Canada trip

Mahubah · Postby **Mahubah** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 5:10 pm

I'm headed to Woodbine for a book signing on July 22 (the signing will be the next day in conjunction with the inaugural Northern Dancer Breeders' Cup Stakes) and need some info on visiting our neighbors to the north. I've checked the State Department website so I know what documents I'll need for travel back and forth across the border, but I need some information about currency and changing. I'm assuming that if I want to do cash transactions, I'll need to change US currency for Canadian -- where are the best places to do that? If those in the know don't recommend going with cash, what exchange media (travelers' checks, credit cards, etc.) would you recommend as most widely accepted and most convenient?

LKMote · Postby **LKMote** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 5:33 pm

If you are going to exchange US funds to Canadian most banks should be able to do that for you. Travelers' checks are great and Visa is accepted at most places. I would also change some currency before you go.

TrueColours · Postby **TrueColours** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 6:16 pm

Cash, travellers cheques, credit cards - all no problem whatsoever here.

You can change cash before you leave or when you get here at banks, the airport, the hotel or any store or restaurant you go to

The USD dollar is at about 1.10 right now, so we are literally getting to almost par

I live about 20 minutes from Woodbine - let me know if you are at loose ends at any time during your stay and want to see some beautiful dilute coloured TB's while you are in town!

ak1 · Postby **ak1** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 6:16 pm

When travelling to Toronto and Montreal regularly on business a few years ago, I found the best rates were using my ATM(Visa checkcard) to withdraw funds at the local bank's ATM (was able to find in the airports as well as near the hotels I was staying at). Was able to take advantage of Visa's volume exchange rate. Have heard that credit cards are now charging fees for that priviledge that they were not doing then (not sure to what extent this is true).

Most of the cabs picking you up at the airport will take a credit card so long as you tell them that is your form of payment up front.

As a woman whose was many times travelling alone, I like to minimize the amount of cash on my person.

Hope you have a wonderful trip!

cewright · Postby **cewright** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 6:35 pm

Your best bet to exchange funds in almost any foreign country is to use an ATM. That way you are paying the interbank rate which is generally the cheapest. Be careful when using credit cards, some issuers charge a per transaction exchange fee which can drastically increase your costs.

Mahubah · Postby **Mahubah** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 5:42 am

Thanks for all the tips, folks. I probably won't have much free time on my hands this trip but I think it's going to be fun. Hope to see some of you there!

madelyn · Postby **madelyn** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 9:40 am

Aah.. the land of the two dollar bill and the loonie.

As stated above, using your ATM card as a Visa will get you the bank rate for any purchase. I usually avoid ATM machines themselves because there is a per transaction fee ($2.50 or more) so I head to a grocery store. Purchase something, anything and draw out cash

however for me always a good trip is where I never get even a shred of local currency.. doesn't always work so I have everything from Colombian pesos to Bahamian in my desk drawer.

Cab drivers and just about everyone else there accept US currency and so if you can work out the exchange you can pay with greenbacks.

The smallest paper currency there is the $2 bill. They have a coin $1 called the loon, or loonie. Try not to bring back masses of coins with you.

Hope you have a great trip!

ragsdaj1 · Postby **ragsdaj1** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 9:55 am

Mahubah,

Just curious if your book was translated to French for part of the canadian market.

JonR

Mahubah · Postby **Mahubah** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 1:04 pm

So far as I know, there haven't been any translations of The Kingmaker. Of course, I've been told (rightly or wrongly) that a good many Quebec natives can and do speak English...grudgingly. (They're doing a lot better than I am on the second language department anyway; all my high-school and college language classes went out the window a long time ago. Living in Florida, I could wish what Spanish I had learned had stuck around!)

Des · Postby **Des** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 1:34 pm

You can do it right there at the track........

Retrospectiv · Postby **Retrospectiv** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 5:37 pm

madelyn wrote:Aah.. the land of the two dollar bill and the loonie.

The smallest paper currency there is the $2 bill. They have a coin $1 called the loon, or loonie. Try not to bring back masses of coins with you.

Actually, the smallest bill here is the $5 bill. We have the aforementioned $1 'loonie' and have also had a $2 coin (the 'twoonie') for many years now :lol:

Does make not ending up with a pocket full of change an effort sometimes LOL

Tucumcari · Postby **Tucumcari** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 6:49 pm

AHHH, Canada
My home and native land.

Cross border currency exchange is a whole lot easier when travelling to Canada as opposed to vice versa (wow did that make any sense) Basically if you are in a restaurant and all you have is US cash they'll happily inform you of the rate of exchange given at that particular restaraunt, which is usually pretty close to what the banks will give. We the Canadian people LOVE to take your US cash!
Even when I was home in the fall all I had is US Money and although I had a Canadian bank account I was too lazy and too stupid to deposit and or exchange it. So I used US everywhere. I only encountered a problem with bigger bills as people were reluctant to take those lest they be counterfeit.
Canada is a very "people friendly/user friendly" place.
Banks, in my experience don't often exchange without a bank account (my american boyfriend, now husband discovered). Which wasn't all that bad as I just did it for him. And there are places like Money MArt that exchange money as well. Though not always large sums of it!

Enjoy your tip, and don't judge the rest of Canada, by Toronto... Go west...

MyStormyBaby · Postby **MyStormyBaby** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 9:25 pm

Ah, Toronto ain't so bad...

Anyway, there's no shortage of places to exchange cash in the area, especially since Woodbine is pretty much just across the road from the airport.
You can easily exchange money at Woodbine, or if you're so inclined there's no shortage of ATMs.
Some details from Woodbine's website:

Are there bank machines at Woodbine and Mohawk?
Yes. There is a $1.00 fee to process each transaction. We also offer a cash advance against VISA and Mastercards credit cards. There is a 3% service charged on every cash advance transaction. One piece of valid government issued photo identification is required to process all transactions. Only the following will be accepted:
* Drivers Licence
* Passport
* Citizenship Card
* University/College ID Card

If you need to go to an actual bank, I know there's one in the Woodbine Centre, a large mall located directly across the road from the main entrances to the track.

It sounds like track management is planning a really big day to celebrate Woodbine's 50th anniversary. Should be a lot of fun.

Sylvie Hebert · Postby **Sylvie Hebert** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 6:11 am

by the way Canada is one of the safest country in the world and i never worry about going around with cash...

madelyn · Postby **madelyn** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 7:32 am

Retrospectiv wrote:
madelyn wrote:Aah.. the land of the two dollar bill and the loonie.

The smallest paper currency there is the $2 bill. They have a coin $1 called the loon, or loonie. Try not to bring back masses of coins with you.

Actually, the smallest bill here is the $5 bill. We have the aforementioned $1 'loonie' and have also had a $2 coin (the 'twoonie') for many years now
Does make not ending up with a pocket full of change an effort sometimes LOL

Egad.. it's been that long since I've been "home" to visit my family??

Well I suppose my last trip up there was for Thanksgiving in 2001 or so. I forgot about the $2 coin which might have just been under implementation at that time... or I followed my plan of exchanging NO currency. I have to admit, I like my family but I hate visiting there.

But, Mahubah, I'm sure you will have a GREAT time...

Re the French/English thing, it has been a civil struggle issue in Canada since the 1800's. It escalated in the late 60's and a terrorist group formed, the Federation de Liberation de Quebec. That group was responsible for bombings, kidnap, murder, mayhem, etc. and caused a cataclysmic evacuation of business from Montreal, which descended like locusts on the sleepy ugly grey town of Toronto, giving rise to explosive growth. Montreal's economy fell from the sky; my family was swept up and summarily moved. If you travel through French Canada at any point, you would be wise to wear a little American flag lapel pin, in defense of your lack of French speaking ability.