My experience with Canadian money
in [Cruise Ship]
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From: Marcia on 13 Jul 2010 02:29 Marcia wrote: > BikeRider50 wrote: >> On 7/10/2010 6:04 PM, Marcia wrote: >>> Stu wrote: >>>> On Sat, 10 Jul 2010 13:17:02 -0700, Marcia >>>> <Marcia(a)spamlessinlasvegas.org> wrote: >>>> >>>>> I thought this might help, unless things have changed a lot since the >>>>> last time I was in Canada. >>>>> >>>>> I returned to the States with over $12 in Canadian coins...including >>>>> several dollar coins...when I went to Calgary around 15 years ago. I >>>>> discovered at that time that I could convert paper money back to US >>>>> dollars but not coins. I brought the coins back to Victoria with me >>>>> this trip, used $7 to pay for the shuttle into town and some of the >>>>> rest to make up the difference paying for the few small things I >>>>> bought in town. Every place we went into took American money but only >>>>> gave change back in Canadian. By the time we were waiting in line to >>>>> board the shuttle back to the ship, I realized if I wanted to run in >>>>> and buy a drink, all I had at that point were 20 dollar bills. Had I >>>>> thought about it sooner, I would have made sure to bring lots of >>>>> singles with me! >>>>> >>>>> Marcia >>>> >>>> Our two monies are almost at par, so if you gave them American money, >>>> you'd expect to get Canadian back. Would you expect American change in >>>> Mexico, Spain or Italy? Singles are a good idea though. >>> >>> Just saying you can't exchange the change when you get back home, so I >>> wish I had some small bills with me to buy a drink with while waiting >>> for the shuttle bus back to the ship. I didn't want to end up with a lot >>> of Canadian money again that I can't use here. >>> >>> Marcia >> >> Don't you live in Las Vegas? Just about every casino in Las Vegas will >> accept or exchange foreign currency at the casino cage for US dollars >> or casino chips, which can then be exchanged for US dollars. >> > I didn't live here the last time I was up in Canada. I just posted my > original post as something to think about...bring some small bills...if > you were going to be in port in Canada. > > Marcia I asked at the cage at Sam's Town today about exchanging Canadian money. I was told they take bills but not coin. Which casinos take the coins? Marcia
From: Bill on 13 Jul 2010 09:32 On 7/12/2010 8:48 AM, gmbeasley(a)mindspring.com wrote: > On Sun, 11 Jul 2010 23:13:37 -0400, Bill<billrubin(a)prodigy.net> > wrote: > >> On 7/11/2010 10:40 PM, gmbeasley(a)mindspring.com wrote: >>> On Sun, 11 Jul 2010 10:54:42 -0400, Charles >>> <fort(a)his.com.remove.invalid> wrote: >>> >>>> And no way I would do an exchange for local currency on the ship >>>> either. You will get the worst rates. Use your credit card or get cash >>>> from an ATM machine if you really need cash. >>> >>> I would not use a credit card as they charge from the day of >>> withdrawal even if you pay your balance off every month. The only way >>> I know of to avoid this is to put in money in advance so your credit >>> card is over paid. >> >> I think you misunderstood Charles. He was not suggesting using a credit >> card to get cash, which as you said would charge interest immediately >> (plus a cash advance fee). He meant to just charge the purchase rather >> than getting cash. The vast majority of credit cards do not charge you >> any interest on purchases if you pay the bill in full by the due date. >> > Yes I did misunderstand, but it wasn't clear to me that was what he > meant, and I think it would be relatively easy to make that mistake > the way it was written. He said "Use your credit card or get cash from an ATM machine if you really need cash.". I guess he could have added "and charge the purchase" after "use your credit card", but I don't think it was unclear. Personally, I would never consider using a credit card to get cash, so it would never even cross my mind that that was what he meant. > My own rule which doesn't work quite as well on a cruise because the > wharf vendors and the ship stores often don't have the facilities for > it, is that I won't buy anything that the seller won't take a credit > card AND ship home for me. Not wanting to have to have room in my > luggage (and having the extra weight) is far more important to ME than > whether I get charged a couple of dollars extra. I used to take an > extra empty bag, but with the charges for checked bags, that's not > something I do anymore. Depending on what they charge you to ship your purchases at each individual store and how many stores you do it at, once you total them up, it could end up being cheaper to just pay for that second bag. But you probably knew that. And of course if you're buying something big, it's a pain to have to schlep it around and take it on the plane. Bill
From: Bill on 13 Jul 2010 09:35 On 7/12/2010 1:41 PM, Charles wrote: > Barbara Brown<babrown99(a)wowway.com> wrote: > >> I would never get a Capital One card after all the stuff that happened >> with them. I'd rather pay a fee with another card if necessary. > > What stuff? I don't recall anything happening. I don't have their card, > I have the Schwab card but Bill says it is no longer issued so I > mentioned Capital One to save on the fee. Even if you don't get one of > those it is best to make your purchases on a credit card or use an ATM > PIN card to get cash. Course it is your choice to spend as much on fees > and bad exchange rates if you wish. I think they had a bad reputation about delaying crediting on payments and ripping customers off on interest rates. And yes, the Schwab card is no longer available for new applicants, unfortunately. They do still offer a debit card that doesn't charge the 3% foreign currency fee and refunds ATM charges, however. But you don't get 2% back like you do with the credit card. Bill
From: Barbara Brown on 13 Jul 2010 10:52 On 7/13/2010 8:35 AM, Bill wrote: > On 7/12/2010 1:41 PM, Charles wrote: >> Barbara Brown<babrown99(a)wowway.com> wrote: >> >>> I would never get a Capital One card after all the stuff that happened >>> with them. I'd rather pay a fee with another card if necessary. >> >> What stuff? I don't recall anything happening. I don't have their card, >> I have the Schwab card but Bill says it is no longer issued so I >> mentioned Capital One to save on the fee. Even if you don't get one of >> those it is best to make your purchases on a credit card or use an ATM >> PIN card to get cash. Course it is your choice to spend as much on fees >> and bad exchange rates if you wish. > > I think they had a bad reputation about delaying crediting on payments > and ripping customers off on interest rates. And yes, the Schwab card is > no longer available for new applicants, unfortunately. They do still > offer a debit card that doesn't charge the 3% foreign currency fee and > refunds ATM charges, however. But you don't get 2% back like you do with > the credit card. > > > Bill > Yes, there was a big expose' about their holding onto payments so they could get late charges. It happened to my husband twice and I paid/mailed the bills the day they came in. Also if you ever tried to cancel their card, you have to go through months of hassle to get your annual fee back.
From: Barbara Brown on 13 Jul 2010 11:51
I just checked with my bank (Chase) and any Foreign ATM Transactions have a fee of 3% PLUS an exchange rate of 3% PLUS a fee from the foreign ATM. There is a minimum fee of $5. If it's a Merchant or Over-the-counter debit purchase there is a 3% exchange rate fee PLUS a 3% transaction fee or a minimum of $5. Got this in writing from them. To me that doesn't sound like a very good deal! You are better off using a credit card that only has the 2-3% exchange rate fee and no transaction fee. I also checked with my Fifth Third Bank and they only charge the 3% transaction fee but you can only use ATM's that display the logo that match one on the back of my card. The only logos I have are Jeanie & Pulse so I don't know how widespread those are. I checked our Foreign exchange and they only have a fee of 1% but looking at their exchange rate vs a published rate, they come to 6% too. Not near as good a deal as it was in 2002. So it looks like you're going to pay about the same one way or another unless you go to a local bank in the foreign country. I looked back at our receipts when we cashed travelers checks in New Zealand in 2008 and they only charged us a twenty-five cents fee. All the banks had their exchange rates posted in their window and we shopped for the best rate and we toured the town. You could see the banks had much better rates than the foreign exchanges. |