bleicher

Please forgive my lack of knowledge, but this is the first time I've traveled to a country with different currency. We're from the U.S. and flying into Toronto and then Calgary. We will charge any major meals, souveniers or gifts and therefore I believe the exchange rate will come out on my credit card. However I wanted to have Canadian money on hand to spend for incidentals. My bank wants to charge me a 10% fee to do this, so I don't want to do that. I've heard that you can exchange your money by using your credit or debit card at the ATMs located in the airports - is this true or is there a better way?

Judy_in_Calgary

Yes, Bleicher, I think just about everyone around here agrees that getting money from an ATM at the airport (and indeed from an ATM in almost any other location) is the best way to go.

The ATMs that belong to banks charge lower transaction fees than the independent ATMs you may find in convenience stores and such. The no name ATMs are a rip off, in my opinion, and I avoid them like the plague.

Better still, if you can find an ATM that belongs to a Canadian bank that has a reciprocal relationship with your own bank in the U.S.A., you may not be charged a transaction fee at all.

For example, I understand that Bank of America and Scotiabank (Bank of Nova Scotia) belong to an alliance whose members have agreed not to charge each others' customers ATM fees.

If you are charged a transaction fee for withdrawing money from an ATM, you're charged the same transaction fee whether you withdraw $20 or $200. So I think it's a good idea to withdraw a fair amount of money in one go (probably no less than $200 at a time).

Something to be aware of in small Canadian towns (e.g., in the Rockies) is that Visa and MasterCard are much more widely accepted than American Express and other credit cards.

It also helps to come with both a Visa and a MasterCard, just in case one works and the other one doesn't. That's quite rare, but it does happen, just often enough that's it's worth taking the extra precaution, if possible.

I'm preparing for a foreign trip myself, and I've gone to the trouble of getting a MasterCard that I don't feel I need, except that it might work as a back up if my Visa card doesn't function at my destination.

Hope that helps.

BAK

In many tourist-related places, like good restaurants, you can pay in US money and get your change in Canadian money, and the exchange rate will be close enough that it does not matter.

You can use US cash to pay for the bus or taxi from the airport to your hotel, and some Canadian change, for instance, and that saves you the problem of looking for a bank machine at the airport when you arrive.

Most Canadian bank machines are part of both the Cirrus and Plus networks, allowing you to connect to most US banks.

lovesprada

If you don't travel outside of the US often, you may want to call your credit card issuers and notify them that you will be travelling. As a security measure some issuers instruct the merchant to call in and verify your identity (with a photo id) when a charge is coming from an unusual-for-you location. If the merchant is busy, or if they just misunderstand, you may be told that the card was declined. Calling in advance can usually save this hassle.

Kostroma

I leave for Canada in a couple of weeks and I'll be getting $20 Canadian from my bank before I leave home and withdrawing whatever else I need from Scotiabank machines in Canada. Bank of America charges a 5% transaction fee to exchange American dollars to Canadian when you go to a branch, but there is no ATM fee or transaction fee to withdraw from a Scotiabank machine. Perhaps your bank has a similar arrangement.

You may also want to contact your credit card companies and inquire about their transaction fees. Visa and MC automatically charge a 1% conversion fee for foreign exchange, but some cards add a percentage on top of that. I'm using my Capital One cards in Canada because they don't charge an additonal percentage.

bleicher

Thanks all for you input! One week and counting! Will post a trip report when we get back

bob_brown

By all means get your Canadian dollars at a bank ATM. This past trip, I got some in Toronto at the airport just after I landed.

Then, in Calgary, there was branch of Scotiabank near the hotel.

There is no reason to pay for anything in US dollars.

I always tell my credit card issuer that I was going to be in Canada or any other foreign country. Easier that way.

So is taking your passport, if you have one. If not you need your birth certificate and a government issued photo id like a driver's license to re-enter the USA.

You will go through Canadian passport control and US passport control and customs in Canada.

Bear in mind that some credit card issuers tack a 2% conversion fee onto each purchase.

MBNA and Capitol One do not charge the "pay for nothing" service fee.

Your ATM card should yield the bank wholesale rate plus 1%, which is a standard fee all over as far as I know. That is the best the little guy can do. Unless you have one of the credit cards that adds on the 2% fee, your charges should also be converted at the bank wholesale rate plus 1%.

You can check the wholesale exchange rates on the web with ease. Right now $1.00 US should yield $1.31 Canadian.

I look up the rates by going to the Yahoo home page, then Finance, and then Currency. The chart gives exchange rates ways in several currencies.

Just remember that exchange rate fluctuate constantly all day long with market conditions.