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Location: The Chatterdome in La La Land, CaliFUNia
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Question ... If I were flying into Canada (which requires passport), would I be able to use my California ID if I need to make a credit card purchase or must I carry my passport with me? I like the idea of leaving my passport in a safe place in the hotel room but concerned that Canadian merchants would need some form of ID if I were to use my credit card and not sure if they would honor my California ID ... Any advice?
I don't see why they wouldn't accept a driver's license as ID. The Canadians would be perfectly happy to continue accepting driver's licenses for crossing the border. It's the US now that requires US citizens to use passports to re-enter the US. That's since 9/11.
Am I crazy but back in the day weren't you better off using the credit cards because it ensured a good exchange rate? Now it seems you do get charged up the wazoo when you use your CC!
Been to Canada Many times, The only place that has ever asked for a ID is the hotel, when you check-in and my US drivers licence was fine for them. They just want a Photo ID that matches the credit card used.
For general shopping, Not one store asked to see ID, If the CC swipes ok, they are good with that. (If you are doing serious credit card fraud, would it be that hard to make up a fake ID to verify the CC? )
I get into Canada, Toronto, with some frequency and have never been asked for identification when I've used my credit card ... at a hotel or restaurant, etc. I think you'll be fine traveling with the CA drivers license, just in case.
I would suggest letting your credit card issuer know you'll be out of the country using the card. If not your account might be frozen to charges. We were in Canada 5 years ago and went to use our card and were turned down as not approved. We called our bank and told them where we were and after some security identification questions they then approved all of our purchases we made later on. It was an embarassing situation at the time.
BTW, a passport is universal ID and you may want to carry it for identification purposes. We found some places that would not take a drivers license for ID but did with the passport.
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