get a no-fee US$ credit card (e.g. i use TD USD VISA)9 P+ W" @8 E% m2 ?$ }
find someone who are willing to exchange with the XE rate- o: ^; ^5 C' e7 ]1 d* O
deposit your USD either to your US$ credit card or any US denominated chequeing/saving account 5 ~8 I# j& n( g4 Q, Lgo to the US and have fun (with thousands of dollars of bills to pay of course)7 D, @5 X+ w- f* N: W. n
pay your money when you get home0 m( s4 |# e! l! p! ]
4 G9 ^" g: I5 b8 }' M4 z
the rule of thumb is: the less you get your service from the banks, the less you will have to pay 0 ]+ S& g& z* \: N, x" [6 a9 h4 B1 @2 ]1 z$ @ C3 Q
If 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.