Financial Channel

I'm going to be in New York for 4 days in July and am going to be paying for everything with cash.
I'm estimating I'll likely go through about $800-1000.

I was originally going to withdraw US money from my bank the day before I left, but I'm worried about a lot of things. The money could get lost with my luggage. The money could be stolen from my hotel room. If I carry it with me, I could lose it or be robbed (hey, it is New York after all).

Is it possible to go to a bank in New York and have them withdraw US money from my CIBC account? How much of a fee will I be hit with for doing that?
Do I have to see a teller, or do I have to do it through an ATM machine?
Will all ATM machines accept my CIBC card, or just some?

I'd like to withdraw a few hundred per day that way I'm not carrying around extra cash everywhere I go.

What's the easiest way to do that?

from your CDN accounts, yes.
$3/$5 by your bank, and any that are charged by the owner/operator of the ATM
at the ATM
any with the Plus or Cirrus symbol
I'd use a credit card, and bring a few hundred in cash.

Credit cards will charge a currency conversion fee of about 3 %. So you will be paying either way. Also when you go to the bank they will charge you about 3 % for the exchange. Just ask what the buy rate is and what the sell rate is.

So no matter what you do it is a 3 % fee.

Thanks gents.
I can live with 3%

if you open a scotiabank bank account you can withdraw money at any time with no free from Bank of America ATM's.

Do you have an ING Bank Account?


Not only do they offer very competitive exchange rates (when compared to major banks) they will NOT charge you any fees on the first 4 transactions you do every month

You will only pay the fees that the local ATM charges you.


Another solution are traveller's checks. You can redeem them in any major banks/hotels

Travellers checks cost money don't they? I haven't used them in years so I am not sure, also they would charge a premium for exchange rate. And cashing Checks is a major pain as some places charge a fee for doing so.

Depending on who you bank with, travelers cheques may be free, or a 1% fee may apply.

And cashing them at any bank is quite simple.

Actually Credit Cards charge 2.5% wheres charge cards charge 2.2%. If you have a charge card you can save a bit. At least the Visa, MC, and Amex I have only charge those rates. Either way if youre only planning on spending $1000 the extra .3% is negligible.

I would bring maybe 200 in cash and the rest in credit.

When i was in Puerto Rico last month I brought 400USD and put everything else on credit. Cash comes in handy if you need to take cabs.

CAA has a VISA cash card in $US amount.
You preload the card and use it as a VISA or cash ATM.
It will show you balance on the card.
I used it month ago on my LA trip. It was cool.

probably you are more pesimistic (that too someone from the police dept .) Who knows they might stab you if you go to US or they might rob you after you withdraw money... if you are more worried, i guess credit card is the safest option. But charges will be high though

What is the difference between a "charge card" and a "credit card"? I have to admit I have never heard of a charge card as a separate card? Also it isn't .3% it's .03%. As you say with credit cards and cash it is a personal choice as to what you use.

Just giving you a little experience from one of my friends who went there for a week. He used an ATM machine there and when he left to Canada, people were withdrawing from his account. He only found out after the bank froze his account for constant high withdrawals.

charge card - must pay off balance in FULL by the due date. also no preset spending limit on most cards
credit card - can carry a balance to the next billing cycle, only minimum balance needs to be paid by due date

For those of us that always pay the balance in full, it makes no difference which card you hold.

I stand corrected.