Canadian currency

[lineman]

Live in Ohio,flying into Vancouver a few days before a cruise. Where is the best place to get Canadian currency at the best rates, back in Ohio thru AAA, bank or wait till I get into the Vancouver airport as I will need Canadian money for cab fare to hotel and meals?

[Cruise Junky]

Get some once downtown Vancouver at any bank’s ATM. Our cabs all take credit cards. The currency exchange places at the airport are a ripoff 

[phoenix_dream]

Vancouver gets so many travelers from the US I doubt you would have a problem using US dollars.  We used to exchange $$ but in recent years don't bother.  Cabs, hotels, and restaurants all take credit cards and many will accept US dollars as well.  Unless you are going to spend several days in Vancouver you should be fine (and honestly, you would probably be fine anyway)

[Phxazzcruisers]

agree 100%.  Everyplace takes credit cards, use one that does not charge a foreign transaction fee.  Get some Cad currency at a bank ATM.  Do not use exchange places as they are a rip off.  Enjoy your cruise

[TM]

As noted US dollars are pretty much accepted anywhere in Canada and particularly in Vancouver.  However use your credit card whenever you can. You will be surprised at how much you save when your charges are converted to US dollars on your monthly bill.

[gerelmx]

Monitor the exchange rate in your Bank and currency exchange houses,  and try to use your credit card, also I recommend a backup credit card. Also see if your CC has the RFI chip, if they have it protect them in a special wallet, one of my CC was compromised when I arrive to NY in my past Summit cruise, that card was not used in the past 6 months.

[phoenix_dream]

58 minutes ago, gerelmx said:

Monitor the exchange rate in your Bank and currency exchange houses,  and try to use your credit card, also I recommend a backup credit card. Also see if your CC has the RFI chip, if they have it protect them in a special wallet, one of my CC was compromised when I arrive to NY in my past Summit cruise, that card was not used in the past 6 months.

Agree.  Always, always, always bring another card with you.  We have had our credit card info stolen three times in the past 10-15 years.  Once we were on a cruise and got a call down to Guest Relations.  They had tried to put through some interim charges and the card was declined.  Luckily my son had his card with him.  

[SoCalTraveler]

If you bank with Bank of America, they have a no fee deal with Scotiabank, which has ATMs all over Vancouver.  When we wrre just there, we spent about CAN$100 that we had left over from prior trips, but we could have charged most of that.  Getting local currency from a local ATM is always the best rate.

 

[roxievegas]

We did a one night stay in Vancouver prior to our cruise.  I considered getting Can$$ ahead, but after reading comments on cruise critic decided against it.  We used US$$ to pay for the fixed cab ride from airport to Hotel Le Solei which is walking distance to port.  Driver said cost was $25 (I asked if that was us or can and he said either) which we gave him $30 US.  We paid for hotel with credit card - bill was Can 380+ - bill on credit card was $276.  I think you can get by without getting Can$$

side note:  two differrent couples at the front desk of the hotel had problems with their credit cards and had to pay the deposit in cash.  Bring two credit cards and call them before your trip to let them know you are traveling.

[1982CruzStart]

The 1 thing you might have trouble with when using CC is that everywhere in Canada we have chip cards and there might be a problem at some places if you don't have a chip card. Most places work around it but occasionally you can run into a place where you can't use a non-chip card. 

As others have said you can use USD almost everywhere, the downside is usually the exchange rate charged can be pretty unfavorable. 

If you are interested in exchanging money in Vancouver the best exchange rate i have found is a place called Vancouver Bullion & Currency exchange (VBCE) and they have a store front in downtown Vancouver.  www.vbce.ca if you want to check it out. 

Enjoy your trip. 

Edited November 4, 2018 by 1982CruzStart
posted by mistake before finished

[SFCAcruiser]

2 hours ago, roxievegas said:

We did a one night stay in Vancouver prior to our cruise.  I considered getting Can$$ ahead, but after reading comments on cruise critic decided against it.  We used US$$ to pay for the fixed cab ride from airport to Hotel Le Solei which is walking distance to port.  Driver said cost was $25 (I asked if that was us or can and he said either) which we gave him $30 US....

 

I am sure your cab driver loved you. Paying US$30 for a CDN$25 fare give him about a 50% tip.