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Post by bjd on Aug 29, 2016 18:21:34 GMT
I just received an email from the airline for our upcoming flight to Canada. Starting this year, if you are from a visa waiver country, like France, you have to fill in an online form and pay $7 to be allowed to get into Canada.
In principle, there is a "period of clemency" until September 29 and we return on the 27th, but given the hassle I usually receive from Canadian immigration officials (not so much in Montreal but those in Toronto are really unpleasant), I figured I should go ahead and pay. I was approved by return mail so I guess I am harmless.
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Post by htmb on Aug 29, 2016 18:43:20 GMT
Why do Canadian immigration officials hassle you, Bjd?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2016 19:54:52 GMT
I suspect it's because she holds a French passport. Am I right, bjd?
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Post by fumobici on Aug 29, 2016 20:31:19 GMT
I'm having a scream of a time researching our trip to Italy. Agriturismo, here I come. Oh Italy, do tell! Where?
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Post by breeze on Aug 29, 2016 23:16:03 GMT
Very timely since we leave on a trip a week from today.
I don't think you can be too prepared. My problem is that I compile and organize a ton of information, but at the moment I need it I can't find it, or there's a crucial piece missing.
France has been our travel focus for 10 years and I'm always coming across gardens or monumental trees or listed buildings to add to our to-do list. We'll never get to all of them, and that's fine.
Each trip we do less and less. By now our daily routine is talk to people at the breakfast table, walk, go to a market, eat lunch at a restaurant. Nap in the car, walk again, buy what we need for dinner, eat back at the B&B, talk to people, and walk.
The most hectic time of the day is after dark, when we have too much to do--charge all our devices, check and send email, plan the next day, shower, write up a diary, download photos, and try to watch TV.
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Post by onlyMark on Aug 30, 2016 5:14:16 GMT
Why do Canadian immigration officials hassle you, Bjd? They are usually male and suffer human weaknesses. All that means is that it is a natural reaction to stop and talk to all the pretty ones.
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Post by bjd on Aug 30, 2016 5:17:56 GMT
I suspect it's because she holds a French passport. Am I right, bjd? I don't think that has anything to do with it -- they don't know I have Canadian citizenship. The people working at Toronto airport are just nasty. Little power-tripping bureaucrats. Now that I usually fly into Montreal things have improved and the last time I flew into Toronto, I went to the French-speaking booth and that was okay. I'm not the only one to think that -- we had a little discussion about border crossings on Thorn Tree recently and others had the same experience as I have.
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Post by bjd on Aug 30, 2016 6:25:20 GMT
Why do Canadian immigration officials hassle you, Bjd? They are usually male and suffer human weaknesses. All that means is that it is a natural reaction to stop and talk to all the pretty ones. If only! You mean like the guy who told me I should throw my passport in the garbage because it wasn't biometric and he actually had to type the information into the computer?
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Post by onlyMark on Aug 30, 2016 12:44:52 GMT
The poor soul. Oh dear.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2016 13:53:39 GMT
I'm having a scream of a time researching our trip to Italy. Agriturismo, here I come. Oh Italy, do tell! Where? At this point it'll probably be Sardinia, for the off-season quiet and for the unique multi-cultural history lesson. My husband needs a holiday away from crowds and cities and we want to do some swimming and snorkeling, so that'll probably be it. And because we love agricultural environments. And I really need to spend some time with donkeys. bjd, so sorry for you border troubles. CBSA can be a bitch, and it can be random. I haven't noticed any problem flying into Vancouver, but then again, I do it so seldom.
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Post by fumobici on Aug 30, 2016 15:44:22 GMT
My father was living in and teaching at the UBC in Vancouver BC, while I was across the border in Washington State for a time so I got to see the border guards quite a lot in both directions as a non-Canadian. The Canadians were hot and cold running--they could be the nicest people, or could be total assholes, just completely randomly it seems whereas the Americans were never really nice or assholy, just about like you'd expect a border guard to be doing their job. My takeaway was that the standards for hiring and practices and behavior for the Canadian border agents were a lot looser than for the US. They seem OK having a few real psychos on their staffs. This is all long ago however, and I haven't run into anything less than professionalism from the Canadian border people in a lot of years, so I suspect they've cleaned up their practices.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2016 17:17:09 GMT
The Canadians have never given me problems at the border, whereas I have come up against several psycho American agents. I guess it all comes down to what or whom they think they are protecting.
I'll have to check next time I cross (in a few days) to see if the Canadians have been issued their handguns yet.
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Post by tod2 on Aug 30, 2016 17:21:29 GMT
Sorry to say this all sounds worse than anything in South Africa... I will be apologetic to fellow Canadian Anyporters, but we experienced so much 'backward' technology when it came to cellphones and/ordinary phones on landlines. I think the French are so way ahead of us all.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2016 17:31:27 GMT
I never have had any problems with Canadian immigration officials. Now the Americans, that's another story!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2016 17:36:05 GMT
Sorry to say this all sounds worse than anything in South Africa... I will be apologetic to fellow Canadian Anyporters, but we experienced so much 'backward' technology when it came to cellphones and/ordinary phones on landlines. I think the French are so way ahead of us all. Not quite following you there, tod. Have you had problems with Canadian border services, or with the phones?
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Post by fumobici on Aug 30, 2016 20:43:47 GMT
It sounds like you get treated well if you are dealing with border agents of the same country you are a passport holder of, but not necessarily if you aren't. Americans have good experiences with US border agents, while Canadians have good experiences with Canadian agents. It makes sense. I've gotta say though, that I've never had a bad experience with EU border people, very professional and courteous. The nicest, warmest ones I've ever dealt with have, oddly perhaps, been Canadian. Once I was crossing over with a friend to see an NHL Hockey game in Vancouver and as part of the questioning the lady at the booth asked to see our game tickets (for a game which had been sold out for weeks), which of course we handed over to her. She immediately waved us through without returning our tickets and we drove about 15 feet before we realized she still had out tickets. She was cracking up laughing when she saw us backing up towards the booth to get them back. It was genuinely funny.
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Post by tod2 on Aug 31, 2016 6:13:53 GMT
Lizzyfaire - In Africa we always think 3rd world...3rd world. So of course when we travel it is so wonderful to have proper transport, communications etc etc. So when we arrived in Canada it was quite a shock to find cellphone use almost non-existant. Our friends that gave us the 'grand tour' had a cellphone but never used it. A great pity because when things went wrong we could have done with some communication between our little band of three families. Instead - I could hardly believe it, the American couple had 'walkie-talkies' which we tuned to a frequency shared by a number of other users. And this is how we were able to pass on information between our vehicles. Then came the telephone callbox. No amount lack of operator assistance could get us through to our family in S.A. We were a little surprised at all this. Maybe it is not the case any longer or was a rare incident?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2016 10:19:58 GMT
WTH? What century was that? There are no payphones anywhere anymore, and everyone has a cellphone. In fact, no one has home phones, either. This must have been in the 1980s, maybe? Your American friends must have been pulling a big joke on you. Walkie talkies? ?
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Post by bjd on Aug 31, 2016 10:45:07 GMT
Maybe that was CB radio they were using? Like truck drivers?
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Post by onlyMark on Aug 31, 2016 11:38:12 GMT
I remember going to Canada in the 1990's. Everyone had a tin can each and a long piece of string.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2016 11:41:40 GMT
Between the tin cans and the walkie talkies were the smoke signals. Most people forget that.
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Post by tod2 on Aug 31, 2016 12:41:35 GMT
Ha Ha Lizzy! It certainly sounds like I was there yonks ago. Actually it was from the 30th July to 20th August 2010. The Payphone was alongside the road in the Motorhome park. I think our friends are just behind the times - some people can't progress. The American couple travel in their motor home all the time (they're from Montana) and for some reason keep these, what shall we call them..."Breaker Breaker, come in Breaker" phones. It was a stroke of genius on their part - as you know, (and I found out), that Canada has huge distances between places. That dead straight Queen Elizabeth Highway for instance. Some of the conversation went like this : "Caller one here - check the Black bear on the right" "See it Caller - how long before a fuel stop as I'm running low" "Oh Geez caller 3, just realized we are headed the wrong way so turn around " "Caller 1, there are no diesel fuel outlets for another 30 clicks so will have to get farm help"..... And so on, and so on.
I did used to groan "Shoot me. Shoot me now!" at times. Not because Canada wasn't simply stunning, only because I felt locked into a time warp.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2016 13:37:20 GMT
Actually, I read that lots of American in two-car convoys use walkie talkies to avoid roaming fees.
Meanwhile, here is an example of the opposite of travel preparedness:
Help !!! We arrived in Paris late last night and had planned to exchange money at the airport and the money exchange was closed. We brought cash and credit cards and I did not realize (stupid I know) that we needed a 'pin' for the credit cards. We do not have a pin as we never use our cc's at ATMs in US. We are staying on Rue Tournefort somewhat near the Pantheon in the 5th. Does anyone know of a bank or service nearby that will exchange for us.
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Post by lagatta on Aug 31, 2016 13:51:19 GMT
Here in Québec, a lot of people still have landline phones. A problem is that cellphone subscriptions are very expensive here, so people avoid using them when possible. This has become an electoral issue.
But I am surprised about "no cell phones". That must have been a while back.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 31, 2016 14:35:06 GMT
And I'm stunned at the people in Kerouac's post with no debit/atm card. They say they have cash. Do they still go to their local bank and cash a check in order to get money?
Actually, I've often been surprised at the number of people who don't know that the atm is the best option while in a foreign country. Even if you have to pay a fee, you are getting the best rate plus you'd have to pay a commission to change money anyway.
I met a bus driver in London who was stockpiling dollars for a projected trip to the US. When I suggested that he might be better off using an atm once in the States, it occurred to me that maybe people don't always know that their atm cards work in other countries.
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Post by mossie on Aug 31, 2016 15:35:00 GMT
Lizzy. you forgot the very valuable drums and signalling by flags.
I have a friend who will not have a card of any type, has to be cash from the bank, although they do have an account with a checkbook. One day checks will be done away with, the banks did propose it but were met with howls of anguish from the old brigade. His wife does carry a mobile telephone, but like me, it is strictly for emergency use. Mine is only switched on if I need to use it. So there!!
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Post by amboseli on Aug 31, 2016 16:45:58 GMT
We also still have landlines. Coverage for cellphones isn't 100% reliable in our neck of the woods. Some people really don't know where they are going. Once we were on a flight to the Canary Island (a combined charter flight Tenerife / Gran Canaria). First stop was Tenerife and I heard the women in the row in front of us argueing. The one said 'yes, we must get off in Tenerife', the other said 'no, it's Gran Canaria'. When I asked them what town their hotel was in, they didn't even know and had to look on their voucher.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2016 16:54:48 GMT
Ah, tod. It simply sounds like you were traveling with people who absolutely, resolutely, refused to pay roaming costs on their cellphone plans. Everytime I cross the border on the train they warn people to turn their phones to airplane mode or they will incur high costs.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2016 19:53:45 GMT
Money! God! Some people still believe in travelers' cheques. The amount of dialogue on travel forums about the differences between debit and credit cards, chip or signature, is staggering.
I have a friend who was in Edinburgh at the Fringe recently and had a heart attack and had to be put into a medically-induced coma. As far as I know, he's is still there. There is a massive kickstarter campaign started for his medical expenses. The guy is a successful musician, a few years older than me, and he didn't have travel insurance. How stupid do you have to be?
I get multi-entry travel insurance through my bank. It cost me a few hundred dollars a year and I'm covered as long as I spend the majority of my year in Canada. There is no way I would be without it.
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Post by amboseli on Aug 31, 2016 21:18:55 GMT
Yes, we also have travel insurance. A year policy valid worldwide (and including cancelling). It's expensive but IMO it's better to be safe than sorry.
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