Is it better to convert your American dollars into Canadian before you go or when you’re in Canada?

22 comments

1. Most American credit cards work in Canada. I just use mine when I go. Haven’t bothered to get Canadian currency in a long time even though I visit British Columbia often. I kinda miss it, it was always fun trying to collect their commemorative coins.

2. I hit the ATM with my debit card. YMMV, but my bank was fair with the exchange rate and I want hit with an outrageous fee like you would with a currency exchange.

   Also, when you use your debit or credit card for transactions at shops, restaurants, etc, they sometimes offer to process the transaction in US dollars rather than the local currency. Don’t do that. Select local currency and you’ll avoid more unnecessary fees.

3. Don’t go to a currency exchange. Just use your cards and an ATM for any cash, your bank will give you a better rate than an exchange service.

4. We’re in Canada now and just use our card for everything.

5. Chase has credit cards with 0 transaction or conversion fees. There are other banks in the US that offer similar perks.

   20+ years ago when people used cash on a regular basis they would exchange their money at a bank or forex exchange location. OR just use USD in Canada, almost Canadian merchants accept USD, albeit at a shitty exchange rate.

   When I grew up (in Canada) places like McDonalds had USD conversion info right on the menu at the front counter.

6. For international travel you want a) a credit card without foreign transaction fees and b) a Schwab checking account that charges no ATM fees worldwide *and* refunds the fees charged by the machines themselves. Never have to worry about getting ripped off on exchange rates.

   When I wrap a trip up with extra cash I just keep it now. I have a few hundred bucks worth of random assorted foreign currency in my safe at this point and I’ll bring it with me whenever I return to those countries. After getting ripped off by a currency exchange a few times and not caring to take it to the bank I decided it’s the easiest.

7. Just use your credit card

8. I would use my credit card for most transactions and if I needed to withdraw money, I’d use my debit card at an ATM.

   None of my credit cards or debit cards have foreign transaction fees.

9. In Canada I just use my cards. If I’m in a country where I can’t reliably use cards I just take my debt card to an ATM and get the local currency there. No need to pay exorbitant exchange fees.

   I’ve been surprised with how many places take cards abroad now compared to even just 10 years ago.

10. Just use your credit card. My wife’s parents and siblings live in Canada and I have never converted any dollars.

11. I just use one of my no fee international exchange credit cards.

12. Just got back from Canada 30 minutes ago. I always use my card. Just remember to notify your bank ahead of time.

13. I just use a credit card. No problems in Windsor last month.

14. American credit cards work fine in Canada. They just have to convert to Canadian Dollars.

15. My family goes to Canada a lot. The best way to do it is just use your debit or credit card because your bank almost always has the best rate and won’t charge you some ridiculous fee.

    I have Bank of America though so ymmv with smaller credit unions and such.

    Any credit card should be fine though. Probably don’t want to get a cash advance that way unless you are certain you will pay it off in total (not just the cash advance amount but the total amount because they will pay down the lower interest rate first then the higher cash advance rate).

    If you do really want cash you can order foreign currency through your bank before you go.

16. The only time I paid for something in Canada was … 2002 or so? We just used our credit card, and it seemed every store had their own exchange rate. If I were to go again, I’d hit an ATM and get some Canadian money. I’m guessing the banks will have a more standardized exchange rate.

17. When you’re in Canada, at an ATM.

    If you’re with a major bank they likely have an agreement with one of the Canadian banks to not have any extra fees on the withdrawal, but even if there are it’s still going to be a better deal than a typical currency exchange.

    That said, Visa/Mastercard have pretty wide acceptance there and AmEx isn’t terrible these days. I keep like $40-60CAD on hand but rarely ever use it.

18. If you can get to one, bring your greenbacks to a Canadian casino and exchange them there. Exchange rate is as good as you’re going to find.

19. Just use your American CREDIT card.

    Don’t use your debit card internationally. The only time I’ve had my card info stolen was in Canada.

    Pragmatically, fraud on your credit card just means your maximum is reduced for a little while (maybe). Fraud on your debit card means your actual money is gone until it’s sorted out.

    The only time I would have benefitted from converting currency is when I was on a trip in Niagara and needed like $50 CAD in cash for attractions. Our hotel offered a 1:1 exchange while the actual exchange rate was like 1.2:1 at the time.

20. I drove from Anchorage to Edmonton in 2013. When I arrived in Whitehorse I pulled $500 from an ATM – I found it odd that it spit $50 bills. Unfortunately, at that time the exchange rate was near parity, so it was very close to US$500.

    Anyway, I used my card the rest of the trip as my card had no transaction fees and charged the market rate for exchange. I spent about $300 cash to get rid of it, but kept the rest for the drive home just in case gas station credit machines were down. It didn’t happen.

    The $50 bills were brand new and sequential. I still have two of them. One of these days I’ll come back and be sure to spend it.

21. I haven’t worked in Canada in decades, but when I did it was before I used credit cards all the time. And I never really needed to do that. Now I also never really worked more than say 30-40 miles from the boarder. So that might be a thing.

22. It’ll depend slightly on your individual card. I have both a credit card and a debit card with no foreign transaction fees, and the cheapest way with that setup is to pay in the local currency of the country that you’re in. I typically use my credit card, and if I need cash I just use an ATM (my bank also reimburses ATM fees, although ATM fees abroad are less common overall).