We don't accept Travelers Checks.....or Money Orders

[Andara Bledin]

Many, many places don't take AMEX anything, whether they accept trav cks or not...AMEX is notorious for being much, much slower than other Merchant Service companies when it comes to paying their actual vendors (as much as a month or two slower), while requiring instant payment from their customers.

We just started accepting Amex (again) through our merchant services partner, and Amex actually charges just slightly less than Visa or MC. And I don't think they pay any slower, but I'm not positive on that. Then again, I am also in the US.

Likewise I had to use my TD-issued VISA card in the U.S. once, and the surcharge for using it outside of Canada was a ripoff. Something like 5% of the transaction value.

Is it any wonder I still prefer travellers' cheques?

These days, if I were in your position, I'd look into buying Visa gift cards in US funds for that sort of situation. Your card provider sounds really sucky.

The last time I was in Canada, I just used my regular bank card and pulled cash from an ATM near my hotel. The exchange rate was close to the actual rate, and my bank didn't extort any outrageous fees for doing it, so I was happy.

^-.-^

[Amanita]

Can I have a Cheeseburger, have you asked your bank if they have any reciprocity agreements with banks in the US?
One thing I learned thanks to travelling is that Scotiabank has a deal going with Bank of America- Use a BoA ATM in the states, and you don't get charged the transaction fee. Likewise, BoA customers can use Scotiabank ATMs and not get dinged either. I would not be surprised if other major banks had similar arrangements.

[EricKei]

We just started accepting Amex (again) through our merchant services partner, and Amex actually charges just slightly less than Visa or MC. And I don't think they pay any slower, but I'm not positive on that. Then again, I am also in the US.
^-.-^

It's entirely possible that they've wised up and changed with the times ^_^ I'd not heard of them offering LOWER rates, tho. I think our MSP charges something like 1.7 (swiped)-2.72% (keyed) on V/MC and "not actually shown on the site%" on AMEX these days -- not advertising it generally implies higher.

The ads on the AMEX site do refer to "competitive rates" so maybe they've improved. They still have the rep, tho, which may take time to change.

[Andara Bledin]

It's entirely possible that they've wised up and changed with the times ^_^ I'd not heard of them offering LOWER rates, tho.

We took AmEx for about 2 months about a year ago, and they were way too high for us to continue. Our merchant services provider has been hounding us for the last couple months about their having better rates, so we decided to try again.

Some of their payment policies are irritating, but not deal-breakers.

^-.-^