West Seattle will get a new Escape

[BillJ]

We ordered a 19’ in May and can’t wait for our February completion. Semi-retired and done with tent camping! Just started surfing through this forum and it looks like a great place to compare notes and meet some good people.

This is our first across-the-border purchase and we’re curious how other state side buyers handled the monetary exchange without fees or other penalties. We know about the current exchange rate advantage but want to avoid giving some of that advantage away to the banks or money exchange services. We would appreciate any advice such as whether it’s best to get our USA bank to generate a check in Canadian dollars or take a check in USA dollars to a Canadian bank, or just pay Escape in USA dollars. We assume that one way or another would minimize exchange service fees.

Regardless, no matter how we proceed with the transaction it’s going to be fun learning more about our new travel trailer through this forum and watching out for other Escape rigs cruising down the highway.

Bill and Peggy

[kands]

Just pay Escape in U.S. dollars. Tammy will get a good exchange rate. After talking to Tammy about the current exchange rates I sent a certified check via registered mail for approximately the C$ amount I wanted to pay. Any difference can be easily taken care of via a credit card. Easy.

We love our new 21!

[rbryan4]

You'll never get the full exchange rate. Any exchange system means at least some fees. We did what kands did- just pay Escape directly with US funds. The bank that Escape uses has a very good rate and low exchange fee. I'm sure there are other methods that might save you a few bucks, but for us, just paying them directly meant one less thing to worry about.

[Charlie & Lucy]

We sent a cashiers check one time, and also sent a personal check sent via USPS. Took a week from the east coast. No fees as all. Being you are in Seattle should only take a few days.

[Donna D.]

Good for you Bill and Peggy. Since you're in Seattle, do you plan to hand carry your build sheet to ETI? I'd recommend it. I went up 90 days before completion date and made last minute build sheet changes due to a walk through of other trailers on the lot. Nothing quite like seeing in person to make those last bit decisions.

Best of luck, you're buying a memory maker!

[BillJ]

Thanks all!
Sounds pretty straightforward. We visited the factory and filled out our initial build sheet when we made our deposit. Donna D. is right that seeing the trailers in person is a great way to get it right. We need to fill in blanks on a couple of details like materials and so on and are considering getting everything done including the final payment while the exchange rate is still good, at least on our side of the border. We appreciate all your kind and quick replies and look forward to staying in touch with other owners through this forum. Lots to learn.
Bill and Peggy

[OneOleMan]

Congratulations, Bill and Peggy, it's nice to see another Escape comin' to town. Like many others I went to my bank, got cashiers checks and sent them to ETI. When I went to pick up "Escaping Reality" there was a small credit balance that quickly disappeared when I added little items like carpet on the step.

[Rossue]

One way to do it is if you have a brokerage account they can create an account for you internally where they then are wiring Canadian funds to Escape. We had to do this to pay for some things for our daughter in UK. You will know what the exchange rate is for sure then prior to conversion, and there was no charge for the wire to us.

[Greg A]

We use XE.com and all you have to do is open an account, setup your bank account info and the ETI recipient mailing info. You don't need their bank info because you can use the free mailed draft option. You control what the exchange rate offer is and when you accept it you immediately have that locked in. Then they ACH USD out of your account and mail a draft in the converted CAD to ETI. They've gotten both our mailed drafts in under 7 days from accepting the XE offer. No fees for any of this and no gamble on what the conversion rate will be.

[Donna D.]

I'd like to invite you to the first egg gathering of 2016. http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f17/2016-april-21-24-spring-nog-northern-oregon-gathering-5510.html

Hope you can make it! Tons of fun

[Ralph & Paulette]

We are planning on having the funds wired from a Vanguard brokerage account. They will convert to Canadian dollars and don't charge an fees. I checked the exchange rate they would use a few weeks back and it was very very close to the spot rate you will find online, so it wasn't inflated to make up for the lack of fees.

Also, if you already have the money, you can "lock in" the rate by purchasing FXC in your brokerage account. This is a Canadian Dollar ETF (exchange traded fund). If the exchange rate gets worse between now and when you wire the funds, you will make it back by a corresponding gain on your FXC holding, although you will have to pay capital gains tax on the gain. Of course if the exchange rate continues to improve you won't benefit from the better rate because your FXC holding goes down by the same amount.

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by Ralph & Paulette

Also, if you already have the money, you can "lock in" the rate by purchasing FXC in your brokerage account. This is a Canadian Dollar ETF (exchange traded fund).

You lock in the rate in your brokerage account. The rate you get with ETI is based on the date/day they get your money and it's deposited. Your account and ETI are completely separate things.

[Ralph & Paulette]

Right, hope I didn't confuse anybody with that. Technically it is a hedge. Your ETF will go up or down in value by the same amount as ETI 's exchange rate (or in my case Vanguard's). So, except for a possibly small tax liability from the sale of the ETF, you won't have to come up with additional $$ if the exchange rate is worse when it comes time to pay.