Me neither, but it was something of an emergency - my debit card expired just before a trip I’d planned. Since I didn’t use my American bank account very often, I didn’t notice until it was too late to get a new one before my trip. (In the end, I didn’t get any sort of advance at all and I managed to survive by travelling on the super, super cheap. It was fine, but I didn’t get to do quite as many fun things as I otherwise would have.)
In Europe I was able to get cash advances on my Visa card by going into a bank. (This was when I was much younger. Also, I used my credit card as a virtual debit card since I was unclear on the concept of ‘credit’ at the time. i.e., I had the money in the bank.)
I’m so bummed about the dates. I’m in eastern Canada until the 6th, or I’d come get you and take you out for a beer.
Convention Centre isn’t my stomping ground unfortunately. You’ll wind up eating at the various tourist-driven places near the Steam Clock, most likely.
It does. You put the ATM card in the machine and get out money, same way you do at home, only it’s a different kind of money. That’s how it’s worked everywhere I’ve gone so far.
Sometimes there is a per-transaction fee. We usually get a reasonably large amount of the local currency when we arrive, rather than getting it piecemeal while we’re there, to save on those fees.
Or just remember this poem:
30 is hot
20 is nice
10 is cold
0 is ice
If you have access to Google, you can do the conversions that way. Say it’s 22 C in Vancouver. Type “22 c in f” into Google, and it will convert it.
My bank card has my financial institution’s logo on its front, and the logos of Interac, PLUS and NYCE on its back. No Visa or MasterCard logo. I think I remember it being detected as a Visa card by foreign ATMs, but in Canada it’s not seen as such, it’s a debit card and Visa are credit cards.
I don’t know, but Johnny L.A. mentions being asked “debit or credit”. I don’t think there are any cards that are both debit and credit in Canada. As I’ve said, I think I can get cash advances from my Visa account with my bank card in ATMs of my financial institution, but that’s an exception.
And when I use my ATM card abroad, I have to pay an out-of-network fee (something like three dollars per transaction) but otherwise I think it’s the way to get the best conversion rate, and it’s extremely convenient.
The clerks don’t know if it’s a debit card or a credit card (even though my debit card says ‘debit’ on it, and my credit cards don’t). So when you give them a card, they ask if they should make it a debit transaction or a credit transaction. I know my debit card can be processed as a credit card, so in that case I could use my debit card and process it as credit. But generally, people use a credit card as a credit card and a debit card as a debit card. The clerks just want to know which way to process it.
EDIT: Oh, about the ATM OON fee. You may want to shop around. At my local gas station they charge $3. At the local market the fee is only $1. Last time in New Orleans, one ATM wanted at least $3 to get money. (It may have actually been $5. :eek: ) The machine was down, though, so the waiter directed me to a convenience store across the street where their machine only charged 98¢.
If your US card is on the Cirrus network (usually there will be a little Cirrus symbol on the bottom of the back of your card), it is linked to Interac.
In regard to temperature conversion from Celsius to Fahrenheit, just double the temperature you hear and add 32 for above zero temperatures. It’s not dead-on all the time, but is within a few degrees Fahrenheit. For example, if they say it’s 21 Degrees Celsius, double it (42) and add 32 (=74 Degrees F).
Right now, the dollar is so close, it’s just as easy to spend your US dollars. You may lose a whole 2% or so even if they take them at par, but it will likely cost you more than that to convert anywhere. And yes, airport kiosks are higher because they charge a transaction service fee along with the exchange rate. Banks, on the other hand usually have a 4% difference in buy and sell rates to protect themselves if there is a dramatic change in the exchange rate overnight.
Here in the U.S., a debit card can be processed by the merchant like a credit card, requiring a signature, or processed as a debit card, requiring a PIN. I believe that on the bank’s end it’s a debit transaction either way. A credit card, as far as I know (but note Kyla’s post #18) can only be processed as a credit card, requiring a signature, and results in a credit transaction with the credit card company (Visa, Mastercard, etc.). I know at least one merchant (ALDI) who accepts debit cards but not credit cards. They only process them as debit.
You’re not actually using your Visa card as a credit card when it gets run as credit. You’re just having it run using credit, rather than debit, authorization procedures.
The money still comes out of your checking account. You’re just signing for it instead of PINing for it.
One useful thought - If you’re going to be landing at YVR, you may want to get some Canadian money when you are at your layover in Calgary, so that you can pay for the ride downtown*. Or, if you haven’t got a lot of luggage, you can take the Metro. We built one for the Olympics, and it’s still there.
*Why yes, I did wind up in Honolulu airport with no US dollars and no ATM at 11 pm, how did you know?
My Visa card is being run used as a credit card, because that’s what it is. The debit card has a Visa logo, and can be run as a debit card (requiring a PIN) or as a credit card (requiring a signature). With the Visa card, I get a bill. With the debit car – no matter how it’s processed – it comes out of my bank account.
All I’m saying is that when you hand the clerk a piece of plastic, she doesn’t know if it’s a credit card or a debit card. So she asks.
Hah! The ones at the airport often charge more… the ATMs at the Toronto airport are all third-party ones that gouge everyone equally. And the actual exchange booths… well, the ones at the Toronto airport charge 7.5% as near as I can tell. Hopefully the ones in Calgary/Vancouver charge less.
My non-Mastercard, non-Visa Interac debit card worked fine in ATMs all acrosss northern Europe in 2000. It was on the Plus system. Canadian ATMs all take cards on the Plus and Cirrus systems to make cash withdrawls. (Also JCB and, increasingly, China UnionPay.)
Interac instead of MC/Visa. Precisely.
Interac debit cards grew out of banking cards during the eighties, using a separate payments system entirely, instead of using the credit-card payments system. Interac is a non-profit associaltion that charges a flat fee per transaction rather than a percentage, so the merchants like it a lot more than MC/Visa. Until very recently, there were NO Canadian MC/Visa-branded debit cards.
Interac has always been “online” with PINs, even in the magnetic-stripe days. It never used a signature. You put your PIN in, wait for the system to confirm your balance with your bank, the money gets debited right then, then you leave with your purchase. None of this nonsense about posting debit transactions a few days later; you can’t accidentally overdraw your account by running a bunch of transactions before they all post at once. The downside of this is, if the power’s off or communications is down, it doesn’t work. At all.
Your cards with the MC/Visa logos will probably be handled as credit cards, and you’ll have to sign the receipt. I’m honestly not sure whether Canadian terminals will make the distinction between MC/Visa credit and MC/Visa debit.
And that brings me to another thing. Canada is in the midst of changing from magnetic-stripe cards to “chip-and-PIN” cards. You’ll see PINpads and card readers up front where customers can get at them, and you’ll see people sticking their cards in and entering PINs for both debit and credit.
This won’t affect you much as an American, because you’ll get to use your magstripe card and then sign the receipt regardless. But in a couple of years, ATMs will stop accepting magstripe transactions, and a few years later, merchants will stop accepting magstripe transactions. I presume these deadlines are for Canadian-issued cards only… but I have seen nothing actually saying that.
Depending on flight arrangements, you may be flying ionto Calgary, going though Customs there, then on a domestic flight to Vancouver.
When you return, you may pass through US Customs in the Canadian airport. This is called “preclearance” and a lot of Canadian airports do it. It gives the Canadian airlines much more flexibility in choosing routes to US cities, because they can then fly into any US airport as a domestic flight, instead of being restricted to airports with customs facilities. It also takes some of the load off the Customs people in US airports.
I guess I figured that if you’re going to be flying a few thousand miles anyway, it’s not really worth sweating a few bucks for an ATM fee.
Yeah, that is a bummer. It’d be nice to meet another Doper face-to-face.
30C is hot? That’s a pretty mild day in West Texas during the summer. where it’s regularly in the mid to upper 90s! 
What surprises me about the ATM cash conversion thing is not that Canadian money is comes out of them, but that it will take my American debit card on an American account and automatically give me the proper funds.
It seems so easy this way. Why would anyone go through a bank anymore?
Some people are old. And some people didn’t have the SDMB to ask. 
Lucky you, the weather has been just brilliant the past few weeks.
If you’re staying near the convention centre, you’ll be near the largest transit hub in the city, Waterfront Station. The transit system here is clean, easy to use and pretty quick. If you’re not renting a car, I’d suggest doing a little research on translink.bc.ca on how to get around. There is a direct train from the airport to Waterfront Station, which will save you lots and lots of cab fare or shuttle fare. Google Maps also has the Translink system integrated into it.
Right now there are many relics of the Olympics to see. All of the stadiums (except for BC Place, which is getting a new roof) have tours available. The torch is quite literally right beside the convention centre. Most of the best attractions are right downtown with you, like the art gallery, the very awesome looking library, Science World, Stanley Park and Granville Island. Granville Island is a huge fine arts district, with an arts school, lots of independent markets, a huge vegetable market and all sorts of places to buy unique handmade gifts. They also have the best food court in the city - not Arby’s and New York Fries, but locally caught fish n’ chips, sushi, creative pizza and lots of dessrt counters.
Most places around here will accept US Cash, but it get it changed at your bank instead. We will gouge you on the percentage. Sorry about that.
Vancouver this time of the year?
One of the places you want to see is Wreck Beach. Another is the Capilano Suspension Bridge.
Wow, all of that sounds fabulous! Now I’m really excited to go! Thanks for the useful info, Foldup Rabbit!