Question for all you frequent travelers. It's been quite awhile since I crossed over into Canada. Back in '03 my local bank would keep a pretty good stash of Canadian money on hand and would exchange it which is what I did. So then I crossed the border with a good bit of Canadian money. Since they no longer do that I have about 30 dollars Canadian.
So what is the best way to exchange money these days? I was planning on just stopping at the border at the Duty Free shop but read that the exchange rates are horrible there and it's better to stop at a bank. Other people say just to use a ATM and I did find several on my network. I know some people who have just used Credit Cards while up there but some have horror stories of running low on gas and having a CC failure and I had CC issues once in Niagara Falls so I do want some cash.
Tim
Question for all you frequent travelers. It's been quite awhile since I crossed over into Canada. Back in '03 my local bank would keep a pretty good stash of Canadian money on hand and would exchange it which is what I did. So then I crossed the border with a good bit of Canadian money. Since they no longer do that I have about 30 dollars Canadian. So what is the best way to exchange money these days? I was planning on just stopping at the border at the Duty Free shop but read that the exchange rates are horrible there and it's better to stop at a bank. Other people say just to use a ATM and I did find several on my network. I know some people who have just used Credit Cards while up there but some have horror stories of running low on gas and having a CC failure and I had CC issues once in Niagara Falls so I do want some cash.
We always use ATM's when we travel. I like to have cash on hand for most things. I've used ATM's in Tremblant when I was their last.
If yo use it several times, you might want to let your back know you will be out of the country.
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My first stop after arriving at the airport is an ATM. I also notify my cc company that I will be traveling out of the country. Also check to see if your cc has a pin. I've sometimes needed one at gas stations with pay at the pump. If you have multiple credit cards, see which one has the lowest foreign transaction fee.
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All good advice. I like to carry local currency to minimize the foreign transaction fees.
You people have issues
Thanks guys. I had let the CC companies know that we were going the one no longer wants to be notified. They said that now that they went to the chipped cards it's no longer necessary.
Two of the CC have no foreign transaction fees, one is 3%. Guess that one is the emergency card only.
DW stopped at the bank to cash some checks and thought that she'd see if they could put our travel plans into the account information which they could. However, she had to argue with them about using the ATM up there as the teller was adamantly opposed to it. She kept saying that's it's not as safe as CC which is true but we still want to have some cash on hand. Just a few years ago they we begging us to switch from CC to the Debit/ATM card .
I do quite a bit of int'l travel (currently in Paris actually). Credit cards (even with some exchange fee) and ATMs usually get better exchange rates than cash exchanges. I mostly use my cc when I travel, they have chips but no pin, never had any problems using my cc anywhere. But I also like to get some local cash for small misc stuff like taxis, water, snacks, etc that I'd prefer not using a cc for. I either get the local cash by a cash exchange or ATM. Oh yeah, it's cheaper to exchange in the foreign country when you get there rather than in the US before you leave.
Have a a good trip.
tbd.
When I went to Europe several years ago I was able to do an exchange online through my bank and pick it up at the bank a couple days later, pounds and euros. So I had a little cash when I got there. I also used ATMs and CCS when I was there.