US dollars in Vancouver

[Rmascot25]

do taxi drivers accept US dollars? We're spending one night in Vancouver prior to our Volendam cruise next week - we really don't want to exchange money if we don't need to. We'll most likely use a credit card for dinner so I think we just need cash for the taxi. Thanks in advance.

[markpark]

Yes, not a problem.

[hensghan]

We were only in Vancouver one day preceding an Alaskan cruise but we toured Victoria, ate out, bought wine, etc., etc. and had no trouble whatsoever using U.S. dollars. There might be some difficulty, I suppose, if you get too far off the beaten tourist path, but we certainly didn't experience any.

[cruz chic]

We were only in Vancouver one day preceding an Alaskan cruise but we toured Victoria, ate out, bought wine, etc., etc. and had no trouble whatsoever using U.S. dollars. There might be some difficulty, I suppose, if you get too far off the beaten tourist path, but we certainly didn't experience any.

I don't think the OP would have problems anywhere. We are all too happy to take USD:D.

[sail7seas]

When we're in Montreal each summer for our 'turnaround' day on Maasdam, we use U.S. $$. The exchange we get is dreadful but the convenience is worth it and we appreciate merchants and taxi drivers provide us the courtesy. For anything other than small expenses, we use credit card.

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

Wen have never had a problem using US dollars for taxis, food or anything else when we have been in Vancouver.

[PathfinderEss]

Absolutely no problem using US currency in Vancouver. I think it is more trouble then its worth doing money exchanging just for a 24 hour stay. We usually stay several days in Vancouver and use only US dollars. Have a wonder time, it is a beautiful city. If you use credit card, watch out of money conversion charges. AMEX is about the only card that I know of that does not charge those fees.

[Ephraim]

do taxi drivers accept US dollars? We're spending one night in Vancouver prior to our Volendam cruise next week - we really don't want to exchange money if we don't need to. We'll most likely use a credit card for dinner so I think we just need cash for the taxi. Thanks in advance.

 

Yes and most will accept CC as well. Just don't expect a good exchange rate. See explanation below...

 

When we're in Montreal each summer for our 'turnaround' day on Maasdam, we use U.S. $$. The exchange we get is dreadful but the convenience is worth it and we appreciate merchants and taxi drivers provide us the courtesy. For anything other than small expenses, we use credit card.

 

The reason for the horrible exchange rate is simple.... we don't use USD and therefore we need to exchange it into CAD. The banks charge us a lot of fees for this and basically the bad exchange rate is the way we do it.

 

How bad are the fees? Well, in my case, just to use a teller it costs me $2.50 because the transaction can't be handled at an ATM. Another $2.50 for depositing cash up to $1,000. (My previous bank allowed me to deposit up to $1,000 a month in CAD, but charged USD$0.95 for using the teller and charged me USD$2.10 to deposit up to USD$1000.00 and 22¢ per traveller's cheque is USD.) And of course, their worst exchange rate always applied.

[CtheW0rld]

Yes and most will accept CC as well. Just don't expect a good exchange rate. See explanation below...

 

 

 

The reason for the horrible exchange rate is simple.... we don't use USD and therefore we need to exchange it into CAD. The banks charge us a lot of fees for this and basically the bad exchange rate is the way we do it.

 

How bad are the fees? Well, in my case, just to use a teller it costs me $2.50 because the transaction can't be handled at an ATM. Another $2.50 for depositing cash up to $1,000. (My previous bank allowed me to deposit up to $1,000 a month in CAD, but charged USD$0.95 for using the teller and charged me USD$2.10 to deposit up to USD$1000.00 and 22¢ per traveller's cheque is USD.) And of course, their worst exchange rate always applied.

 

i hope you tack on an extra bit for your trouble of having to go to the bank.

 

i've been to 36 countries and always make the effort to use the local currency. it is part of the fun of traveling. those suffering from the 'the ugly american syndorme' think the US dollar is acceptable currency everywhere.

[bermuda triangle]

Cash is accepted, you can also use your credit card in most taxis.

Laura

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

As others have said, no problem using US dollars in Canada and Mexico for that matter. I always wish the US would reciprocate by accepting Canadian or Mexican currency but we don't. Doesn't seem right to me.

 

Barbara

[soldham]

With the US and CDN $'s being somewhere less than .05 from being at par (.9714 at this moment) I would be surprised if you get any exchange at all. In my neck of the woods the rate is 1:1.

[bepsf]

...For anything other than small expenses, we use credit card.

 

...You can also use your credit card in most taxis.

 

Be careful when you do this - Certain Citi cards (I'm sure others do as well) charge a $25 fee for Every Single Foreign Transaction!

Please check w/ your card companies before leaving on vacation, otherwise you could easily rack up hundreds of dollars in additional fees!

[MATHA531]

Be careful when you do this - Certain Citi cards (I'm sure others do as well) charge a $25 fee for Every Single Foreign Transaction!

 

Please check w/ your card companies before leaving on vacation, otherwise you could easily rack up hundreds of dollars in additional fees!

 

Huh? Nonsense...citibank credit cards charge a 3% foreign transaction fee above the interbank exchange rate. Today CAD finished at US40.973...so when all is said and done you will pay a tad more in US than canadian if using a citibank credit card for purchases.

 

Cash advances are a different story (you just don't do cash advances on most credit cards as there are high fees)....

 

Personally, and I may be in the minority, I think it is almost insulting to use US money anywhere but in the USA (or Puerto Rico or Guam or the US Virgin Islands or Liberia). I make it my business to pick up local currency at an ATM and only use local currency for those few times I need cash....actually I hardly ever use cash when travelling but that's another story...everything I do is on a credit card (a credit card that charges no foreign transaction fee such as the Charles Schwab visa card which even gives me a 2% rebate on everything I charge).

 

Interestingly enough, though, even when I use Canadian currency in Canada, oftentimes I get many US coins back in the change...it's almost as if US coins and Canadian coins, at least in Canada, are indistinguishable.

[Himself]

Canada does accept US Dollars but they give the change in Canadian. When I am going to Canada I ususally do exchange money before I leave home so that I can pay in Canadian.

[bepsf]

Huh? Nonsense...citibank credit cards charge a 3% foreign transaction fee above the interbank exchange rate.

 

Excuse me - I have no idea who you are, but I think I know what my card charged me when I've made foreign purchases.

Perhaps not all Citi cards charge the same fees, and my card certainly did as you stated last year - but I recieved a notice earlier this year that the terms for Foreign transactions had changed, and sure enough after placing an order with a British company I was hit with the charge despite the fact that the transaction was in US Dollars.

My point is to help make folks aware that there's a possibility of this occurring when using credit cards and to educate themselves beforehand - not to get in a disagreement.

[MATHA531]

Excuse me - I have no idea who you are, but I think I know what my card charged me when I've made foreign purchases.

 

Perhaps not all Citi cards charge the same fees, and my card certainly did as you stated last year - but I recieved a notice earlier this year that the terms for Foreign transactions had changed, and sure enough after placing an order with a British company I was hit with the charge despite the fact that the transaction was in US Dollars.

 

My point is to help make folks aware that there's a possibility of this occurring when using credit cards and to educate themselves beforehand - not to get in a disagreement.

 

Which citibank card do you have? I just went through every citibank credit card listed on their web site and found that citi cards charge a 3% foreign transaction fee but there was not one single mention of a $25 fee for foreign transactions...is it a citibank credit card? (I'm not questioning your belief...I just want to make sure I stay away from that particular card but in all due respect is this $25 per transaction?? I also did a google search for any credit card that charges a $25 foreign transaction fee and none came up. I will say, though, that citibank has begun on its statements to list the 3% foreign transaction fee separately from the transaction...namely the transaction is listed using the interbank rate and at the end all of them are summed and a 3% fee applied.

 

To assist me, please tell me which citibank card you have.

 

Thank you.

[MATHA531]

What happened a couple of years ago, the banks lost a class action suit regarding disclosure of these foreign transaction fees. So statements had to be changed and the fees disclosed much more clearly than they used to. Also what used to be a foreign currency exchange fee became a foreign transaction fee which causes a great deal of dissension.

 

In any event, Citibank has for a while charged a 3% fee on foreign transactions (it used to be a foreign currency fee it's now a foreign transaction fee). In the past, it was folded into the amount listed as the amount in US dollars. I'll try to keep it simple. Let's say the USD GBP RATE IS $1.50 to £1...you purchase something in London for £10...well that converts to $15 US...now in the past, Citibank would add the 3% exchange rate and your bill would say $15.45 and you wouldn't know they had added a 3% fee to the exchange.

 

Now, what happens is the charge would be listed on the statement as $15.00 but at the end of the statement, it will sum up all the 3%'s and list a foreign transaction fee so in this case at the end of the statement it would list foreign exchange fee $0.45 (assuming it was the only foreign transaction)

 

What is even more maddening is the charge no longer has to be done in a foreign currency. People on various boards have been complainng about buying tickets from Aer Lingus in the United States in US$. So you buy a ticket from Aer Lingus for $500 return NYC-Dublin. But Aer Lingus clears its credit card transaction through an Irish bank (well that makes sense) so according to the new definitions of Visa,l Mastercard and Citibank (as well as other banks) this is now a foreign transaction as it went through an Irish bank. Doesn't matter that it was in USD. You would be nailed in this case for the foreign transaction fee which in this case would be $15. People have been moaning about this for a while but nothing has changed on this recently.

 

This is what makes Dynamic Currency Convbersion so unappealing now. This occurs when a merchant tells you as a "courtesy" he or she will write up the charge in the currency of the credit card (in this case USD)....how nice. You'll be presented with a charge slip saying charge in euro 15.00 charge in USD 20.51. They are supposed to ask before they pull this off but sometimes they don't. You are asked to sign a statement that you accept the currency exchange as final. They are supposed to ask before they do this as the terminal does ask the merchant if you wish to be charged in your currency. Often they don't ask and present you with the sales slip and ask you to sign without reading it. If you notice what's going on, they have all sorts of lies ready like they have no control over it, it's done automatically by the terminal or the USD amount listed is just an approximation to assist you and the most famous of all, no speak English. El Cortes Ingles, a department chain in Spain, does this all the time. MC/Visa regulations prohibit this unless you give permission.

 

But the point is first of all the rate invariably is far higher than what the credit cartd company would charge for the exchange and guess what, you're hit with the foreign transaction fee!

 

My brother works in a foreign exchange department of a bank and so I am very awayre of all these things and again while I am not saying there is no such $25 fee, I haven't been able to locate it.

 

With all due respect...

[YHZcruiser]

Canada does accept US Dollars but they give the change in Canadian. When I am going to Canada I ususally do exchange money before I leave home so that I can pay in Canadian.

 

I'll only say this: What you do is smart and considerate. Do come and visit often!

[Ephraim]

If I remember correctly, a few CC companies tried a flat foreign transaction fee.

 

I guess a few of you might have missed the Oceania Cruise Foreign Transaction fiasco. Discussions like http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=974764 and http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=198517 are just two examples of where people got charges foreign transaction fees even though the transaction was denominated in USD, because the transaction was processed outside of the US. (My credit card processor offers the service that would allow me to process in USD and I have been offered the service in Spain, numerous times.)

 

See http://articles.latimes.com/2005/jun/19/travel/tr-insider19 for some more discussion of the matter.

[Ephraim]

With the US and CDN $'s being somewhere less than .05 from being at par (.9714 at this moment) I would be surprised if you get any exchange at all. In my neck of the woods the rate is 1:1.

 

They are kind in your neck of the woods.... very few businesses offer par, they usually discount 5% around here (multinationals, like McD discount by 10%). The bank fees are the killer, it costs me over $4 in bank fees just to deposit USD because I have to use a teller (it can't be done at the ATM and my bank charges to deposit bills, a fee that covers the first $1000 of cash.)

 

[And before someone asks.... if you ran a business in the US, what use would you have for CAD? Being a Canadian, running a business, my bills are in CAD and I need CAD to pay my bills.]

[solocanadian]

If I remember correctly, a few CC companies tried a flat foreign transaction fee.

 

I guess a few of you might have missed the Oceania Cruise Foreign Transaction fiasco. Discussions like http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=974764 and http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=198517 are just two examples of where people got charges foreign transaction fees even though the transaction was denominated in USD, because the transaction was processed outside of the US. (My credit card processor offers the service that would allow me to process in USD and I have been offered the service in Spain, numerous times.)

 

See http://articles.latimes.com/2005/jun/19/travel/tr-insider19 for some more discussion of the matter.

DO NOT use a credit card with a Black Top Taxi in Vancouver. Two years ago the driver compromised my card and spent close to $300 Canacian the next day at a shop at the cruise ship terminal. I wasn't held responsible and the shop is no longer there. Please be aware! This is my home town and I'm disgusted to report this.:mad:

[fann1sh]

I regularly shop and bank in both the U.S. and Canada, and know currency exchange pitfalls.

 

There are whopping exchange charges out there, on both sides of the border. Sometimes it's ATM's which have monster fees; sometimes it's "currency exchange offices" (often in airports) which don't charge anything close to the prevailing rate. Sometimes it's credit cards. (I don't doubt Brian, and neither should anyone else.)

 

Even a "3% premium" isn't the whole story. The "exchange rate" applied by the bank to the credit card transaction may bear no relation to the official spot rate on that day. Bank exchange rates vary for cash vs. traveller's cheques, cheques, credit cards, etc.

 

Few people find it worth the time after their vacation to check official spot rates for the dates of their credit card transactions. Ditto for ATM transactions. I'm obsessive, because for me exchange doesn't happen once a year. More like once a week!

 

Anyone planning on a major foreign purchase should check rates of exchange for different bank cards before they leave home, to find which one is lowest.

 

Anyone who just needs a few bucks shouldn't worry, and shrug over the knowledge they could lose up to 10% - for the convenience of using U.S.$ , or through ATM fees, or through their own bank's exchange rates.

[GarySuzy]

HI,

 

No matter what country we are in we use our AMEX Card and have found that it gets us the best exchange rate. This also gives you a detailed listing (inventory) or your expenses when you get home.

 

Gary

[MATHA531]

They are kind in your neck of the woods.... very few businesses offer par, they usually discount 5% around here (multinationals, like McD discount by 10%). The bank fees are the killer, it costs me over $4 in bank fees just to deposit USD because I have to use a teller (it can't be done at the ATM and my bank charges to deposit bills, a fee that covers the first $1000 of cash.)

 

[And before someone asks.... if you ran a business in the US, what use would you have for CAD? Being a Canadian, running a business, my bills are in CAD and I need CAD to pay my bills.]

 

Question...don't many Canadian banks offer accounts denominated in US$? Wouldn't the fees be less if you had such an account or are these accounts loaded with fees?