Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Common Interests Need help from foreign travelers!

So I just got back from Canada last night, and I've still got about $180 Canadian left over. I figured I could just convert it back at the bank. Go to do it this morning, and find out that it's not quite that easy. Out of the 10 banks that I tried, 2 do it. One charges $17.50, and it takes roughly 2-3 weeks before I get my money back. The other bank has bad hours that I can't make until Friday, and they're "not sure" how much the exchange will cost.

I tried all the upscale hotels in the area, and check cashing places as well.. Even tried the Federal Reserve, as it's 20 minutes from my house. No go. The answer that EVERYBODY gave me was to go to the airport. Problem is that you can't get to the exchange counter w/o going through security, which you can't do w/o a ticket anymore (post 9/11).

So I'm stumped. I either wait until Friday, and hope the fee isn't too bad (which I'll try to submit as an expense to my company, as this was a business trip), or figure something else out.. Open to all suggestions.

I believe that the banks are your only choice.
however comma
you can look in the phone book in the government section and call the local treasury department rep. they may be able to help

hope this helps

MP

I'll give you $25 for that $180 CN!

My experience is its cheap & easy to change $ to the foreign countries $ But, its expensive & hard to change it back. Honestly, get online & buy something from Canada with that $. Quicker & Easier!

Except that shipping and the GST/PST taxes would make anything I bought over there obscenely expensive.

I've got some guys from Canada flying down here on Monday, guess I can pick their brain on how they do it when they come here.

Why not trade it with them? Have them buy $180 CN worth of US dollars and bring it over with them.

I'll take you up on that... heh heh heh... fool!

I did some research for you since my mom happens to work for a bank. Here in Washington, most banks don't have a service charge or a wait time for exchanging Canadian currency because we do so much business with Canada. She was surprised to hear that most Banks you encountered do not do foreign currency exchange at all and those that do charge so much and take so long. She even joked that they must send it back to Canada before they give you your money!

What she suggested you do was to go to a Thomas Cook - International Money Services Branch and have them exchange it because you are having trouble finding a bank that will do it. From the looks of it you are pretty close to Philadelphia and there is a branch there:

Philadelphia
1800 John F. Kennedy Blvd.
Philadelphia, PA 19103
9am-5pm Mon-Fri
215-563-7348

Not sure if those hours work for you, but it is an option. The can exchange it for you right then so you don't have to wait and it's probably only for a small exchange fee.

Do remember that Canadian is only worth about 60%, so you will probably only receive around $117.84. You would be surprised at how many people are shocked when they find that out.

Funny story... One time this mother came into my mom?s bank to exchange $30 Canadian. My mom converted it and it came to about $19. She gave the woman the money and she asked my mom where the rest was, because a friend had bought something from her son for $30, and she needed to get $30. My mom told her that there is an exchange rate and that Canadian currency is not worth as much as ours. The woman kept telling my mom that she was owed the $30 and expected my mom to give it to her just because the son's friend owed that much. My mom told her that was nothing she could do and that her son go back to that friend and ask for the rest and next time to remember there is an exchange rate!

=) Christy

Thanks Christy, this looks like the best bet for me.. Can't thank you enough for the info!

I'll second Thomas Cook - All of my foreign paychecks come through there. They offer good rates on exchange as well.