Attention all Canadians

[Putterdude]

Will be in Quebec City and Halifax soon. Is it necessary to exchange just enough money for taxi fares? I would use my credit card for tours or souvenirs.

Will eat on the ship.

 

Although only the CAD is legal tender in Canada, as a courtesy to our American cousins most shops, restaurants and taxis in cities where a lot of tourists visit will accept USD....as a matter of fact event Canada Post will accept it. Now comes the rub....you will almost invariably receive your change in CAD and you will not likely receive the correct exchange rate. That said, if you are only concerned about taxis and a few small souvenirs then you are likely just as well of to stick with your USD. Visa, MasterCard are widely accepted in Canada, AMEX a little less so and Discovery a whole lot less so. But before you use your US credit card you may care to check with your card issuer and determine what in the way of foreign transaction fees they charge. Having BofA for winters in AZ I can tell you they have huge fees when I use it in the Caribbean and accidently in Canada. Capital One (US not so Canada) claims they have no foreign transaction fees however, I rather suspect they simply hide them in an inflated exchange rate....I have been around just long enough to know that banks don't do anything for free.:rolleyes:

[iceleven]

The Canadian food is only weird in Quebec.:p

 

:D Agreed

[toberman]

The Canadian food is only weird in Quebec.:p

 

:D Agreed

 

WHAT ?? You've never had Cod Lips, Beaver Tails or Black Bear Balls ? None of which are native to QC. :D:D

[tetleytea]

WHAT ?? You've never had Cod Lips, Beaver Tails or Black Bear Balls ? None of which are native to QC. :D:D

 

And all of which are awesome.

[MicCanberra]

I will have to try them all.:D

[caribill]

Capital One (US not so Canada) claims they have no foreign transaction fees however, I rather suspect they simply hide them in an inflated exchange rate....I have been around just long enough to know that banks don't do anything for free.:rolleyes:

 

Your suspicions are incorrect.

 

Not only are there no foreign transaction fees, the exchange rate is essentially about what the official published rate for that day is. It will vary slightly as I think they use the actual rate at the time it is processed, not the same rate for an entire day.

 

While banks do not do anything for free, this is their marketing gimmick to get more customers. They get their cut from the merchant, a percentage of what is charged.

[Putterdude]

Your suspicions are incorrect.

 

Not only are there no foreign transaction fees, the exchange rate is essentially about what the official published rate for that day is. It will vary slightly as I think they use the actual rate at the time it is processed, not the same rate for an entire day.

 

While banks do not do anything for free, this is their marketing gimmick to get more customers. They get their cut from the merchant, a percentage of what is charged.

 

Well unless you have an authoritative source I will stick by my suspicions, 25 basis points here 50 basis points there and pretty soon we are talking some real money.

[avcruz]

WHAT ?? You've never had Cod Lips, Beaver Tails or Black Bear Balls ? None of which are native to QC. :D:D

 

 

Not to mention Prairie Oysters... ;-)

[caribill]

Well unless you have an authoritative source I will stick by my suspicions, 25 basis points here 50 basis points there and pretty soon we are talking some real money.

 

My authoritative source is myself.

 

Every time I use the card overseas I get extremely close to the published rate for the day. Not 1% more. Not 3 % more. Within 1/10th of one percent. Sometimes this within 1/10th of one percent is higher, sometimes lower than the published rate, based, I assume, on intra-day fluctuations in the exchange rate.

 

Example: Last year when I started a trip the British pound was worth $1.64090. Two charges the same day 2 weeks into the trip went through at $1.6525 and $1.6468. I am not sure what the official rate was on that day.

Edited August 21, 2015 by caribill

[Putterdude]

My authoritative source is myself.

 

Every time I use the card overseas I get extremely close to the published rate for the day. Not 1% more. Not 3 % more. Within 1/10th of one percent. Sometimes this within 1/10th of one percent is higher, sometimes lower than the published rate, based, I assume, on intra-day fluctuations in the exchange rate.

 

Example: Last year when I started a trip the British pound was worth $1.64090. Two charges the same day 2 weeks into the trip went through at $1.6525 and $1.6468. I am not sure what the official rate was on that day.

 

Who's exchange rate? What was other major banks exchange rate on that date? We can go to 6 different sites and find at least 12 different Forex rates at the same time. A posted exchange rate is at best a reference point and varies from institution to institution, from hour to hour and whether a currency is being bought or sold. There is a different rate if you are exchanging 10 units of currency or 10,000,000 units of currency. Capital One (US) does not charge their credit card customers a foreign transaction fee however, we will continue to disagree about them not making that up by way of an inflated exchange rate.

[kruisey]

My authoritative source is myself.

 

Every time I use the card overseas I get extremely close to the published rate for the day. Not 1% more. Not 3 % more. Within 1/10th of one percent. Sometimes this within 1/10th of one percent is higher, sometimes lower than the published rate, based, I assume, on intra-day fluctuations in the exchange rate.

 

Example: Last year when I started a trip the British pound was worth $1.64090. Two charges the same day 2 weeks into the trip went through at $1.6525 and $1.6468. I am not sure what the official rate was on that day.

I have noticed it can vary by a cent on the same day.I visit there most years.

[caribill]

Who's exchange rate? What was other major banks exchange rate on that date?

 

I either look at what is in the WSJ or at http://www.x-rates.com/

[kruisey]

I know this is mentioned in the general Canadian thread but thought it very important to 'Highlight' this.

All cruises booked now from January 1st 2016 on wards are on the rate of exchange $1.30.Meaning price is now 30% above the USA Dollar.If you did not book before this weekend then your rate is now this.

I have not heard a hint of anyone getting advance notice of this sudden change. :(

I got a Special reduction on my Solo inside cabin for 2016:D

[kruisey]

I informed you all yesterday about this.I got a wonderful deal from Princess on my fall 2016 cruise..:D

[Sincity]

Although only the CAD is legal tender in Canada, as a courtesy to our American cousins most shops, restaurants and taxis in cities where a lot of tourists visit will accept USD

 

At the Chinese restaurants in Richmond, BC, they will exchange it at a 1:1 rate. :eek: Even when the dollar was .95:1 AFAIR. We just opened a TD account on the US side and opened a separate TD account in Canada and TD allows you to move money without add'l charge other than 5% exchange spread. HSBC charged you for moving money and the spread. So far, TD was the cheapest option to take advantage of the current exchange rate.

Edited August 25, 2015 by Sincity

[Sincity]

I either look at what is in the WSJ or at http://www.x-rates.com/

 

I use http://www.xe.com and it is 1.33 today.

[mattie00]

Just noticed that our trips booked for February/March 2017 to Australia and New Zealand are approximately $1000 more than when we booked 6 weeks ago. Always pays to plan ahead! Not only do you get the cabin and dining room seating you want, if the price goes up your fare does not; if it goes down, your fare does until final payment date. How can you lose? :))

[Cruise Junky]

Certainly the same pricing problems must occur with RCCL, Carnival, etc. This should not be unique to Princess.

 

I looked into 2 cruises today, one with RCL and one with NCL they were both just under 20% vs Princess's 30%. I truly don't expect it to last long though.

[Van1982]

Yikes. I was planning to book another cruise while on the Star next week to take advantage of the lower deposit and OBC...now I'm not so sure. With a family of four, those small increases really add up.

[kruisey]

For my trip September 2016 my price has gone down over $1000 plus free gratuities plus specialty dining voucher all in Canadian Dollars.:D

Edited August 26, 2015 by kruisey

[chapultepec]

I have a USD credit card through the Royal Bank (Alberta) and if you call Princess directly (won't work online) and speak with a travel planner, they will accept the card and charge you in USD.

 

I saved almost 1000.00 CDN on next years cruise by paying this way. Plus as opposed to a CDN card, there is no conversion fee applied. I just pay the card with my USD savings account.

 

Sadly, US airlines won't accept the card because I have a Canadian billing address. It's like were are being punished for living on this side of the border.

[kruisey]

I have a USD credit card through the Royal Bank (Alberta) and if you call Princess directly (won't work online) and speak with a travel planner, they will accept the card and charge you in USD.

 

I saved almost 1000.00 CDN on next years cruise by paying this way. Plus as opposed to a CDN card, there is no conversion fee applied. I just pay the card with my USD savings account.

 

Sadly, US airlines won't accept the card because I have a Canadian billing address. It's like were are being punished for living on this side of the border.

And live in Canada.I just phoned and asked them.They said you must have had the incorrect information...:)

[tetleytea]

Try having a U.S. address and getting a Canadian cell phone some time.

[backpack]

I have a USD credit card through the Royal Bank (Alberta) and if you call Princess directly (won't work online) and speak with a travel planner, they will accept the card and charge you in USD.

 

I saved almost 1000.00 CDN on next years cruise by paying this way. Plus as opposed to a CDN card, there is no conversion fee applied. I just pay the card with my USD savings account.

 

Sadly, US airlines won't accept the card because I have a Canadian billing address. It's like were are being punished for living on this side of the border.

 

We have been using a US credit card through the B of M for years which has saved us a great deal of money of the years. We found the cruise lines were using such interesting way of converting our $s to US$s.

Cas & Ursula

[Steelers36]

 

Sadly, US airlines won't accept the card because I have a Canadian billing address. It's like were are being punished for living on this side of the border.

 

Hi, not sure which airline you are referring to, but I have purchased tickets from Toronto to USA and Buffalo to USA on several US airlines, plus Air Canada and have regularly used my USD Visa card. It may require a little "trick" on some sites to get it to work, but I have always had success when I wanted USD.

 

On the other hand, I find most airlines are using a good wholesale conversion rate. I mostly booked flights for years in USD as I was billing US-based clients for the travel expense.