Changing Money

[hedgehopper]

What is the best place to change $US into $Canadian?

[Crowe]

I did an exchange at my local bank for US funds to Canadian. Most banks can do currency exchange.

Check the fees and what they give you for an exchange rate. I inquired before we went to Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Norway and Canada and every time they were WAY under the going rate. You can check the current rates on oanda.com. That's open trading so what you'll get will always be a little less but in all cases there was a huge difference.

We've also paid by debit and gotten cash back at various stores. When we're dealing with smaller Ma & Pa type stores I prefer to give them cash. We also visit venues like farmer's markets where it's just easier to have cash.

[doxiemom11]

I did an exchange at my local bank for US funds to Canadian. Most banks can do currency exchange.

[John___Angela]

Walmart cash back works.

[owenssailor]

For interest - TD Bank in the US is owned by the Canadian TD bank (Toronto Dominion)

[toedtoes]

Crowe wrote:


On another note remember to tell your bank/credit card companies that you will be out of the country during X dates and include the states you will be traveling through. It stinks when you are away from home and your credit card gets shut off!

Do this for your debit card(s) also.

[Crowe]

This used to work 20+ years ago.

This works now. Read the posts.

Get an extra card a couple of months in advance of your trip, preferably one that is ell accepted at your destination country. Use it a few times for small purchases BEFORE your trip. OVER PAY the monthly bill by the amount that you think you are going to need in cash in that country.

You can't be serious. I have traveled to Canada many times over the past 40 years. You get the day's rate whether you use your debit or your credit card. Do NOT use a credit card at an ATM-credit card companies consider that a cash advance and regardless of whether or not you have a negative balance you will get charged a hefty cash advance fee. If the bank charges fees to exchange currency it will not matter if you have a negative balance or not.

I found that TD Bank in the US is affiliated with TD Bank Canada. I was able to exchange US for Canadian before departure for no fees at the day rate. In Canada I could use my TD ATM card and there were no fees.

X2. Have had no fees in multiple trips over the border plus their customer service is excellent. I would recommend one of their cards even if you only use it for this trip.

On another note remember to tell your bank/credit card companies that you will be out of the country during X dates and include the states you will be traveling through. It stinks when you are away from home and your credit card gets shut off!

[s1214]

I found that TD Bank in the US is affiliated with TD Bank Canada. I was able to exchange US for Canadian before departure for no fees at the day rate. In Canada I could use my TD ATM card and there were no fees.

[theoldwizard1]

Crowe wrote:
Withdraw money from an ATM with your debit card especially if your bank does not charge fees. Use your credit card whenever possible (also if they don't charge fees). If your bank(s) do charge fees it may be more economical to get a card that doesn't and use it for your trip.

This used to work 20+ years ago.

Get an extra card a couple of months in advance of your trip, preferably one that is ell accepted at your destination country. Use it a few times for small purchases BEFORE your trip. OVER PAY the monthly bill by the amount that you think you are going to need in cash in that country.

Once you are in the country, withdraw cash at an ATM. Because you have a negative balance (they owe you money) there is usually no charge and the withdrawal gets that days rate !!

[2gypsies1]

As soon as we made the Sumas, WA crossing we spent the first night in HOPE BC. We went to the bank and got some cash for the best rate. No added charges. We did use provincial parks as we traveled north so you need some cash for the iron rangers. We also encountered some laundries that would only accept Canadian. The same for a few small fuel stations and small cafes we encountered. Many don't take credit cards. There aren't WalMarts on the roads north except in big cities.

3 months later crossing near Glacier Nat'l Park US, no one (banks included) would accept our leftover small amount of cash. We donated it at Glacier NP as they have an 'in' with the banks for converting Canadian. 🙂 We tried to use up our leftover but fell a few coins short. So plan accordingly when re-entering the U.S.

Otherwise, we easily used our Visa credit card which had no foreign exchange cost attached.

[cvbdsl]

And if you get short, go to a WalMart (or any place that offers cash back), buy what you need and get "cash back", just the one transaction fee. On our CAD credit cards in the US we get charged %2.5 on top of the exchange rate!

We do this in the US all the time but have just gotten a US credit card and bank account to save the %2.5. Also the bank told us that if we use our US credit card in Canada they will add the %2.5 as well.

Best advice is talk to your bank (if they still have people somewhere) for advice.

Chris

[Tom_N]

ANY CANADIAN CASINO

[DrewE]

If you stay at many of the provincial parks or similar small campgrounds (especially in the less populated provinces/regions), cash is very, very useful for the iron rangers.

Another vote for ATMs. It makes a lot of sense to do a few larger withdrawals than many small ones as often the fees are per transaction rather than per dollar.

[time2roll]

Do you really need cash? I would try to go through on just VISA/MC/AMEX.
We did fine for 4 days last Summer visiting every eatery, fuel station and tourist trap we could find. No cash.

[MDKMDK]

Check with your home bank to find out what additional charges/fees are added to using your debit and credit cards for purchases in foreign currency like C$, and if there are per transaction fees, as well.
There aren't a lot of places in Canada that don't take one or the other of these payment methods, so you can probably reduce the amount of cash you bring, and just bring plastic. You'll get whatever the VISA/Mastercard/ATM/Debit card foreign currency exchange rate in effect on the date/time the transaction is posted to your account.
We use 2 no fee Canadian based credit cards that also have a 0% foreign currency exchange rate (most Canadian credit cards charge 2.5% of the purchase value to do the forex conversion), and so buy pretty much everything using them when we travel in the US. We get whatever the VISA/MC exchange rate of the day happens to be at time of purchase.
We might have some cash if we're camping in places that use iron rangers. If we need more cash, we bite the bullet and go to a local ATM and pay the fee.