credit car and hotel reservation.

[sato2]

I have two question.
1.It seems that the large majority of hotel in vancouver require a credit card to book a room to say.
For newcomer, carrying a credit card is not always possible, like in my case, sicne I have to cancel it before leaving my country of residence. Are you aware of hotels that allow online reservation without credit card. I am writing to some hotels bu response so far.

2. It seems that building a credit history is vital in Canada through the use of a credit card. I have searched for banks that can provide me with a credit card when I open a bank account with them. But the information provided is often unclear; some mention you could, some you may ...without ever being specific. Could you please introduce a bank that could provide me with a credit card (against a deposit or not) since I will be doing purchase after landing to settle.

thanks

 

[Suin]

1. as far as I know you cannot book hotel in Canada on-line without a credit card. they use pre-paid service. but you can use another option, just get to any hotel on your arrival, they accept cash too.
2. as soon as you land and get your SIN you can go to any bank and open an account there with credit line and apply for a credit card. there will be no problem with it.

 

[claxtonCT]

You can always leave at least 1 bank account with credit card opened in your home country, you can later call or mail your request to close the account from Canada. Speak with your bank before you leave to make sure how can you do this.

 

[Karlshammar]

You do not need a SIN to get credit, but it will be hard to get credit if you are not a PR and/or have no credit history.

Most major banks will allow you to get a secured credit card, which basically means you give them $x and they will give you a credit card with $x. After a certain amount of good history with them they will return your $x to you and you keep the card. At this point will you not only have your card, but a positive credit history built up during this time (provided you make all your payments on time!).

 

[haver]

If you coming to Vancouver try to apply for credit card in HSBC bank with security deposit.
Please be aware that Olimpics are coming to Vancouver. It will be very difficult to get an hotel in February.

 

[sato2]

Thank you all for the valuable info.

 

[Karlshammar]

Rogers and Fido also will report your payment history to the credit bureaus, so having cell phones with one of the two will help build your credit. They are the only cell phone companies that do this.

(Disclaimer: I work for Rogers, but feel free to verify this information for yourself.)