blue is the best Posted July 12 #1 Share Posted July 12 Can you use US currency in the ports in Canada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare shof515 Posted July 12 #2 Share Posted July 12 (edited) yes. do expect to get back Canada change like a canadian quarter/dime back instead of a regular US quarter/dime Edited July 12 by shof515 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Another_Critic Posted July 12 #3 Share Posted July 12 Note that you may get a poor exchange rate using USD. Best is to use a credit card with no foreign transaction fee. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogueMonk Posted July 12 #4 Share Posted July 12 Some places will accept it, at a very poor exchange rate, but not everywhere. Best to use a credit card or get some CAD cash. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManfromFrance Posted July 12 #5 Share Posted July 12 The exchange rate has always been terrible when using USD. Since we are spending a very limited amount of cash, we live with the loss. It seems I never bring the right credit card on Canadian cruises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reallyitsmema Posted July 12 #6 Share Posted July 12 26 minutes ago, blue is the best said: Can you use US currency in the ports in Canada. Yes, but like others have said, you will get a terrible exchange rate and Canadian back as change. We just buy a small amount of Canadian from our bank before we go so we have money for cabs or an ice cream cone. 😄 We were able to buy foreign currency through the Bank of America app with no fee. We could choose what denominations we wanted and it was actually sent to us via Federal Express. For any souvenir purchases, we use a credit card that doesn't charge an exchange fee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BirdTravels Posted July 12 #7 Share Posted July 12 50 minutes ago, blue is the best said: Can you use US currency in the ports in Canada. Yes. Unless you are buying an expensive item, the exchange rate is really irrelevant (for snacks and cheapy souvenirs). 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sie625 Posted July 12 #8 Share Posted July 12 (edited) In Vancouver 2 weeks ago, my father in law wanted to pay in USD at a relatively high end lunch, was told that it would be at 1-1, and currently we are at about 0.73 CAD-USD. Which is practically stealing as a practice. I put my foot down, paid with my no foreign transaction fee CC, and he handed me $280 in USD (it would have been $380 if we did the 1-1 and paid in USD), which was useful to lose at the roulette table. Edited July 12 by sie625 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare CDNPolar Posted July 13 #9 Share Posted July 13 16 hours ago, sie625 said: In Vancouver 2 weeks ago, my father in law wanted to pay in USD at a relatively high end lunch, was told that it would be at 1-1, and currently we are at about 0.73 CAD-USD. Which is practically stealing as a practice. I put my foot down, paid with my no foreign transaction fee CC, and he handed me $280 in USD (it would have been $380 if we did the 1-1 and paid in USD), which was useful to lose at the roulette table. There is no obligation for any business to offer any exchange on US cash. I get what you are saying, but especially today when the vast majority of people pay with cards, there is a lot of admin work to deposit US cash for a business. Running exchange rates through the restaurant books is not something that anyone wants to do. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi13 Posted July 13 #10 Share Posted July 13 On 7/12/2024 at 11:06 AM, sie625 said: In Vancouver 2 weeks ago, my father in law wanted to pay in USD at a relatively high end lunch, was told that it would be at 1-1, and currently we are at about 0.73 CAD-USD. Which is practically stealing as a practice. I put my foot down, paid with my no foreign transaction fee CC, and he handed me $280 in USD (it would have been $380 if we did the 1-1 and paid in USD), which was useful to lose at the roulette table. Since US currency is not legal tender in Canada, it is hardly stealing. By accepting foreign currency the business is doing your FIL a favour. If your FIL didn't take the time to exchange US for Canadian, the business is under no obligation to even offer you 1:1. By accepting US currency, which I believe is still old paper notes that are more easily forged, the business is incurring a higher risk. They also require more work to deposit foreign currency and complete the accounting process. Additional risk and extra work require extra fees, so requesting 1:1 is not unreasonable, when your FIL could have used a credit card or taken the time to exchange currencies. 7 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calliopecruiser Posted July 14 #11 Share Posted July 14 On 7/12/2024 at 2:06 PM, sie625 said: In Vancouver 2 weeks ago, my father in law wanted to pay in USD at a relatively high end lunch, was told that it would be at 1-1, and currently we are at about 0.73 CAD-USD. Which is practically stealing as a practice. Sounds fair to me.......They're a restaurant, not a foreign exchange outlet. I think you were lucky they were willing to accept it at all, as many places won't (for a variety of reasons, including counterfeit potential). 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mexico8 Posted July 16 #12 Share Posted July 16 A few years ago I tried to by some hot dogs at an airport in the US with Canadian currency and they absolutely refused to accept it. At that time our Canadian $ was worth more than the US $. A nearby customer was kind enough to exchange it for me so we could eat something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare CDNPolar Posted July 16 #13 Share Posted July 16 10 hours ago, mexico8 said: A few years ago I tried to by some hot dogs at an airport in the US with Canadian currency and they absolutely refused to accept it. At that time our Canadian $ was worth more than the US $. A nearby customer was kind enough to exchange it for me so we could eat something. In the past I have had a single Canadian penny pulled out of a combination of US coins offered to a merchant, and the Canadian penny was passed back to me with a frown of distrust that I was trying to get away with something.... We cannot assume anywhere in the world that "our" currency is legal tender. It may be accepted and it may not be. Nothing to be angry or upset about. This is why we travel with credit cards and if the merchant does not accept cards, then we don't buy. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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