American Credit Cards

This may be a silly question and if it is I apologize in advance! My husband and I will be staying in Vancouver one night before a Hawaiian cruise and I was wondering if we can use our regular credit cards at the hotel and restaurants? Or do we need to get Canadian currency for the day?

Thank you!

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Your credit cards will work just fine. Your bank will convert the amount by the going rate that day. For example, if your bill comes to $50 after the conversion you will pay around $38 US. Depending on the agreement with your bank/credit card you might pay a fee for using it with foreign dollars. The fee can be anything from zero to 4%. A small enough amount that it won't bother you much. Don't expect your Discover card to work out of the country though.

^Yup - but there are some other issues too, depending on which type of card (Visa, MasterCard = pretty much everywhere, AmEx most places, Discover or Diners very few except high end chain stores, restaurants, hotels) and whether or not it has a Chip (literally every card machine you'll come across in Vancouver assumes Chip & PIN by default - if it's operated by a cashier who has been trained, they can override that to allow an older US swipe & sign to work, but if it's a machine like parking meters, ticket dispensers you'll have trouble).

TL;DR - if it's Visa or MC with a chip and PIN, you're good to go!

Thoughts....

• most taxi's will accept US credit cards. However, I advise you let them know you will be paying by credit cards to avoid a cab with a broken machine.
  
• most hotels will accept US credit cards
  
• MasterCard and Visa will be accepted far more than American Express in Vancouver for restaurants
  
• McDonald's will accept your USA American Express
  
• city buses would benefit with Canadian currency
  
• cash only value restaurants will need Canadian currency
  

If you have a card issued by Capital One or other cards that don't charge a foreign transaction fee. I would use those.

Also check with your bank, they may have a partner bank in Canada to use the ATM without a fee to get local currency. For example: Bank of America customers can go to Scotiabank in Canada. This is helpful in certain circumstances listed in previous posts.

This may be a silly question and if it is I apologize in advance! My husband and I will be staying in Vancouver one night before a Hawaiian cruise and I was wondering if we can use our regular credit cards at the hotel and restaurants? Or do we need to get Canadian currency for the day?

Thank you!

 

 

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Hello, and you have not asked a silly question. Other posters have provided good information. Another bit of info for you: if you are asked whether you would like your credit card to be charged in U.S. or Canadian dollars, it is prudent to specify the currency of the country you are visiting. It is not common to be asked this question, but it does happen. If you choose U.S. dollars, there may be a less favorable exchange rate, meaning that you will be paying more for the items charged.

Thank you all for your wisdom! :)

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Will I be able to use US credit card with chip (no pins here) to buy Canada Line ticket at airport? Trying to decide if we need to get Canadian $ as we will be in Vancouver overnight before taking cruise to Hawaii.

Thank you.

Will I be able to use US credit card with chip (no pins here) to buy Canada Line ticket at airport? Trying to decide if we need to get Canadian $ as we will be in Vancouver overnight before taking cruise to Hawaii.

 

Thank you.

I believe as long as it has the chip you can. I tend to carry a small amount of Canadian currency, just in case.

^My cards are all Chip & PIN but for small transactions I haven't had to enter the PIN at Translink TVMs. Unless you're buying a LOT of tickets all at once you should be OK (I usually refill my Compass balance with $20 a time) - but a few of the frequent visitors have reported occasional problems with US cards at TVMs. To minimise the risk of rejection, ensure you inform your card issuer of your travel plans!

Will most places take US currency?

Will most places take US currency?

Some will, but you won't get as nearly as good exchange rate as a credit card.

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I have a chip card but do not have a pin. Will this be a problem?

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I have a chip card but do not have a pin. Will this be a problem?

 

 

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See replies #3 and $10 in this very thread - in short, small transactions sometimes don't need a PIN, and larger ones that do can be overridden if it's a transaction involving a person rather than a machine. Unless you mean that your card is 'Chip & PIN' and you don't have/can't remember your PIN rather than it being a 'Chip & Sign' card - in which case ask your card issuer for a PIN asap!

Thank you to all of you for your answers re chip only card. Your help is appreciated.

One minor correction. Dinners Club cards issued in Canada or the US are issued by the Bank of Montreal (BMO) or their US subsidiary Harris Bank. These cards work nearly everywhere in Canada as they have Master Card numbers.

The Dinners Club cards issued by banks outside of North American are processed on the Discover Network. There cards will only work in Canada at places that accept Discover. Some places in Canada will take discover but it is not very common.

Thanks for that em-sk; I knew Canadian Diners moved to being MC-backed, but thought US was still on Discover. A handy tidbit of info.

So the "Chip & Pin" cards that everyone is talking about, is that like a bank debit card? I have no actual credit card. I just have a debit card that has the security chip and I enter my pin when making debit purchases or can just use it as a regular credit card if I want.

So the "Chip & Pin" cards that everyone is talking about, is that like a bank debit card? I have no actual credit card. I just have a debit card that has the security chip and I enter my pin when making debit purchases or can just use it as a regular credit card if I want.

If it has the Visa (or Mastercard) logo on it then the answer is yes. That is why they always ask you will this be debit or credit.

So the "Chip & Pin" cards that everyone is talking about, is that like a bank debit card? I have no actual credit card. I just have a debit card that has the security chip and I enter my pin when making debit purchases or can just use it as a regular credit card if I want.

In terms of how you would use it - yes. 'Chip & PIN' is a general descriptor about the card's security features and not just restricted to actual Credit cards. As noted above, most Debit cards operate on one or more of the larger international networks - as a Debit-only card you might have something other than MC/Visa, like Pulse, NYCE, or MAC. but I think most issuers also run on one of the CC networks (I only have one US Debit card and it's a Mastercard).

NB: since your card is Debit-only, check with your bank whether it will work up here. All Canadian Debit cards work on the Interac system - if yours isn't MC/Visa-backed it may not be compatible with some or all ATMs and Point Of Sale terminals. Never ceases to amaze me how incredibly old-school the US banking system is!

Never ceases to amaze me how incredibly old-school the US banking system is!

I completely agree with that statement. I was happy when our banks started issuing cards with chips to make travel easier.

In addition to checking whether they work in Canada.... also inquire what the fees are. Would debit or credit be to your advantage?

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