Canadians paying for gas at the pump in the USA

CDNolddude

CDNolddude

Joined
Mar 20, 2007
Messages
520
Location
Hamilton Ontario
I haven’t been riding or driving in the States since before Covid. Hope to change that this year. Is there still a random problem paying for gas at the pump with a Canadian credit card.
Sometimes it works, sometimes won’t accept it or any number entered for zip code.
Just curious that’s all
 
Can't speak to the original question, but some banks will suspend cards when in another country or even if far from home in my country.

Always best to give your bank a heads up in these situations, and of course stick some cash in a safe place.
 
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Sadlsor said:
Can't speak to the original question, but some banks will suspend cards when in another country or even if far from home in my country.

Always best to give your bank a heads up in these situations, and of course stick some cash in a safe place.
Click to expand...

Use to be that way for Cdns travelling US but not anymore. They do smart monitoring now they said so no need to advise. Still carry the local currency just in case.
 
Sadlsor said:
Can't speak to the original question, but some banks will suspend cards when in another country or even if far from home in my country.

Always best to give your bank a heads up in these situations, and of course stick some cash in a safe place.
Click to expand...
Yep always do both
 
I drove from Nova Scotia to California twice with my BMO Mastercard and used my postal code

B4V 8B2 .. I pressed 48200 .. worked 100 percent of the time
 
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I thought I would be smart and get a US credit card from my Canadian bank, nope can’t use it in the states most of the time as I don’t have a zip code at the pumps when they ask for one. Tried my postal code, nope, tried my close border town zip code, nope.
I use my Canadian credit card and use the border town that I live close to 98230 zip code and it works.
 
Last year, along with 5 others, I drove through New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut and used this same trick at all the gas bars, and it worked. Have also used in Michigan.

N7V 3V3 = 73300. YMMV.
 
The trick with the numbers plus 00 is about 90% effective from what I have found in the western states. It is getting better. Lots of pumps no longer require anything (eg. Sinclair stations) but there are still some that will not work without going inside, putting an amount on the card and then going back in and getting a credit for what you did not use. It is getting so that when I am asked to go in to pay, I just leave and find somewhere else.
The last time this happened was in PHX in September 2023. Shell station near the airport.
What is weird is that protocols differ from station to same brand station.

As for informing the CC company that you are travelling.....as was mentioned earlier, here in the GWN they use some kind of monitoring algorithm and actually tell you not to bother calling in to inform them.
 
Sounds familiar, from way back in 2014 and they still haven't fixed this.

Tourists Buying Gas In The U.S. | General

I am hoping that there are some Canadians who have figured this out already or Americans who can clue us in. I recently returned from a fabulous bike vacation in the U.S. We faced a problem buying gas as tourists because we do not have a U.S. zip code. Most pay-at-the-pump gas pumps we...
www.st-owners.com www.st-owners.com
With the millions of tourists who visit the US each year, rent cars, and need to buy gas and don't have a US zip code, this still doesn't make any sense.
 
I am a former Canadian resident....happily living in USA for 30 years. Business related with...treaty trader visa, green card, then USA citizenship a few years ago.

When living in Canada I set up a couple of US funds bank and brokerage accounts in Canada. Credit and Debit cards attached. Invested in US companies that paid dividends in US dollars. Additionally I bought US currency when the canuck buck was worth "something". Flying my own aircraft since 1972, with lots of USA travel, lots of gas purchased, accommodation etc. I was not at the mercy of the Canadian bank exchange rip off....they did and do not recognize anything close to the 'real' daily exchange rate....always a 10 to 15 percent gouge by the bank. When I travel to Canada....funds and credit card with Canadian bank. Never ever a problem. Saved beaucoup dollars over the decades.
 
Grand Rouge said:
I am a former Canadian resident....happily living in USA for 30 years. Business related with...treaty trader visa, green card, then USA citizenship a few years ago.

When living in Canada I set up a couple of US funds bank and brokerage accounts in Canada. Credit and Debit cards attached. Invested in US companies that paid dividends in US dollars. Additionally I bought US currency when the canuck buck was worth "something". Flying my own aircraft since 1972, with lots of USA travel, lots of gas purchased, accommodation etc. I was not at the mercy of the Canadian bank exchange rip off....they did and do not recognize anything close to the 'real' daily exchange rate....always a 10 to 15 percent gouge by the bank. When I travel to Canada....funds and credit card with Canadian bank. Never ever a problem. Saved beaucoup dollars over the decades.
Click to expand...

I just paid 42.21% at the bank for the US cash I bought. Example buying US$100 would cost me CDN$142.11
Looking at the official currency valuation comparison on the day I paid 5-6% extra.
 
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CDNolddude said:
I haven’t been riding or driving in the States since before Covid. Hope to change that this year. Is there still a random problem paying for gas at the pump with a Canadian credit card.
Sometimes it works, sometimes won’t accept it or any number entered for zip code.
Just curious that’s all
Click to expand...

gmtech94 said:
First 3 digits of your postal code then 2 zeroes after that . N0L 1G0 would be 01000
Click to expand...

I live near the Windsor-Detroit crossing - the busiest in North America and we regularly use the numbers in our postal code (N0R 1G0) and add a couple of zeros as noted above.

Thus, as @gmtech94 says, "N0R 1G0" becomes 01000 and it works fine.

At the Ambassador Bridge gas bar and duty-free store, everyone used to enter "00000" and also worked. Few locals buy gas there anymore as the regular stations in the greater Detroit area often have prices that are lower than at the "Duty-Free" store and giving Manny-the-Bandit (the owner of the Bridge) any money is not appealing.

Within Canada, the best fuel prices are almost always at large gas bars operating on Indigenous reservations (Indigenous people do not pay many of the taxes forked over by the rest of us).

Near my area in SW Ontario, that would be the big modern Bear Creek gas bar on Iona Rd. about 6-7 km north of the 401 just west of London, ON. I filled my car and two jerry cans there last night and paid $1.40 / litre which saved me save about $25 over the retail prices at stations off the reserve.

Finding these Indigenous-run places can be a challenge but the locals all know where they are and the fuel is top-quality IM experience.
 
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To avoid a significant portion of the extra exchange rate that banks charge, I use my CC when in the US (and other countries) The CC I use has a "no international transaction fee" which saves me about 2.5% per transaction. There are about 5-6 cards in Canada that have this.

www.nerdwallet.com

7 Best No Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Cards 2025 - NerdWallet Canada

The majority of credit cards charge a 2.5% fee on every purchase you make abroad. Avoid it by choosing a credit card with no foreign transaction fees. A U.S. dollar credit card can also be handy if you make frequent U.S. purchases.
www.nerdwallet.com

You need to work out the math. Some of them have a pretty hefty annual fee but if you do enough travelling it works out to your advantage if you use it enough and also use the "perks" that some offer. I end up out of the country quite a bit so it saves me. I also find that the actual exchange rate, charged by the CC, is a bit better than the bank so I do not carry much local cash with me to avoid the high exchange fees of banks.

I tried the US bank account/CC thing but the cost of maintaining/using the accounts was not worth it.

I also carry multiple CC's when travelling just in case one gets shut down but so far that has not happened.
 
MaxPete said:
I live near the Windsor-Detroit crossing - the busiest in North America and we regularly use the numbers in our postal code (N0R 1G0) and add a couple of zeros as noted above.

Thus, as @gmtech94 says, "N0R 1G0" becomes 01000 and it works fine.

At the Ambassador Bridge gas bar and duty-free store, everyone used to enter "00000" and also worked. Few locals buy gas there anymore as the regular stations in the greater Detroit area often have prices that are lower than at the "Duty-Free" store and giving Manny-the-Bandit (the owner of the Bridge) any money is not appealing.

Within Canada, the best fuel prices are almost always at large gas bars operating on Indigenous reservations (Indigenous people do not pay many of the taxes forked over by the rest of us).

Near my area in SW Ontario, that would be the big modern Bear Creek gas bar on Iona Rd. about 6-7 km north of the 401 just west of London, ON. I filled my car and two jerry cans there last night and paid $1.40 / litre which saved me save about $25 over the retail prices at stations off the reserve.

Finding these Indigenous-run places can be a challenge but the locals all know where they are and the fuel is top-quality IM experience.
Click to expand...
Can confirm that the indigenous reservations have better gas pricing. The gas station across the road from Great Blue Heron Casino up on Lake Scugog, Ontario, is sitting at CA$1.47 right now, and just down the road in Port Perry it's CA$1.60. That's better than CA$5 saved for a ten gallon fill-up.
 
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