Capturing favorable US/CAD conversion

[kstock11]

My Escape 19' won't be completed until January 2014. Right now the conversion is 1 CAD = 0.9507 USD. Have any US buyers set up a bank account in Canada to deposit funds for their future purchase while taking advantage of favorable conversion rates? My thought is that this is kind of like dollar averaging in the stock market. (When the market is down, purchases are like buying stocks on sale) So, if the trend is that the USD is getting stronger, you hold off depositing into Canada, but if the trend reverses, you make your deposits.

[cpaharley2008]

When you send payment to Escape you can tell them to deposit immediately, then you will be given credit for the difference currently or about 5% more. Or you can gamble, wait until January and then make payment. You will be given credi the prevailing exchange rate then. I'm going to send in my money next month and request immediate conversion for my December Escape. I just asked Tammy this same question yesterday.
Right now it will almost pay for my entire 6% sales tax surcharge.

[Mr.J]

Maybe use a credit card to make a payments from time to time when the rate is in your favor. Well as long as the credit card does not charge a foreign transaction fee and you can pay off the balance before the cc company charges interest. That way you do not have to try and open a bank account in Canada.

[cpaharley2008]

Most cc will charge a fee, mine did last year while in use in Canada and when I made my deposit on my first Escape earlier last year.

[Bruce Wray]

I'd second the credit card method, just shop around if your credit card company charges a fee for one that doesn't. I used my Chase Visa at the factory last month and there was no fee for that purchase.

Bruce

[Jubal]

http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f3...da-2064-2.html
The excange rate now is very good:
http://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/...rom=USD&To=CAD

[gbaglo]

And, will get better, says those financial analysts. No guarantees though. You could have bought gold...

[dave1]

May want to check with Escape as they have a wire transfer option. As explained by Tammy. Do a wire transfer to their US account, send them an email and they complete the transfer from their end and credit your payment.

Dave

[Jrn56]

Capital One is a credit card that does not charge a foreign exchange fee. I recently signed up for one and they also had no interest until June of 2014. Are there any financial experts out there who think the loonie will fall any further against the US dollar?

[gbaglo]

Go here:
Canadian Dollar/U.S. Dollar News - The Globe and Mail

for recent stories and opinions

[gabeck]

Some people buy US bucks when the rate is low and then forget their passports when in a location close enough to the border to shop !!

[Ruthe]

Our trailer will be built by early February. We've been watching the value of the Canadian/American dollar pretty carefully ever since we put down our deposit. So as of last week the American dollar was trading at a little more than 1.05 Canadian. We sent a wire transfer last Friday which didn't get there until Monday night and Tammy cashed it yesterday. The rate had stayed pretty much steady We ended up getting a rate of 1.038 which was a significant savings. It's a nerve wracking experience although usually the rate doesn't change drastically from day to day (at least while we've been watching) and now the Canadian dollar could go down even more, but we probably won't watch. It's a lot about luck.

[bisonbill]

I've been watching the USD/CDN exchange rate most of the second half of this year. I have a client who is paying in Canadian and started watching the rates in the late summer. Now I have to pay in Canadian for the trailer. Unfortunately, the client isn't paying as much as the cost of the trailer, so I'm not totally matched.

The USD/CDN rate as been between about $0.95 and $0.96 for most of this time. It got up to $0.97+ back in the middle of November during the US government shutdown. I think we have another budget crisis coming up in January or February so that's something to watch.

A few years ago the CDN $ was actually worth a few percent more than the USD. For most of the 90s' the CDN$ was about $0.80 (if only I could pay at those prices).

With the rates being so close, I keep looking at the prices like they are in USD, so I figure it will be like getting a 4-5% discount when it actually comes time to pay.

[dbailey]

Goldman Sachs is predicting the Canadian dollar is going to do fairly poorly over the next year. If they're right, you may be better off holding onto your US$ as long as possible.

[Ruthe]

That's right. If it goes down a lot more in the next two months we'll probably kick ourselves, but it's so hard to know. I'm just glad we didn't end up paying more than the Canadian dollar amount. Now with the build sheet done and the trailer mostly paid for we can concentrate on planning the trip out west.

[kstock11]

Any US buyers with an Escape on order, take note - they're running a sale on Canadian money right now. This morning, the exchange rate is at 8.41% in our favor. You can pay down your purchase at any time. Just be sure to factor in the wire transfer fees.

[Jrn56]

Wow, maybe we will buy another Escape.:

[cpaharley2008]

If it gets too low, they may pay you not to buy one…….

[cpaharley2008]

I used to follow the daily exchange rate during my past 2 purchasing periods. I learned that the daily rate really does not guarantee you that amount. When I wired money, it took a week, when I mailed money (remember to double your postage mailing to Canada) it took 2 weeks. What you can do is send the money up front and have Escape hold it in escrow and on the date you wish, contact them to process it. That process is quicker. You will also find the rate posted maybe different that the rate you receive, depends on which bank ETI is using. It ended up with too many variables to spend a lot of time trying to get the most favorable exchange. Just my .02$ worth

[CADreamin]

We made our final payment Thursday of last week and, on Monday, I called Escape and found that the money was already in Wells Fargo, the escrow bank. At that time, as Jim indicated, I was given the option to transfer the money then or wait. We aren't W.F. customers but, I was told by our bank, if we had been, the transfer to escrow would have been almost immediate.