Sending money from Canada to the US

Question

I want to transfer money to an American bank account, but I am in Canada. What is the cheapest way to do so?

MetaFilter has:

1. USPS mail order - $700 limit, $4 charge
2. Vanilla wire transfer (My bank requires it be done in person and charges $30 per transaction, limit $3000)
3. Cheque: ($40 fee?)

Any gotcha's (i.e. HIDDEN FEES) and / recommended methods?

Answer 1

XE.com will do an ACH transfer for no fee, and they'll give you a better exchange rate than your bank. I use them for converting CAD/USD.