Taxi from Quebec City Airport to Pier $$U.S.

[CrusinAgain]

I read the taxi is flat rate from the terminal to the airport for 32.50 but it doesn't say how much from the airport to the terminal and if it is in U.S. dollars. Anyone know if we can use U.S. dollars for the taxi to get to the ship and does the flat rate of 32.50 sound right?

[MiddleEarth]

There is a flat rate from the airport (in Ancienne Lorette) to the city centre and it is $32 as I recall.

 

Taxi in the airport area is a flat $14.

 

At current exchange rate,$32.50 is $31.69. In all likelihood, the cabbie would accept US at par but they may look for a better exchange rate (in their favour.)

[CrusinAgain]

There is a flat rate from the airport (in Ancienne Lorette) to the city centre and it is $32 as I recall.

 

Taxi in the airport area is a flat $14.

 

At current exchange rate,$32.50 is $31.69. In all likelihood, the cabbie would accept US at par but they may look for a better exchange rate (in their favour.)

 

Oh, so that is Canadian dollars and not U.S. dollars on the port terminal and airport site then.

[scottbee]

I read the taxi is flat rate from the terminal to the airport for 32.50 but it doesn't say how much from the airport to the terminal and if it is in U.S. dollars. Anyone know if we can use U.S. dollars for the taxi to get to the ship and does the flat rate of 32.50 sound right?

 

While the US$ is likely to be accepted in Quebec City, remember it's NOT LEGAL TENDER. In Canada, prices are given in Canadian Dollars, I don't expect things prices in C$ when I go across the border, why should you expect things in US?

[CrusinAgain]

While the US$ is likely to be accepted in Quebec City, remember it's NOT LEGAL TENDER. In Canada, prices are given in Canadian Dollars, I don't expect things prices in C$ when I go across the border, why should you expect things in US?

 

Although you do have a point, we do live 2 hours from the border on the West side and we get a lot of Canadians shopping at our mall and gambling at our casinos and they do get tax exempt status and the stores do accept their money. I guess I just assumed since Quebec City has alot of tourists they would accommodate the U.S. citizens like I see them doing here and we are not even a tourist town, but you're right I highly doubt they will go out of their way for us. Thanks for the eye opener.

[scottbee]

Although you do have a point, we do live 2 hours from the border on the West side and we get a lot of Canadians shopping at our mall and gambling at our casinos and they do get tax exempt status and the stores do accept their money. I guess I just assumed since Quebec City has alot of tourists they would accommodate the U.S. citizens like I see them doing here and we are not even a tourist town, but you're right I highly doubt they will go out of their way for us. Thanks for the eye opener.

 

That's not what I said, I said you shouldn't expect the US$ to be accepted 100% in Canada, and a not so subtle reminder as to why not (it's not legal tender).

 

The US$ is much more widely accepted in Canada than the C$ is the USA. Just 20 minutes south of the border I've had people freak out because I tried to use a Canadian dime when I paid for something, something that wouldn't happen anywhere in Canada.

 

Here in the west, Bellingham is highly dependent on Canadian Customers. From Bellis Fair mall, BLI airport (75% of the license plates at BLI are BC plates), and its TV&Radio stations showing Canadian advertising....

[Ephraim]

All prices in Canada are in CAD (Canadian dollars - The symbol having a single strike through the S, ). As a courtesy most Canadians will accept USD (US Dollars - the symbol officially having two strikes through the S. ) but that doesn't mean that we like it. (And you will see a small minority who actually take it as an affront, because the same courtesy is not extended to Canadians elsewhere.)

 

The USD is worth about 2% more than the CAD at the moment. It changes daily, see http://goo.gl/7aQE for the current exchange. You will find that many merchants will discount the USD. The reason is simple, our banks. For me to deposit USD in my commercial account costs 75c to use the teller and $2.50 to deposit up to $1000 in cash, plus this is today's exchange rate at the bank when I sell USD... for 1USD I get CAD$0.9964.

 

So, if I was to accept USD$32.50 from a customer, I would get CAD$29.14 after transaction fees, instead of the CAD$33.20 that I should because of bank fees. So expect to see a much lower exchange rate, than par. Canadians don't use USD in our daily lives, so the only thing we can do is go to the bank to exchange it for CAD.

 

Quebec City doesn't see as many tourists as you think. It's the capital of Quebec.... what it mostly sees is all our tax money.

[CrusinAgain]

All prices in Canada are in CAD (Canadian dollars - The symbol having a single strike through the S, ). As a courtesy most Canadians will accept USD (US Dollars - the symbol officially having two strikes through the S. ) but that doesn't mean that we like it. (And you will see a small minority who actually take it as an affront, because the same courtesy is not extended to Canadians elsewhere.)

 

The USD is worth about 2% more than the CAD at the moment. It changes daily, see http://goo.gl/7aQE for the current exchange. You will find that many merchants will discount the USD. The reason is simple, our banks. For me to deposit USD in my commercial account costs 75c to use the teller and $2.50 to deposit up to $1000 in cash, plus this is today's exchange rate at the bank when I sell USD... for 1USD I get CAD$0.9964.

 

So, if I was to accept USD$32.50 from a customer, I would get CAD$29.14 after transaction fees, instead of the CAD$33.20 that I should because of bank fees. So expect to see a much lower exchange rate, than par. Canadians don't use USD in our daily lives, so the only thing we can do is go to the bank to exchange it for CAD.

 

Quebec City doesn't see as many tourists as you think. It's the capital of Quebec.... what it mostly sees is all our tax money.

 

Thanks for taking the time to explain it so thoroughly. It sounds like we should just make other arrangements to get to the ship other than the taxi now that you have made everything clear. I had no idea about the symbols.

[CrusinAgain]

All prices in Canada are in CAD (Canadian dollars - The symbol having a single strike through the S, ). As a courtesy most Canadians will accept USD (US Dollars - the symbol officially having two strikes through the S. ) but that doesn't mean that we like it. (And you will see a small minority who actually take it as an affront, because the same courtesy is not extended to Canadians elsewhere.)

 

The USD is worth about 2% more than the CAD at the moment. It changes daily, see http://goo.gl/7aQE for the current exchange. You will find that many merchants will discount the USD. The reason is simple, our banks. For me to deposit USD in my commercial account costs 75c to use the teller and $2.50 to deposit up to $1000 in cash, plus this is today's exchange rate at the bank when I sell USD... for 1USD I get CAD$0.9964.

 

So, if I was to accept USD$32.50 from a customer, I would get CAD$29.14 after transaction fees, instead of the CAD$33.20 that I should because of bank fees. So expect to see a much lower exchange rate, than par. Canadians don't use USD in our daily lives, so the only thing we can do is go to the bank to exchange it for CAD.

 

Quebec City doesn't see as many tourists as you think. It's the capital of Quebec.... what it mostly sees is all our tax money.

 

I really thought Quebec City had alot of tourists like St. John and Halifax where two prices are posted, one for Canadian and one for U.S. It seems like with all the cruise ships coming in and people staying at the hotels that Quebec City would be a bit more receptive about accepting the U.S. dollar from the tourists. Oh well...guess we will take the Princess transfer and not worry about it.

[laverendrye]

I think that this is a bit of a tempest in a tea pot.

 

US dollars, while obviously not legal tender, are widely accepted in Québec City, and as the two currencies are nearly at par, there is little financial loss in using US dollars.

 

The idea that Québec City is not a major tourist destination is absurd. The city thrives on it and rightly so. I've always found hotels, restaurants and shops there to be quite welcoming to visitors.

 

Finally, just a note on dollar symbols. The idea that the Canadian dollar has one vertical bar and the US dollar two is a bit of folklore, based on the myth that the two strokes represent the "U" in "US". The single stroke sign ($) is the official sign for both currencies--have a look at the US Treasury Department website. The double stroke sign is officially used for the Brazilian real and the Chilean peso among others.

[xanadu seeker]

I was just there and in Quebec US money was readily accepted without any issue. Cab was 32.50 to airrport, fixed rate. There was no exchange rate issue as it had been so close to par. Have a good time

[CrusinAgain]

I was just there and in Quebec US money was readily accepted without any issue. Cab was 32.50 to airrport, fixed rate. There was no exchange rate issue as it had been so close to par. Have a good time

 

Thank you so much for that info. I see you went on the Crown Princess also.

[bento2744]

I read the taxi is flat rate from the terminal to the airport for 32.50 but it doesn't say how much from the airport to the terminal and if it is in U.S. dollars. Anyone know if we can use U.S. dollars for the taxi to get to the ship and does the flat rate of 32.50 sound right?

 

Just returned from Quebec City, after 10 days cruise from NY. I had absolutely no problem using USD for everything. Canada is extremely expensive, almost 1 for 1 exchange. In fact I heard Europeans complaining about cost of food.

I did not fly out of Quebec City, but Montreal has flat rate of $35 to airport.

[Ephraim]

I think that this is a bit of a tempest in a tea pot.

 

US dollars, while obviously not legal tender, are widely accepted in Québec City, and as the two currencies are nearly at par, there is little financial loss in using US dollars.

 

The idea that Québec City is not a major tourist destination is absurd. The city thrives on it and rightly so. I've always found hotels, restaurants and shops there to be quite welcoming to visitors.

 

Finally, just a note on dollar symbols. The idea that the Canadian dollar has one vertical bar and the US dollar two is a bit of folklore, based on the myth that the two strokes represent the "U" in "US". The single stroke sign ($) is the official sign for both currencies--have a look at the US Treasury Department website. The double stroke sign is officially used for the Brazilian real and the Chilean peso among others.

 

Quebec City does have a fair amount of tourists in the summer, but that the city revolves around tourists.... it certainly doesn't, it's a government town, tourism is certainly number 2. I didn't say that they wouldn't accept it, but to expect that it will be at par or, more likely, below par.

 

Actually, the note about the symbols is correct. The story about the origin of the double strike being from the U is just that, a story. But the Canadian dollar is supposed to be a single stroke and the US dollar is supposed to be a double stroke, officially.

 

Read what I wrote..... there is absolutely NOTHING between the lines to read or infer from what I wrote. As an innkeeper, I deal with tourists all the time. The costs for handling USD are the reality of Canadian banking for commercial accounts. Here is a link to the Bank of Montreal's fees. http://goo.gl/A37r where you will see that it is 95c for a deposit in either USD or CAD (in that respective currency.) And $2.15 to deposit up to $1000 CAD or $2.10 to deposit up to $1000 USD. (I bank with HSBC and it is $2.50 to deposit up to $1000 CAD or USD.) Personal accounts are a different animal entirely, I am talking strictly commercial accounts... like my own. I know my costs.

[scottbee]

Just returned from Quebec City, after 10 days cruise from NY. I had absolutely no problem using USD for everything. Canada is extremely expensive, almost 1 for 1 exchange. In fact I heard Europeans complaining about cost of food.

I did not fly out of Quebec City, but Montreal has flat rate of $35 to airport.

 

It's not that the C$ has really changed much against other global currencies, it's more that the US$ has devalued significantly in the last 5-7 years