So what is your experience so far? Have you been using US dollars?

I know that US Dollars can be accepted to pay in Vancouver. But you may exchange your money at any places in Vancouver. US$1 = C$1.05 as of March 4th 2011. You can use American Express to pay these funds because, its an American Credit Card Holder.

I think its the other way around, $1 Canadian dollar buys $1.05 US (or 95 cents Cdn for $1USD).

What's a fair exchange rate for 2 friends to change money? The Canadian needs US$ and the American needs Canadian dollars. They could exchange money privately so nobody pays commission. Where should they consult to get a fair rate for both of them? Does the WSJ publish it anymore or just some days?

www.xe.com this is the world spot price of all currencies (no buy/sell) and is within 30 seconds of actual

Or you can just say, here's a 1 to 1 exchange rate, and buy me dinner

This is always an interesting subject. I'm reminded that someone made the observation that if you try to spend Canadian currency in the US, away from the border, the response is as if you were trying to pay with Russian rubles. They won't even take our pennies and coin machines treat our quarters like slugs. However, if someone does want to use US currency in Canada, there is no obligation to accept it and there is no control of the rate. The person accepting it has to go to the bank and pay the fees eventually so they need to have a mark-up. Any bank should give a better rate than a store and they are everywhere, and TD is open on Sunday. In the end, you are best off using a credit card so you don't have to change back if you have too much or use an ATM in Canada to get money in C$ from your account in the US. Just check the fees first.

The greenback is a 'world currency.' The loonie isn't, plain and simple.

You'll see the same thing in Europe. If you attempt to spend euros at a small town in Wales, they'll likely be accepted. Swiss francs? Probably not.

Why? Because the euro is another world currency.

But, but, isn't Canada our 51st state?

No, we are America's Hat.

OK. Better the hat than something scraped off the shoe. I'd even accept "we are American's brain". But I wish I could wake up the brain then because America is doing a lot of brainless stuff lately.

Whoa, the greenback may be a world currency in the US but its acceptance in Canada had been due to the fact that it was worth relatively more at one time so folks could make a profit. Try to pay with Euros in NY, even though they are worth more. They are regarded as another unacceptable currency because they aren't green. If God meant currency to be colors other than green, she would have made real money in those colors.

In general, I haven't witnessed most countries being all that accommodating toward people paying in foreign currencies. To give one example, when I was last there, there were a few shops in London where you could spend Euros at rip-off exchange rates but you need to have GBP in most places. It's extra work to train cashiers to recognize counterfeits and for the cashiers and bookkeepers to keep track of foreign currency transactions, separate the foreign notes and coins and arrange cash transfers to the bank.

Canada has traditionally been cheap for Americans so there are a lot of Americans who cross the border on short visits and want to spend their USD and businesses find it profitable to accommodate them. New York gets tourists not just from the Eurozone but also Canada, Latin America, the UK, Japan, Russia, the Middle East, etc. No way can anyone keep track of such diverse currencies and plus buying rates of foreign currencies in the U.S. tend to be poor for some reason.

Agreed. I was in LHR last week. Checked into a Hilton not far from Paddington and the posted rates for USD and CAD showed the greenback worth about 3% more than the loonie in GBP terms when the opposite is true.
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It could be that an employee at Hilton was lazy and did not change the rate.

I suspect that if you tried to make a money exchange at Hilton, you would not get a rate that shows the U.S. dollar higher than the Canadian dollar.

On the other hand, if it were a bank that posted the exchange rate incorrectly, you could argue the error to your advantage.
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