get a no-fee US$ credit card (e.g. i use TD USD VISA) 9 j( ^ h1 t$ u, q3 Ufind someone who are willing to exchange with the XE rate/ c3 x( o/ _7 Z# {/ D7 g# a/ x
deposit your USD either to your US$ credit card or any US denominated chequeing/saving account 1 k5 {% e* O: q8 B! S$ p7 bgo to the US and have fun (with thousands of dollars of bills to pay of course), _: H7 y$ M" K; n% C9 g. v4 ]3 V
pay your money when you get home ' ]5 v7 j- {0 |" `; q- c' b" A( C; h1 G" c t* l
the rule of thumb is: the less you get your service from the banks, the less you will have to pay/ R) t w& q0 O9 V9 s5 `3 V; s
8 L9 A: p& H: ?1 y( c/ M' D5 VIf you can't find someone who's willing to trade with you - you can trade with your bank with some costs depending on how much you trade. The worst is to swipe your CAD credit card in the US. Both VISA/Mastercard and your bank will skim profits every time you swipe your card.