Monies

[Alex618]

Knowing in advance the the US Dollar value currently is significantly greater than the Canadian dollar, do doormen, bellhops, tour guides, and wait staff prefer to be tipped in Canadian or US dollars?  In addition, are US Dollars widely excepted in Vancouver?

 

Thanks in advance!

[princeton123211]

1 hour ago, Alex618 said:

dollar, do doormen, bellhops, tour guides, and wait staff prefer to be tipped in Canadian or US dollars?

Always tip in local currency-- you could always tip more because it doesn't cost you as much. By tipping in US Dollars you are requiring someone to go and exchange that for their own currency. 

 

1 hour ago, Alex618 said:

In addition, are US Dollars widely excepted in Vancouver?

Why would US currency be widely accepted in Canada? There are stores that do but they will rake you over the coals as they can set their own arbitrary exchange rates-- its generally a horrible deal and an easy way they take advantage of tourists. 

 

If you don't want to exchange a bunch of cash just use a credit card that doesn't have international transaction fees. 

[Glaciers]

I do wonder now with the exchange rate favoring the US dollar if a “doormen, bellhops, tour guides” would rather be given US dollars.  Would they rather have the US 5 dollar bill or a CA 5 dollar bill since the US bill would actually be closer to $6.50.  There’s certainly other considerations such as if they pool their tips and how inconvenient it would be to exchange the money.

[Alex618]

We have always taken local currency, however the dollar was worth about 1/3 more than the Canadian dollar.  I know on a trip some  time ago Argentina folks wanted US dollars. 
 

I would really like hear from someone who is resident of Vancouver.  I have  no issue getting Canadian dollars.  I really only will use cash for tips.  We will charge everything else with a CC with no foreign currency fees.  

[martincath]

As a general rule 'use currency of country you are in' is the way to go, but nobody in a 'tips expected' job working with tourists in Vancouver is going to throw greenbacks in your face and start singing 'O Canada' at you;-) But actual 'buy stuff, hand over greenbacks' shops were not very common before Covid and are even less so now.

 

As already suggested, this all makes a no-fee credit card (NB: definitely NOT Discovery, and AmEx is also much less accepted than Visa/MC here) the single best option for payments here. Where you'll occasionally hit problems is in our very small number of 'cash only' spots - once in a blue moon for a small impulse buy like a bottle of water when wandering a park you might find a 'guy with a cooler' situation, or a small mom'n'pop store that has a minimum spend for Credit/Debit of $5+ (very few stores of any size actually take US Cash here, the tourist shops along Water Street and taxis are the common 'happy to take it' options and they will indeed gouge the crap out of you if they think they can get away with it!)

 

Unless you're here for a long time, a credit card can be used for virtually everything else except tipping doormen, so you'll likely only need a few cash bucks for that unless you have booked a private tour. Even the pier is a No Tip zone, with actual signage noting that, as the longshoremen are probably better paid than you are! Cabbies, restos etc. where the expectation is to tip but you are also being handed a bill for the ride/food, you can just pay the tip and the bill with your card.

 

If you have a tour booked, so you're expecting to either pay the guide in cash or tip more generous amounts, hit up an ATM and withdraw what you need for the tour and a few on top for doorman cash. If you're not taking a local tour though, an ATM ends up being a worse deal than a padded exchange rate unless you have 'use a Canadian ATM free' banking due to fixed fees - $5 to withdraw a couple of hundred at interbank rates, great deal, but $5 on a $20 withdrawal just for incidental tips... you'd be better getting gouged in a touristy souvenir shop breaking some US bills.

 

If all you need is that few bucks of doorman cash, I suggest Tim Hortons - they actually give a very fair exchange rate (watch the digital screens that display the menus, they actually state that days USD exchange rate) but always give change back in CAD, so if you break a US$20 for a double-double and some timbits you'll end up with some loonies and toonies, and if you ask nicely for $5s rather than $10s you should be set for handing over an appropriate amount whether it's just you with a bag or two or a small group with several.

[Alex618]

5 hours ago, martincath said:

As a general rule 'use currency of country you are in' is the way to go, but nobody in a 'tips expected' job working with tourists in Vancouver is going to throw greenbacks in your face and start singing 'O Canada' at you;-) But actual 'buy stuff, hand over greenbacks' shops were not very common before Covid and are even less so now.

 

As already suggested, this all makes a no-fee credit card (NB: definitely NOT Discovery, and AmEx is also much less accepted than Visa/MC here) the single best option for payments here. Where you'll occasionally hit problems is in our very small number of 'cash only' spots - once in a blue moon for a small impulse buy like a bottle of water when wandering a park you might find a 'guy with a cooler' situation, or a small mom'n'pop store that has a minimum spend for Credit/Debit of $5+ (very few stores of any size actually take US Cash here, the tourist shops along Water Street and taxis are the common 'happy to take it' options and they will indeed gouge the crap out of you if they think they can get away with it!)

 

Unless you're here for a long time, a credit card can be used for virtually everything else except tipping doormen, so you'll likely only need a few cash bucks for that unless you have booked a private tour. Even the pier is a No Tip zone, with actual signage noting that, as the longshoremen are probably better paid than you are! Cabbies, restos etc. where the expectation is to tip but you are also being handed a bill for the ride/food, you can just pay the tip and the bill with your card.

 

If you have a tour booked, so you're expecting to either pay the guide in cash or tip more generous amounts, hit up an ATM and withdraw what you need for the tour and a few on top for doorman cash. If you're not taking a local tour though, an ATM ends up being a worse deal than a padded exchange rate unless you have 'use a Canadian ATM free' banking due to fixed fees - $5 to withdraw a couple of hundred at interbank rates, great deal, but $5 on a $20 withdrawal just for incidental tips... you'd be better getting gouged in a touristy souvenir shop breaking some US bills.

 

If all you need is that few bucks of doorman cash, I suggest Tim Hortons - they actually give a very fair exchange rate (watch the digital screens that display the menus, they actually state that days USD exchange rate) but always give change back in CAD, so if you break a US$20 for a double-double and some timbits you'll end up with some loonies and toonies, and if you ask nicely for $5s rather than $10s you should be set for handing over an appropriate amount whether it's just you with a bag or two or a small group with several.

Thanks for the reply appreciate.

[jeromep]

Last time we cruised out of Vancouver the exchange rate was favorable to the U.S.$ by about 27%.  I exchanged $100 at the hotel for their standard exchange to have a bit of CA$ for small purchases and some cash tips.  When we returned we retrieved our car from the hotel (park and fly/cruise package) and exchanged my CA$ back to US at the same hotel front desk at the same rate.

 

One thing to be aware of, if you are getting cabs to and from wherever, make sure they take plastic.  When the cabbie shows up, let them know you are paying by card.  If they say no, let them go and find another cab.  Don't get in a cab unless they know they are being paid by card and acknowledge it.  I will tip by a cabbie by card, as part of the fare, whenever possible, too.

[GTJ]

7 hours ago, martincath said:

[A]n ATM ends up being a worse deal than a padded exchange rate unless you have 'use a Canadian ATM free' banking due to fixed fees - $5 to withdraw a couple of hundred at interbank rates, great deal, but $5 on a $20 withdrawal just for incidental tips... you'd be better getting gouged in a touristy souvenir shop breaking some US bills.

I suppose I have always been conscious about my ATM card and never pay any use fees. Indeed, when I inquired about bank ATM and credit cards, the top of my list has always been no exchange fees in excess of 1 percent (but preferably zero), no fee for using other ATMs from other banks, and reimbursement of fees charged by other banks for using their ATMs. Thus, when arriving in Canada (most often at Gare centrale de Montréal) the first thing I do at the station is stop at the ATM and get some Canadian dollars (the amount being a function of my intended stay in the country).