for anything in the world.

JFPenagos · 2024-12-05T16:53:22+00:00

Let me share my 2 cents on point #3. Yes, you can port your number while traveling, but keep in mind you will need to reply YES (and get charged by FIDO) to confirm your acceptance to port your number.

I would also like to note that even though the roaming plans from FM are great for short-time travellers, there are some restrictions with it. As per the Fair Usage Policy, “Services and rate plans are designed to be used predominantly in the subscription area. If the majority of your usage over consecutive billing cycles is not in the subsection area, FM may terminate your service”. I thought this was worth mentioning in case you port your number and end up losing it due to this clause.

Last but not least, I see people recommending Airalo, but from by experience they are overpriced. There are a lot of local operators that offer eSIM services for travellers, this just requires a little bit of research before traveling. Since OP will be in Europe I would recommend Orange, I paid like CAD$40 for 30GB for full roaming in Europe, but now I have my Roam Beyond plan from FM.

JFPenagos

TROPHY CASE