US$ in Canada?

[Hate 2 W8t]

DH and I are arriving the day before our embark. I know this sounds American-centric, but...can you make purchase in Vancouver / Victoria with US dollars? Or do I have to exchange for any purchases there? I know I can just use my credit card, but occassionally you will come across places that don't take it (i.e. small eateries). Stupid question??? :o

[Urban trekker]

US$ are widely accepted just about everywhere in Vancouver and Victoria but you won't get a very good exchange rate - the current rate is around 22% but most establishments are giving around 10 -15%

 

There are a number of currency exchanges in the downtown Vancouver core including i beleive one right in Canada Place

 

Some of the other Vancouverites on these boards will probably give you some more tips

 

Cheers and enjoy Vancouver/Victoria

 

dENNIS

[Yukon]

Asking the question isn't American-centric - only assuming that Canadians will take US$ is. The vast majority of Canadian businesses accept US$, though they may or may not give a "fair" exchange rate, particularly on small purchases now that the exchange is less than 20%. ATMs are common if you just want to have $20 or so handy, but even tipping in US$ is both common and acceptable.

 

Murray

[hvsteve1]

Our experience in Halifax was that some merchants had registers that did the conversion if they rang the payments in dollars. Others said they would gladly take US$. In most cases we didn't think the rate looked like we would have gotten screwed although we usually paid in loonies and toonies,etc. Where you really get shafted on the exchange rate is by the credit card companies when you use plastic. Fortunately we still have some Canadian money from when we were there during the good old days of the 65 cent Canadian dollar to use during our stay in Vancouver post Mariner cruise for whatever isn't covered in the land tour package.

[GloriaF]

Here is a conversion site if you just want to get an idea beforehand of what something "really" costs - in $ that we US citizens can relate to: http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic

[cruiseryyc]

I always feel that its just a polite thing to use the currency of the country that you are visiting.

[travelgirl87]

It's nice to have some Canadian currency for shopping, public transportation, and dining from street vendors or at small eateries (especially in Chinatown) where charge cards aren't accepted. ATMs are plentiful or you can exchange money at a bank or currency exchange bureau. Bank of Montreal waived the transaction fee for us last year when we were changing a small amount of cash (we ran low on Canadian $$ the day before our cruise) -- you may want to ask politely for a fee waiver if you go to a bank for the exchange.

 

We used leftover Canadian dollars to tip the crew (beyond the autotip amount) on our last cruise as they get free time off the ship in Canada every other week.

[tee_wrecks]

Also keep in mind that most banks will charge you an exchange fee if you use your US dollar denominated credit or debit card in Canada. I checked with my bank and it's 3% on every purchase.

[dosi]

I belong to a credit union and can use the ATMs in Canada with no exchange fee. I may have to pay a small "out of network ATM" fee of about $2 or $3 Canadian, but that is all. I do like the idea about using the left over Canadian money to tip the crew....I hadn't thought of that and was wondering what I might do with my excess Canada cash (if I had any!!) :)