Home Trust Visa Credit Card

Very few cards boasting no foreign-transaction fees are available in Canada To us, that is an important perk. I saved a lot of money with my Amazon Canada card offered through JP Morgan/Chase. You see, during our winters overseas, we generally do most shopping on a card to save on ATM withdrawals. Also the bonus, cashback rewards add up more quickly when everyday transactions are included.


I got a pack of RFID proximity blocking covers. I'll still be able
to tap my wallet for my transit card and not get double billed.
However, JP Morgan / Chase recently pulled out of the credit card business in Canada. I got plenty of notification that my old account was going to disappear in March. I liked that Amazon Visa card, even though I'd not had it long. Now, during trips down I5, we will get dinged an extra 2.5% or 3% on US transactions.

So, I checked to see what else I could find. Getting this card took a while as I applied for it from Cambodia. I guess they have been overwhelmed because other, ex-Amazon holders were also applying to Home Trust. I got a PIN in the mail last week, and our cards arrived today. We'll see my opinions over time.

Too Good to Last

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Day 54 - Damn. Just noticed this warning this afternoon. I hadn't carried the Amazon.ca Visa but for a year or so. Yet, it had become my favourite. I love it because most all other credit cards tack on a 2.5% fee when processing charges in foreign currencies. I'm Canadian and as a nation, we use other currencies a lot, even if it's just a run down to buy cheap milk, eggs, and gasoline in the States!

In Malaysia, I have been using this card almost exclusively this winter. I use my card when booking online tickets and hotels. We even put all groceries on it as that cuts down on needing to run to an ATM. We've saved tens to hundreds of dollars on the conversion fees alone.

At least the card will last through the end of our winter away.

Our Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card

Some places on the Net today were all agog about Amazon's primeday. You'd think it was, well, Christmas or something.

I carry an Amazon Canada Rewards Visa card primarily because it does not impose any foreign transaction fees on foreign purchases. Having one is very handy for us. For example, I recently added the Amazon card to our Holland America shipboard accounts as they're are always kept in US dollars. I won't get dinged an extra 2.5% as with most every other Canadian credit card.


But I can think of one place where the technically savvy behemoth could concentrate. Well, I guess, in actuality, it is Chase Canada which much move into the modern era. Although I love the card there is no way to turn off paper billing! This is no longer 1987, guys. Get your act together.

Personal Quote #82

"Whenever I make an online payment, such as to a credit card account, I often round up the figure so that my bank balance will become an even number ending with zero cents. Is this weird?"

Dennis Sylvester Hurd (1959- )

Hunger in Our Midst

Last year, our sponsored kid exited the World Vision program. We didn't renew by taking on another child. Due to this fact, it dawned on us today that we should probably look around for charities to which we could donate. It was relatively easy to find causes to support. Now, with a credit card, it's possible and effortless to complete transactions in a few, short clicks. The Canadian Red Cross, even provided an official tax receipt in the form of a PDF within seconds of our donation.

Some of our contributions were to organizations we'd helped out during previous years. This is one cause which was new to us. I had no idea the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society helped so many people! As well as cash, I probably should donate some of my time to them.

The Details Have Been Altered

I just wanted to you to be able to see a little concrete evidence of expediency. Last night, I visited the website of the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation. The site mfaic.gov.kh offers electronic visas for tourists. I was a little surprised at how quickly the whole process went. We filled in some basic information and uploaded personal photos on the first page. The second step involved receiving preliminary approval. Then, we added more details including passport numbers. After all the information was instantaneously verified, a final step involved paying by credit card. Within a few hours, we got back our visas as an email attachment. We will need to print off two copies to take with us.

Compared to the stories we read about trying to obtain visas in Thailand or at the border, the process was a breeze. The ease was most definitely worth the $5 online processing fee. The only way it could've been simpler would have been if no visas had been required at all.


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One Step Above Barter

Last Friday, when we were paying for lunch in Bellingham, Washington, I was reminded how frequently folks use cash down there. I think I've had the same $20 note in my wallet for months.

I put almost every single transaction through my MasterCard. I owe nothing on the card, in fact, I pay a bit ahead at the beginning of each month just to ensure I never have to make an interest payment. I'm fairly sure I'm the type of customer that credit card companies don't really like. I do this not simply for ease but the bonus points I rack-up. We get hundreds of dollars cash back on grocery items every year as my card is issued through President's Choice Financial. As well, if there's money owed that doesn't go through plastic, then it is directly withdrawn through our online banking accounts. I can count on one hand the number of times I enter a bank in a year.

For these reasons, I am always amazed by how people in the States often whip out a roll of bills when making daily purchases. It just seems so quaint.

The World Changed When I Wasn't Looking

Frankly, I don't know why I held onto it for so long. I cancelled this today and now it is in the garbage. I don't think I ever swiped this particular card, even once! The difficulty in getting rid of an AMEX card probably stems mostly from personal nostalgia. The little piece of plastic said that I'd been a member since 1985. It's hard ending a twenty-two year relationship, I guess.



A standard AMEX green was the first credit card I ever owned. I had access to a US APO mailing address when working for the Taif Ordnance Corp School in Saudi Arabia. Thinking I was flush with petrobucks, they issued the card upon first request. That card did quite a bit of travelling back when the world was a tiny bit less global. I should've kept the receipts as a journal!

Even when first getting to Vancouver in the late 90s, I used to change on that account although it was in US dollars. Then, every month, I'd take the SkyTrain down to the Burrard Station and go in to the AMEX office and pay my bill.

I don't remember at one point I decided it was silly to have to pay an annual fee for the privilege. I swapped for the their platinum, but by that time I had pretty much switched over to a MasterCard.

Alas, it's the end of another era ...

Consumerism

Today was first dedicated to hitting the stores. It’s tradition that Jay takes his sisters shopping when back. We hit all the traditional places: House of Fashion, Fashion Bug, No Limit (formerly, French Corner) as well as a number of smaller places.

I once thought that brand-name clothes were cheap here due to the garment factories in the free trade zone. Yet, the BOSS, DIESEL, and CK fashions are imported. Still it’s interesting that a Calvin Kline shirt sells for less than $8.00.

We’ve discovered it’s easy to spend on plastic in Lanka. The point-of-sales terminals seem able to process a Mastercard in no time flat. Credit cards can be use used at supermarkets here too. It seems as if all the banks have really been pushing the use of them. This will definitely change how we travel here in the future. Even with the ease of transactions, nobody bought very much today.

Although close to sections of Colombo, it is still tough getting around. The busses and roads can be extremely crowded. There are some very nice wide, tree-lined avenues. When schools get out they are all chocker-block-full of cars, vans, busses, and tuk tuks.

Eventually after getting back and a little rest, Jay and I walked out to the closest junction. Lal’s place is directly in back of the police station here. The closest area has a suitable supermarket, video stores, and lots of restaurants. Life here is a little less bucolic than at the house in Minuwangoda, but it’s a great deal more convenient. I went to an Internet café with DSL. The access was fairly quick. I uploaded a few Flickr photos and added a few blog entries. I hope Google’s spiders haven’t abandoned checking me due to my recent inactivity!

In the evening we had more short eats, drinks, and quite a bit of the six Dominos pizzas that Lal bought. I’ve never been so stuffed! I was seriously thinking of doing something about my weight. After this vacation, I will doubly need to.

Paris or Peanut Butter?

I've yet to meet anyone who's actually benefited much from Air Miles programs. I am not talking about a specific, frequent-flier program, I mean the loyalty programs that are offered by businesses such as Safeway and Future Shop. I assume most points go unused. I think it is just a lot of hype. People think they are getting something for nothing when in fact most get nothing.

We shop for groceries almost exclusively at the Great Canadian Superstore. There are several with convenient locations fairly close but we nearly always go to the recently-expanded one on the Lougheed Highway in Coquitlam. Even when camping across this country, we ended up buying food from Superstores and the affiliated Atlantic Superstores back east. Even Dominion markets in Newfoundland are connected. The prices are low and the range of products expansive.

The Great Canadian Superstore's President's Choice Financial credit cards make sense for us though. Every purchase within the stores earn PC Points but their Mastercard returns 1% in points on all purchases. If I drop next week's truck registration and insurance on plastic, then we're assured of about a month of free milk. By the end of the year we'll have received well over $300 in free groceries. Now that's a reward program that makes sense to me. After all, food is a necessity as well as a personal hobby!

Appeal for Cash

Of course there are many concrete ways to help those in need. My basic, political-belief system would point towards donations to NGO's (Non-Governmental Organizations) for disaster relief.

It took just seconds and a credit card to make an online donation to the Canadian Red Cross. Even the tax receipt was received as an email attachment within seconds.

Birthday Balloons?

Honestly, the world is so much smaller than the first time I went overseas. Communication is so much easier and cheaper. There used to be a feeling of being elsewhere when it took several weeks for a letter to travel home. That meant it was an entire month for a round-trip message.

Now, people can live permanently in a virtual-halfway zone between two locations. I'm not exactly sure what this means for countries who accept immigrants. It used to be certain that a new comer was giving up the old life and was forced to embrace a new one. Now the dynamics are different. There are certainly advantages to these developments too. Jay's sister had a birthday last week. Rather than a mere phone message, Jay 'right-clicked,' ordered up a birthday cake, and had it delivered right to her house on the other side of the globe.

Sri Lanka Food - at Kapruka

If you can type in your credit card number nowadays, you can give almost anything to anyone anywhere. Relatives and families from away can provide so much more than just a cake!

Luxury Ballooning in Sri Lanka

Okay, that's what I want for my birthday!

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I Love Those Who Agree: Now Don Responds

And the result is, not only are we in touch at the click of a mouse button, but the world is becoming so similar. One can be away from home by several thousand miles and and a few continents, and still go to a cinema complex, watch "Mystic River", eat at KFC or Mickey D's, smoke Marlboro lights (or not), stop in at the local cold store and pick up a box of Oreo cookies and low fat milk to have on my Post Raisin Bran in the morning. Come in at mid-night, turn on a 29 inch TV and watch Will & Grace or Jay Leno, take a shower with Dial soap, and go to sleep on Martha Stewart K-Mart sheets. Am I in Vermont, Thailand, Bahrain or Sri Lanka?

A far cry from my Peace Corps days in a small village in Senegal.