Tips in Canada & Ports in Alaska

[6burghcruiser]

Has anyone used USD to give tips in Canada?  
Does anyone know what time the shops in Alaska ports open. We arrive in Ketchikan at 6am. Do the shops open early?  15 days to go😀. Thanks for any. Info

[oakridger]

I have tipped in USD in Canada but first asked the porter/bartender if they minded USD.  The porter laughed and said he actually preferred USD.  I'm glad I asked though, because it must be a hassle to exchange money at their bank.  I normally prefer to use the currency of the country I am in when traveling.  

 

~Nancy

[martincath]

While it's obviously best to always use the currency of the country you're in as a general rule, the hassle of exchanging funds locally is more than offset by the extra value provided you tip the same number of dollars - short of criminals who can't get a passport, every Canadian I know who lives within a couple of hours drive pops over at least now and again for Trader Joes, cheaper booze, Amazon Dot Com orders sent to a mailbox etc. so having to wait a while before spending your USD at face value to gain a ~33% premium, or cashing them in for a few points on the dollar at the currency exchange, is fine here in Vancouver for example. But if you do have both, it's certainly polite to ask!

 

As to the shopping hours, while most of the 'Diamonds R Us' type shops run primarily for tourists will open when there's enough people around to make them big bucks, 6am is a real stretch even for them, especially with the hassles of recruiting folks in a post-Covid world for low-income, no-tipping, seasonal positions like a cashier. Always best to direct your funds toward actual locals anyway - I believe Tongass Trading opens 8-6 throughout cruise season, and while Ketchikan isn't huge you can easily kill an hour of two just wandering around checking out some of the local historic buildings (wiki list of those on the heritage register here) before things open.

[Northern Aurora]

22 hours ago, 6burghcruiser said:

...... 
Does anyone know what time the shops in Alaska ports open. We arrive in Ketchikan at 6am. Do the shops open early?  ....

 

The gift shops in Ketchikan will not be open at 6 AM.

[6burghcruiser]

Thanks. I too prefer to us the currency of the country I’m in. But will only be in Canada overnite so hoping to not have to get CAD. Thanks again

[Kat915]

I used to live in Detroit area and always had Canadian money since we crossed the border so much. I took some old bills to the Yukon a couple years ago and they really looked at it since it was probably a 40 year old $10 bill since I moved a long away from the border. They took it.

 

I usually give local currency out but last year in Canada they said they preferred the US dollars so I am going to do the same this year but I am only in Vancouver for 12 hours. 

[jeromep]

The US dollar is worth about 1.33 Canadian dollars, so they immediately get a 30% increase in value when they go to exchange it.  Since the U.S. and Canada are close, both physically and in terms of trade, Canadian banks maintain U.S. funds accounts for Canadians and are adept at dealing with and making U.S. to Canadian exchange super easy.  These are checking accounts which hold funds in U.S. dollars and allow the user to have checks that clear in the U.S. just like a check drawn on a U.S. bank clears and there is no exchange rate to deal with when trading or doing business with Americans.  I think the accounts have even evolved to have debit cards.  I've never known a Canadian to turn down U.S. dollars.  And since their banking system is aligned in such a way to make handling U.S. dollars easy, any cash they accept in tips or possibly for purchases, will just be taken to their bank, and likely deposited into a U.S. funds account at face value.  If they need to exchange to Canadian, that would be done electronically as a transfer from a U.S. funds account to a Canadian funds account in the same bank with the value of the exchange occurring during that transfer.

[em-sk]

On 4/24/2024 at 3:24 PM, 6burghcruiser said:

Thanks. I too prefer to us the currency of the country I’m in. But will only be in Canada overnite so hoping to not have to get CAD. Thanks again

 

In BC in June minimum wage goes up to $17.10/hour.  So no one is living on tips alone.  That said Vancouver is an expensive city and certain it is appreciated in either US or CDN. No one is going to be offended getting a tip in US dollars.

 

Canadian banks have no issue working with US dollars in branch.  Fairly easy to deposit in person.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 27 by em-sk