Do I Need Canadian Money?

[lakegirl16]

We are in Vancouver for a night pre cruise, not arriving until late afternoon.  Do I need Canadian money?  Our travel companions arrive around noon.  Will they need some?  I'm thinking they will tour around the city.

Thank you!

[CruiseGal999]

I would say no.  I took a cruise Sept. 2018 that went to many Canadian ports.  Using my credit cards gave me a much better rate and DISCOUNT on the canadian prices.  FYI ... look into your credit cards and current exchange rates.

[martincath]

Do you NEED local currency in Vancouver? Probably - in fact almost certainly - not. We're very much a cashless city these days, with even food trucks taking credit & debit thanks to the availability of Square and similar low-setup-cost methods. In fact we have a few restos that now ONLY take credit & debit, no cash even in local funds.

 

So if you're someone who uses credit/debit you will find it even easier to do so here than in the US, which I still find astonishingly cash-focused for a developed country (last I checked it's still about 50% of all retail transactions vs. <10% in most of Europe for example. Taxis all take credit cards (Visa/MC), virtually all stores & restaurants likewise (you can add AmEx to the list in most), so it's really just Discover who get short shrift up here. Even transit now allows 'tap & go' credit cards to be used at whatever your bank's exchange rate is.

 

But if you're the kind of person who uses cash in your daily life with any regularity, getting local cash is the sensible thing to do. Assuming that's the case, your question really needs to become "Will I save or waste money by using US cash instead of local currency?"

 

Cash tips can be given in USD to bellhops, guides etc. - but it's not very nice to reduce them to the Canadian $ equivalent as USD involves a cost in time or money or both for us locals to exchange so you will end up paying over the odds (likewise many stores take USD cash, giving change in CAD, but their exchange rates vary from not-terribly-worse than Interbank to egregiously padded - e.g. luggage storage at the pier only takes USD cash at par, so you pay a third extra!)

 

It's impossible to say what the best way to go is for YOU though, as we don't know which cards you have, what their foreign transaction fee is if any, whether your bank refunds ATM fees out of country or not, what you plan to do locally (there are a very small number of local cash only things), how much your total spend is likely to be. Same for your companions.

 

Really the only thing that can be said with certainty about what is best is to never, ever, EVER accept an offer at point of sale to 'pay in your local currency' on your credit card, as these are ALWAYS padded to pay the middle-man doing the exchange. Whenever I've noted the numbers and checked afterward it's been about 4% extra - which is worse than any Credit card FTF I've heard of in the US (generally these are 2.5% at most).

[lakegirl16]

11 minutes ago, martincath said:

Do you NEED local currency in Vancouver? Probably - in fact almost certainly - not. We're very much a cashless city these days, with even food trucks taking credit & debit thanks to the availability of Square and similar low-setup-cost methods. In fact we have a few restos that now ONLY take credit & debit, no cash even in local funds.

 

So if you're someone who uses credit/debit you will find it even easier to do so here than in the US, which I still find astonishingly cash-focused for a developed country (last I checked it's still about 50% of all retail transactions vs. <10% in most of Europe for example. Taxis all take credit cards (Visa/MC), virtually all stores & restaurants likewise (you can add AmEx to the list in most), so it's really just Discover who get short shrift up here. Even transit now allows 'tap & go' credit cards to be used at whatever your bank's exchange rate is.

 

But if you're the kind of person who uses cash in your daily life with any regularity, getting local cash is the sensible thing to do. Assuming that's the case, your question really needs to become "Will I save or waste money by using US cash instead of local currency?"

 

Cash tips can be given in USD to bellhops, guides etc. - but it's not very nice to reduce them to the Canadian $ equivalent as USD involves a cost in time or money or both for us locals to exchange so you will end up paying over the odds (likewise many stores take USD cash, giving change in CAD, but their exchange rates vary from not-terribly-worse than Interbank to egregiously padded - e.g. luggage storage at the pier only takes USD cash at par, so you pay a third extra!)

 

It's impossible to say what the best way to go is for YOU though, as we don't know which cards you have, what their foreign transaction fee is if any, whether your bank refunds ATM fees out of country or not, what you plan to do locally (there are a very small number of local cash only things), how much your total spend is likely to be. Same for your companions.

 

Really the only thing that can be said with certainty about what is best is to never, ever, EVER accept an offer at point of sale to 'pay in your local currency' on your credit card, as these are ALWAYS padded to pay the middle-man doing the exchange. Whenever I've noted the numbers and checked afterward it's been about 4% extra - which is worse than any Credit card FTF I've heard of in the US (generally these are 2.5% at most).

Martincath --- thank you!  I was hoping you would answer.  We were in Vancouver two years ago and your posts and answers were so helpful.  We are used to being VERY cashless in the US.  In fact, I'm known to NEVER have cash.  We'll plan on no cash.  Thanks again!

[martincath]

3 minutes ago, lakegirl16 said:

Martincath --- thank you!  I was hoping you would answer.  We were in Vancouver two years ago and your posts and answers were so helpful.  We are used to being VERY cashless in the US.  In fact, I'm known to NEVER have cash.  We'll plan on no cash.  Thanks again!

Glad to be useful again; really the only things that have changed since 2 years ago are transit using Tap & Go cards and a handful of No Cash At All restos - it's all driving us further down the cashless path, so if you did OK last time you should do even better this time. Even handouts to beggars can be made with cards (some have cellphones and Square, but personally I swing by Save On Meats and buy some free sandwich or clothing tokens to hand out as needed - and you can buy those with plastic).

[Aesop081]

As an addition to martincath's info.  Check with your bank to see what Canadian bank they partner with regarding cash machines.  E.G.  We bank with Scotiabank that partners with Bank of America so that when we use a machine in the U.S there is no transaction fee, just the exchange.  That way you can get a quick 20 or 40 dollars in CDN without breaking the bank for the few things such as tips etc you want to give out.  Or not.  Just a thought.

[lakegirl16]

8 hours ago, Aesop081 said:

As an addition to martincath's info.  Check with your bank to see what Canadian bank they partner with regarding cash machines.  E.G.  We bank with Scotiabank that partners with Bank of America so that when we use a machine in the U.S there is no transaction fee, just the exchange.  That way you can get a quick 20 or 40 dollars in CDN without breaking the bank for the few things such as tips etc you want to give out.  Or not.  Just a thought.

Aesoi081 Thank you.  I will check into that!  Thanks.

[tardy]

On 3/10/2019 at 8:13 PM, martincath said:

Glad to be useful again; really the only things that have changed since 2 years ago are transit using Tap & Go cards and a handful of No Cash At All restos - it's all driving us further down the cashless path, so if you did OK last time you should do even better this time. Even handouts to beggars can be made with cards (some have cellphones and Square, but personally I swing by Save On Meats and buy some free sandwich or clothing tokens to hand out as needed - and you can buy those with plastic).

Should  tips /gratuities  be given in CDN or would it be acceptable in US dollars? 

[CruiseGal999]

1 minute ago, tardy said:

Should  tips /gratuities  be given in CDN or would it be acceptable in US dollars? 

 

Canadians want US Dollars ... 

[martincath]

 

53 minutes ago, tardy said:

Should  tips /gratuities  be given in CDN or would it be acceptable in US dollars? 

 

52 minutes ago, CruiseGal999 said:

Canadians want US Dollars ... 

MANY Canadians are quite happy with USD cash, as we frequently visit the US so they can be spent easily. But certainly not ALL of us do, and the only time any of us prefer to get USD is if people tip the same numerical value while forgetting that there's an exchange rate😁

 

So if you want to give CAD$10 to a guide and instead hand them a US$10, they'll be fine with it - but if you ask for change because US$7.50 = CAD$10 you'll find yourself in serious danger of being tutted at (and then trash-talked about to all the guide's buddies when next sinking a few pints).

 

Since all Canadians know each other that also means everywhere you go you'll be randomly pointed at by about half the folks you see wearing Canadian flag pins or patches (the other half being of course Americans pretending to be Canadians for travel purposes) and bad karma will follow you forever. You may even be personally named and shamed on Twitter by Ryan Reynolds, as he's getting a bit surly these days thanks to spending so much time in the US.

 

The paragraph above is almost certainly 100% humorous... but do you really want to risk it? 😉

[tardy]

Haha you are too funny . 😂

I  will be in Vancouver 2 days  and will use US dollars  . I will be sure to tip appropriately . I don’t want to be pointed out as  a cheap American . And I certainly don’t want Ryan ❤️ Reynolds mentioning me on the Tonight Show 😂 . Thanks so much for

your thoughts and humor .  

[lakegirl16]

4 hours ago, martincath said:

 

 

MANY Canadians are quite happy with USD cash, as we frequently visit the US so they can be spent easily. But certainly not ALL of us do, and the only time any of us prefer to get USD is if people tip the same numerical value while forgetting that there's an exchange rate😁

 

So if you want to give CAD$10 to a guide and instead hand them a US$10, they'll be fine with it - but if you ask for change because US$7.50 = CAD$10 you'll find yourself in serious danger of being tutted at (and then trash-talked about to all the guide's buddies when next sinking a few pints).

 

Since all Canadians know each other that also means everywhere you go you'll be randomly pointed at by about half the folks you see wearing Canadian flag pins or patches (the other half being of course Americans pretending to be Canadians for travel purposes) and bad karma will follow you forever. You may even be personally named and shamed on Twitter by Ryan Reynolds, as he's getting a bit surly these days thanks to spending so much time in the US.

 

The paragraph above is almost certainly 100% humorous... but do you really want to risk it? 😉

Love this!!  A great laugh after a long day!  AND I learned something new, I didn't know Ryan Reynolds was from Vancouver!

[martincath]

4 hours ago, lakegirl16 said:

Love this!!  A great laugh after a long day!  AND I learned something new, I didn't know Ryan Reynolds was from Vancouver!

Not only is he a local boy, he's pretty good about helping out with local charities when he's home (even when the press isn't sending folks to cover it). He'll even email you back if you drop him a line at his day job (though he is out of the office a lot between Hollywood gigs and charitable endeavours). Solid guy - though his twin, Gordon, is an absolute tool.

[Mediterranean_Honeymooner]

On 3/13/2019 at 12:23 AM, martincath said:

Not only is he a local boy, he's pretty good about helping out with local charities when he's home (even when the press isn't sending folks to cover it). He'll even email you back if you drop him a line at his day job (though he is out of the office a lot between Hollywood gigs and charitable endeavours). Solid guy - though his twin, Gordon, is an absolute tool.

 

Ahhh, something else to love about Ryan Reynolds! ❤️

[cruiseryyc]

On 3/12/2019 at 1:02 PM, CruiseGal999 said:

 

Canadians want US Dollars ... 

No some of us don't!

[scottbee]

On 3/12/2019 at 12:02 PM, CruiseGal999 said:

 

Canadians want US Dollars ... 

 

Umm, no.

[hallux]

@martincath how is the adoption of mobile device payments (Apple Pay, Google Pay) up there?  Are the "tap and go" card payments the same (I don't think my cards support using the card in that manner but they all certainly have the chip)?

[martincath]

I've seen it used a lot though I don't use it myself - as I understand the tech, any store with NFC payment equipment can accept Apple/Google Pay so it's pretty common. e.g. Translink specifically says you can use Apple, Google AND Samsung Pay (but the card connected to the mobile device must still be a Visa or MC!)

 

So if your card has a chip but not the little 'WiFi' symbol indicating contactless payment, if you add it to your Apple/Samsung/other Android phone you should be able to use SkyTrain as well as pay in various restos & retail places using the phone. If it's a Samsung phone you also have the capacity to use it across the many stores in the US and the very occasional backward bit of Canada without NFC payment equipment, as it can 'spoof' the magnetic card reader - so any terminal that can even swipe a card works with Samsung Pay in theory.

[scottbee]

On 3/28/2019 at 11:16 AM, hallux said:

@martincath how is the adoption of mobile device payments (Apple Pay, Google Pay) up there?  Are the "tap and go" card payments the same (I don't think my cards support using the card in that manner but they all certainly have the chip)?

 

Tap for credit cards, and Apple/Android Pay is actually much more widely adopted in Canada than iour neighbours to the south  Also our transit system allows tap on/off with your credit card as well.  The technology adoption for the US banking system lags Canada and most of Europe by about 5 years.