Canadian $$

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Gr8bawana

Gr8bawana

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A couple of questions for those of you who have travelled through Canada.
Would you recommend exchanging perhaps $1000 U.S. for Canadian currency to have on hand in case our debit card doesn't work at fuel pumps or other places?
Also to pay for any Provincial parks we may stay a night or two.
We will be driving through Canada on our way to AK next summer and don't want any surprises.
 
Last year the Roger's phone network in Canada went down for 24 hours. Every electronic cash handling system runs on that network so no credit, debit or cash machine worked, so strictly cash only everywhere. Like back in the 80's. My advice, definitely take some cash for fuel and the provincial parks you do need cash, try and get small denomination notes when changing larger notes.
 
TonyL said:
Last year the Roger's phone network in Canada went down for 24 hours. Every electronic cash handling system runs on that network so no credit, debit or cash machine worked, so strictly cash only everywhere. Like back in the 80's. My advice, definitely take some cash for fuel and the provincial parks you do need cash, try and get small denomination notes when changing larger notes.
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:ROFLMAO:
 
When I travelled extensively I always had about $100 USD on me in case of ATM glitches. Upon arrival I would ATM about $100 USD in local currency for walking around money.

Upon departure I would spend it at the airport or something for flight snacks or a book or something, making up the difference with my debit card.

After 40 years I still ended up with a bag of notes and coins from all over the world. 2,000 Indonesian Rupiah sounds like something you'd like to convert back to USD until you realize that it's only 13 cents - LOL...

BTW - Due to bad planning on my part one time I found out that Canadian vendors are more than happy to sell you stuff on a 1:1 exchange rate and give you change in loonies - LOL...
 
Ex-Calif said:
When I travelled extensively I always had about $100 USD on me in case of ATM glitches. Upon arrival I would ATM about $100 USD in local currency for walking around money.

Upon departure I would spend it at the airport or something for flight snacks or a book or something, making up the difference with my debit card.

After 40 years I still ended up with a bag of notes and coins from all over the world. 2,000 Indonesian Rupiah sounds like something you'd like to convert back to USD until you realize that it's only 13 cents - LOL...

BTW - Due to bad planning on my part one time I found out that Canadian vendors are more than happy to sell you stuff on a 1:1 exchange rate and give you change in loonies - LOL...
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I still have a pouch full of Belizean money, and I haven't been there since 2011.
 
Having all my relatives in Canada, I have been there a time or two. The longest I stayed was 2 weeks on a hunting trip and I think I changed over a couple hundred dollars at first, just to have cash on me, but other than that I used traveler's checks.

I went into a bank on the way back from goose hunting once and I was all cammo'd up with face paint on and no one even blinked when I walked in the door. I was pretty much the only one in there and I asked the teller what the exchange rate was and she said, "It's 1.2 US to CD, and .98 CD to US."

I did some mental figuring and asked, "So, if I change $100 US to CD you will give me $120 CD, but if I give you $100 CD you will only give me $98 US?" She replied, "That's right." I said, "You know, if we stood here for 10 minutes changing money back and forth you will have all of my $100, I will have nothing left, and I haven't even bought anything." She went to dinner with me the next night. :cool:
 
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You won't have any difficulty with your debit or US Credit cards. You might get hit with a heavier exchange rate if you pull out US currency, but at least they will take it, unlike US stores that throw back any Canadian currency, even a nickel. As for the Rogers outage, it was a rare occurrence that didn't last all that long, and it effected Canadian Cards too.
You best exchange rate will be at any Bank or Credit Union, and it stands at about $1.35 Canadian for a $1 US dollar, but that is before any transaction fee of 1 or 2%.

Ed
 
It has been my experience that a $100 or so is sufficient for "walking around money" because most Canadian merchants were willing to accept US$ at some exchange rate (at worst 1:1, but more often something approximating the official rate). At least, anywhere along well-traveled routes. That would cover most emergencies, I think. I carried Canadian currency out of politeness to my hosts and because it perhaps saved me a small amount.
 
We took out $200 Canadian last summer at an ATM at our first spot. We used it for small purchases and a few times at rural locations that only accepted cash. Lasted us a bit over 2 weeks in Canada, then we picked up another $100 on our way out of Alaska for the next 2 weeks of the trip. Ended up with about $180 left. We planned to use it for fuel, but forgot! We hope to go back to western Canada in summer of 2024, so we will use it up then. BTW, our credit cards worked fine, and the TSD/Open Road fuel card worked great at Petro Canada card lock stations in Canada, though I didn’t get a discount. My credit union charges a small fee on international transactions, but it wasn’t significant.
 
Tulecreeper said:
Having all my relatives in Canada, I have been there a time or two. The longest I stayed was 2 weeks on a hunting trip and I think I changed over a couple hundred dollars at first, just to have cash on me, but other than that I used traveler's checks.

I went into a bank on the way back from goose hunting once and I was all cammo'd up with face paint on and no one even blinked when I walked in the door. I was pretty much the only one in there and I asked the teller what the exchange rate was and she said, "It's 1.2 US to CD, and .98 CD to US."

I did some mental figuring and asked, "So, if I change $100 US to CD you will give me $120 CD, but if I give you $100 CD you will only give me $98 US?" She replied, "That's right." I said, "You know, if we stood here for 10 minutes changing money back and forth you will have all of my $100, I will have nothing left, and I haven't even bought anything." She went to dinner with me the next night. :cool:
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Travelers checks!?

2ifmah.jpg
 
Gr8bawana said:
Travelers checks!?

View attachment 164547
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Sorry, I don't get the meme humor. I've made a number of trips to Canada and Central America in the past 15 years and I still got them from my bank. They issue them for free, if they are stolen or lost they can be replaced, they are not linked to my personal account, they can't be cashed without my signature and photo ID, they save me the 3% fee for using a CC in a foreign country, etc. Still the safest way to spend a couple thousand dollars when out of the country.
 
Even in the U.S. I have a couple of hundred $$ in small bills tucked away in case of power outages, earthquakes, or hurricanes. I used to carry only large bills, but met a lady in Napa who said she always has small bills tucked away for emergencies. During the most recent earthquake a few years ago, she went into a small grocery store to buy something and the owner was having trouble making change when he was selling things and writing it up manually because the power was out. So, she ran home and brought him $400 in ones and fives so he could stay in business. Good point!

As far as international travel, if you are a couple, you will always have spare credit and ATM cards, so not so much to worry about, but if you travel solo like me, lack of an ATM or cash can be a problem, so I think you have to be more careful solo. A long time ago, I had my only ATM card demagnitize in Heathrow Airport upon arrival. Could not get a quick replacement or use it manually, but on that trip, I had brought some old-fashioned American Express travel checks. Had to cash them in a bank but they saved me from having to use a credit card to make a tiny purchase. Nowadays, you can usually get a cash advance from a credit card, but not back then. And I always tuck my second credit card in a place where I do not carry it. Putting all your eggs or credit cards in one basket or wallet is a bad idea anywhere!!!
 
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Tulecreeper said:
Sorry, I don't get the meme humor. I've made a number of trips to Canada and Central America in the past 15 years and I still got them from my bank. They issue them for free, if they are stolen or lost they can be replaced, they are not linked to my personal account, they can't be cashed without my signature and photo ID, they save me the 3% fee for using a CC in a foreign country, etc. Still the safest way to spend a couple thousand dollars when out of the country.
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