Phantasmix

I came across this post on a credit card-related site:

I guess people don’t even realize that CC transaction fees are already built into almost every price you see when you shop. I would gladly pay cash if I had the option of getting a cash price for goods. But, since this isn’t the case, I might as well earn my Amazon rewards money…

Actually, I find that - surprisingly - just about everyone is open to negotiation, from Best Buy reps to small stores (especially small stores, of course). It works very well on higher-priced items. For anything above $100 I start off by asking “what’s your price if I pay cash?” Oftentimes they will discount beyond the built-in 2-3% credit card fee just for my asking “What’s the best deal you can give me?” Seriously. This has saved us hundreds of dollars just last year.

Beware, though, only pay cash for expensive stuff if you have total confidence in the retailer and/or product.

I’ve used Expedia a couple of times for airfares and have found it to be cheaper than Travelocity. This made me get a bit lazy with my fact-checking when I was booking our Juan les Pins (Antibes) hotel. Without comparing the two sites I went straight to Expedia.ca. (Unfortunately I don’t know any other travel web sites that offer worldwide bookings and bill in Canadian dollars.)

So within 10 minutes we found a mid-range hotel that suited us and booked it (Best Western Astoria, 3 stars). We weren’t 100% sure we’d like it so we only booked 3 nights, hoping to extend the stay locally if it turned out to be okay (it was fine, we extended the stay as planned).

3 nights on Expedia came to CAD$491.58. Not sure what made me go to Travelocity after the fact, but glad I did. I found exactly the same hotel, but for CAD$325.89. This was actually the rate that Expedia was advertising, but upon checkout they added some taxes and service fees that brought up the total considerably. Travelocity’s rate explicitely stated that “all taxes and service charges are included” with the exception of local tax. (Local European taxes are typically 1-2 Euros per person per night).

At that point - about half an hour after placing the Expedia order - I did some quick math, and even with Expedia’s cancellation charge of CAD$56.82, we ended up paying about $110 less with Travelocity.

I used Travelocity 3 more times for hotel bookings during our European trip. I prefer their rates, selection and cancellation policy. They offer a short period when you can request a refund without penalty (haven’t tried it, but it says so). And a couple of times we got really good deals with them, but the catch is - they don’t last! Literally within 15 minutes they are gone.

Expedia, however, still offers better airfares so we used it for our return flight.

In the future I will always compare and shop around more. The results can be surprising!

We ordered our plane tickets 6 weeks in advance. Now, about 3 weeks before the flight our exact fare would cost us $146 more for 2 people ($73 each!).

I always felt that you can get a better deal buying the tickets right before the trip, sort of like the airlines would be desperate to sell any remaining seats, but this time it seems planning ahead paid off.

I wanted to say “Thanks!” to Canadian Capitalist for the tip about asking for discounts. I got our Sympatico (high speed DSL internet) bill lowered to $29.99/month + tax, that’s down from $49.93! I didn’t even have to blackmail them. I didn’t dispute the 12-month contract but we don’t mind it for now. It will automatically expire in a year, and if I want to renew and go back to the lower rate, I’ll have to call in again.

If you ask them to match someone’s price, they’ll ask for the company name. But you can just call in and say - provided you’re OK with it - “I want to sign up for a 12-month contract if you lower my fee to $XX”. Their standard lowest contract is at $34.99 at the moment, but you can negotiate further. Be prepared for lots of uncomfortable silence while the operator types a lot. The entire call took 15 minutes with very limited dialog.

I think this must be the best kept secret in Canadian banking: credit unions. We’ve always, always had a credit union account, because they offered the best terms when it comes to:

- Checks: they’re free. Last time I wanted to have checks printed with TD, they wanted to charge me $18.50!

- Insurance: only now CDIC is insuring your bank deposits up to $100,000 but credit unions have always had it at that level (your bank deposits were only insured up to $60,000 until recently). I’m not sure this is a deal-breaker, considering that we haven’t yet had that much cash stashed at the bank. Also, for the most part it’s probably a theoretical thing. I mean when was the last time a bank in Canada defaulted?

- Free personal accounts. And the only requirement/minimum is that you buy shares of the CU. In our case, it was $150 per account (personal and business share cost are the same).

- Very, I mean VERY, low business account fees. We pay $1-5 in fees monthly on our business account, and we typically have about 20-30 transactions per month. If I did everything online it would only be like $1.50 at most. Sometimes I just like to call in and chat with the teller

- Truly personal service. Most credit unions are fairly small, with only a few (sometimes just one) branches, so you really get to know people. I always feel comfortable dealing with them just knowing that if there ever is a problem, people who know me personally will help me resolve any issue.

- Best interest rates. They’ve always had the best rates, especially for $US term deposits and GIC’s. Now they will match and beat any online special high yield savings account for $CAD accounts, too. Right now we’re getting 4% on $CAD deposits, with no limits, restrictions or fees! On top of that, they have special rate offers on deposits $10,000 or more. I know, I know, always wiser to get a higher return via investing, but what if you have cash sitting there while you make up your mind re: what to do with it? (This is the situation we’re in right now).

The downside is usually high Interac charges (65 cents per transaction) and, like I already mentioned, few branches. Not a problem for us 99.9% of the time. I mail checks to deposit, and do the rest online.

More info on Ontario credit unions here. Opens in a new window.