Canadian Money

[geoherb]

We cruised from Quebec to Boston this year on the Veendam and never needed any Canadian currency. Everywhere we went accepted either U.S. cash or credit cards--even the small bakery where we ate lunch in a little town past Peggy's Cove. One of our cab drivers in Quebec took a credit card. The other one preferred U.S. cash.

 

The same was true last year when we spent one night in Vancouver at the end of our cruise tour to Alaska.

[soldham]

I agree using the local currency is part of the experience. And, to be honest, it shows respect to the country regardless as a currency is very closely tied to a country's identity.

 

Just like it pays to speak a bit of the language of the country you visit and not assume they speak English I have found using local currency is appreciated in any country without an collapsing financial infrastructure :cool:

[drowelf]

I agree. We always get some "destination currency" before we leave home. For the easy ones, like CA$, Pounds, and Euros, our branch of Bank of America has them on hand, so there's no fee (for account holders). For less commonly requested currencies, they do charge a delivery fee. But it's still a better deal than airport exchanges.

 

Have to partially agree here. Never use an airport or other money exchange facility they are a rip-off. But as for destination currency, we always get some as soon as we land in the destination country. We simply find a Bank ATM at the airport and withdraw a convenient amount of money. Generally you get a very good exchange rate, but check with your bank about the per transaction fees. I belong to a Credit Union and they only charge $1.50 for a non-them ATM withdrawal. Easy-Peasy. Also let your Bank know you are going to be out of the country, otherwise you may find your ATM card suddenly stops working.

[erewhon]

A timely reminder for me to check how many Canadian dollars we still have after our last visit to Canada, and obtain some plus US$ from our local bank.

[3rdGenCunarder]

Have to partially agree here. Never use an airport or other money exchange facility they are a rip-off. But as for destination currency, we always get some as soon as we land in the destination country. We simply find a Bank ATM at the airport and withdraw a convenient amount of money. Generally you get a very good exchange rate, but check with your bank about the per transaction fees. I belong to a Credit Union and they only charge $1.50 for a non-them ATM withdrawal. Easy-Peasy. Also let your Bank know you are going to be out of the country, otherwise you may find your ATM card suddenly stops working.

 

Our bank has international "friends" that allow us to use the ATM without out-of-network fees, so I'm picky about ATMs, trying to stick with the friends. I'm also a bit superstitious about what if I arrive and the ATM network is down or the ATM is out of money. VERY unlikely, I know. But it's a bit of peace of mind for a worry-wart.

 

Good advice about letting the bank know about foreign travel.

 

Also let your credit card company know, even if they say you don't have to. Our cc company sent out an email this spring saying that we no longer had to tell them about travel. Before we left on vacation last month, I called to find out about this. I was told I didn't HAVE TO tell them, but I could. So I asked what happens when transactions show up from another country. He said if there's a problem, "we'll contact you." Well, how stupid is that? They have my email address, but I don't necessarily check email every day when I travel abroad. In this case we were using a cellphone supplied by our tour company, so I didn't have a travel contact phone number. And I wasn't going to check messages on our home phone or US cell. So if they "contacted me," how would I know? I'd have to wait until the card was declined somewhere and then scramble to get the account unfrozen. So I told them I wanted a note on our file, and they did that. And we had no problems with the card.

[sail7seas]

I always call our credit card company when we travel except for AmEx. They really do mean it and have for years...... don't call us is their message. We have never had AmEx refused but we know you must have a Visa or M/C for those places that don't accept AmEx.