Which credit card to use for dining in USA?

Cuddlebudy wrote: ↑ I have the cobalt card and HSBC world elite.
Is it better to pay 2.5% foreign exchange with Cobalt to earn net 2.5% for dining.
Or 1.5% HSBC without foreign exchange? (Do I need to reject the terminal to try to convert to Canadian dollars for me?

People often said HSBC is great for spending outside of canada but will cobalt still better for dining outside of Canada?

Use Brim WE if you have it, you will save on the 2.5% fx markup and also get 2% cashback for everyday spending.

Scotia Passport Visa will also give you the 2.5% savings on the fx and give you 2x pts in cashback for spending in the food category.

Simplii Visa will charge you the 2.5% fx markup but you will get 4% cashback in category spend making it a 1.5% CB offer and it's a free card.

Cuddlebudy wrote: ↑ I have the cobalt card and HSBC world elite.
Is it better to pay 2.5% foreign exchange with Cobalt to earn net 2.5% for dining.
Or 1.5% HSBC without foreign exchange? (Do I need to reject the terminal to try to convert to Canadian dollars for me?

People often said HSBC is great for spending outside of canada but will cobalt still better for dining outside of Canada?

For dining, I'd pay the 2.5% FX for the 5x on dining for the Cobalt because each MR point can be worth a ton when redeemed right anyways.

efrant wrote: ↑ All of those cards still earn less than the Cobalt on dining, be it within Canada or outside.

Cobalt doesn't pay anything more than 1x when outside of Canada. Cobalt pays the multiplier rate only within Canada and in Canadian Dollar Spend. The question posed was the highest rate outside of Canada, but for inside of Canada I would agree with you.

ticat79 wrote: ↑ Cobalt doesn't pay anything more than 1x when outside of Canada. Cobalt pays the multiplier rate only within Canada and in Canadian Dollar Spend.

In theory yes. But in practice no. Many users have reported getting the full 5x points on food/drink spend outside of Canada. It seems to work more often than not, with about the same success rate as here at home.
You might be thinking of the Scotia Amex Gold where this is the case. 1x on all foreign spend, regardless of category.

Kiraly wrote: ↑ In theory yes. But in practice no. Many users have reported getting the full 5x points on food/drink spend outside of Canada. It seems to work more often than not, with about the same success rate as here at home.
You might be thinking of the Scotia Amex Gold where this is the case. 1x on all foreign spend, regardless of category.

If true, that's been the only reason why I held off from getting it but if anyone is actually getting the multiplier rate outside of Canada, it definitely would change my interest level with it.

Top 4 dining cards for use abroad:
- Amex Cobalt - 5X MR (5-10%) - 2.5% FX
- MBNA RWE - 5.5X pts (4.58-5.5%) - 2.5% FX
- Brim WE - 2% - No FX
- Scotiabank Passport VISA Infinite - 2% - No FX

I got 5x points using the Cobalt in the US in early 2020

ticat79 wrote: ↑ Cobalt doesn't pay anything more than 1x when outside of Canada. Cobalt pays the multiplier rate only within Canada and in Canadian Dollar Spend. The question posed was the highest rate outside of Canada, but for inside of Canada I would agree with you.

Cobalt Multipliers work globally - when I was meeting with Amex prior to the launch of the card in 2017 they even touted this as a benefit to the card and their product team was very excited about it. There is a reason why they state Canada only in their earning references however. You can read why here: https://blog.rewardscanada.ca/2017/10/a ... -card.html

Also we have a big list of locations in the U.S. and Worldwide where our readers and even ourselves have confirmed which dining (and other locations) have earned the multipliers.
https://www.rewardscanada.ca/cobaltmultipliers.html

Thanks. cobalt it is.
We have been trying to get more aeroplan points for a Japan trip next year.

Any claimed travel card should get rid of FTF, it's a shame.

nunoicx wrote: ↑ Any claimed travel card should get rid of FTF, it's a shame.

"Travel card" can mean many things, and not necessarily "good to take with you while you travel."

A card that earns accelerated rewards when you spend on travel (buy flights etc)
A card that earns accelerated rewards on everyday spending (groceries, gas, etc) that you can redeem on travel
A card that gives you travel insurances like medical, trip cancellation, trip interruption, hotel burglary etc
A card that us good to use for spending while you travel (no FX markup)

No card in Canada gives you all four of those. HSBC World Elite and American Express come closest giving you three out of four.

I'd setup a combo for US dining spend.

1. TD Cash VISA or Double Up VISA are your point of entry to US cards. With AF (but FYF), there's TD First Class VISA. All these are US issued cards and available via Cross-Border app
2. As I rarely to never need to dispute resto spend with an issuer, I don't mind using a prepaid. CDC JG/RI is +3% CB, 0% FTF up to a reasonable cap, then jumps to 0.5%. Pays out in CRO. Supply that on DeFi, don't worry about fluctuations (or try to shift your spend to whenever there's a market dip), and in due time (no guarantee but it's very likely to eventually rally, given the next Bitcoin halving is in 2024), it's a great time to get in. Once it rallies, upgrade to IW/RG, and get 5% cashback, PLUS a higher no-FTF cap, plus other perks. Combine this with Brim if you're not heavily invested in crypto yet and should be good to go
3. For cash only restos, keep some prepaids for trips to the ATM's. Consider WS Cash VISA or Wise prepaid VISA, and grab the odd fallback (1/1.5% FTF is still ok as a fallback)
4. Get at least one US issued AmEx before your trip, via Global Transfer ideally (limited to personal cards, afaik). This is where you want to put sizeable spend where there's the risk of dealing with a shady merchant (the need to request a chargeback)

That said...

1. book your trip from here in CAD using a travel card if you accumulate points
2. Park your Canadian issued travel CC's hidden with other valuables such as passports in case you need to make a claim regarding the travel bookings, and...
3. Load your higher earn no-FTF cards from here and/or US issued cards while you travel outside of Canada

Anyone know which card issuer has the lowest exchange rate though? Last I read, Mastercard charged slightly lower rates than Visa with Amex being the most expensive? That factors into the calculation I think.

Personally, I've been using my Scotia Passport Visa for no forex. You (almost) instantly know how much you're charged in Canadian dollars.

GooseAkuma wrote: ↑ Anyone know which card issuer has the lowest exchange rate though? Last I read, Mastercard charged slightly lower rates than Visa with Amex being the most expensive? That factors into the calculation I think.

Personally, I've been using my Scotia Passport Visa for no forex. You (almost) instantly know how much you're charged in Canadian dollars.

1. Canadian issued cards transacting in USD - AmEx is comparable to MC
2. Other forex (Canadian issued cards) - AmEx comparable to VISA because it converts to USD, and then to CAD (2.5% FTF where applicable only charged once)

To be fair, the difference is trivial. If you're using a no-FTF card, you're already winning.

Just got back from my Florida trip.

I ended up using A/X cobalt for some transactions, hsbc World elite MC for some and TD VISA infinite privilege for others (spend for SUB)

When I divide the cdn charges on my cards to the usd charges by merchant.
I’m seeing 0% FTF for hsbc, 2:5% for both the A/X and VISA. I don’t see any higher than others.

And I am getting 5% MR for using cobalt for restaurants.
Going forwards, I will stick with cobalt for restaurants/groceries and hsbc for “others”

Also, I didn’t encounter any merchants not willing to accept A/X. They looked at me funny when I asked if they would take A/X.

Cuddlebudy wrote: ↑
Also, I didn’t encounter any merchants not willing to accept A/X. They looked at me funny when I asked if they would take A/X.

Not surprising, AMEX acceptance in US is much higher than anywhere else around the world. If you travel elsewhere you'll find AMEX acceptance is much lower unless you go to chain stores or tourist traps.