Planning 2016 Summer Trip - Montana

[DonnaR57]

Time is coming closer to our departure -- so excited! Taking a "shake down" cruise of sorts - my younger daughter, grandson and I are in the Valley of the Sun for the weekend. We're visiting my folks and picking up a few things that are going to go to my brother's (He is now in KS, no longer in NJ). I've already added a couple of things to my packing list.

Going back to the banking discussion -- most of Canada (and the modern European countries) are far ahead of the US, I've discovered, in that they use chip readers for plastic. I was happy to discover that a bit early, so that we could annoy our banking institutions to get us some chipped cards to replace the non-chipped cards before we leave.


Donna

[Midwest Michael]

Even with the chip cards, Canada is still far ahead of the US when in comes to banking, because Canada and Europe use Chip and PIN, while the US is still doing Chip and Sign.

When you use your chip card in Canada, you'll probably get some puzzled clerks when the machine prints out a slip for you to sign - if you're visiting places that don't see a lot of US tourist. For that same reason, you may still have difficulty using even a chip card in places like pay-at-the-pump gas.

It's also worth noting that your "old fashioned" swipe cards will still work in Canada, even though the vast majority of purchases are made via chip.

[DonnaR57]

Our trip plans don't call for us to go very deep into the interior of Canada. AAMOF, we think we'll get by without buying any fuel in Canada at all, as long as we fuel up before we leave the US and then fuel up when we return a few days later. The only things I anticipate spending money on, in Canada, is lodging and food.

I ran into Chip and Pin in several places in recent days (one of our cards is a chipped card already). So hopefully the US is "catching up".


Donna

[Midwest Michael]

You've seen chip and pin in the US? I've never seen that anywhere here - most cards aren't set up to allow it. Even my debit card, which has a pin, automatically runs itself as a credit with a signature when I use the chip reader.

[DonnaR57]

I ran into chip-and-PIN again just yesterday. Walmart!

Bank charges 3% fee for each transaction in Canada. Not too bad!

Phone allows me to turn off roaming when near any border -- I used it when we ran over to Tempe again on Friday (and returned on Saturday with more stuff for my brother; I feel like a moving company!). I can turn off data roaming, voice roaming, whatever.


Donna

[DonnaR57]

What we're finding with the debit/credit chipped cards:

Many places in the US still not set up for chipped cards. They have the hardware, but not the software.

Those that do, in the US, vary on whether it's chip-and-sign, or chip-and-pin.

Canadian side: chips common. That, too, varies. Some card readers realize that this is a US card and we have been required, in more than one place, to enter our pin AND sign the slip.

Border crossing: for us, this was not difficult. We approached with smiles, cheery greetings, just like we do when we go through CBP (Customs & Border Patrol) checkpoints in the southwestern US. We were asked by the Canadians to present our passports, and please shut down our diesel engine since it was loud. :-) He asked about firearms, weapons, guns, "NO." Asked us where we were headed, "Waterton and points west, reentering the US in Idaho in a couple of days". He told us to have a great trip, and sent us on. Easy.

I had amassed two lists, "just in case". One was of the electronics/cameras that we had with us, and the other was of the medications with us. Neither was asked for. We had read on another website, this may be asked for, so I put it together.


Donna