Rising Yen
 

Anybody else concerned about it with an upcoming trip? We aren't due to leave until November, but it's steadily increasing in recent weeks and my booked trip is getting more expensive by the day lately.

I know we can cut corners and we've had to do the same on trips to Europe when the euro has risen after booking, but this is the highest the yen has been since '95. I wonder just how much higher it's going to get.

It's the USD falling against all currencies.

And the fuel surcharge will be going up, too as the crude oil price is going up.

There isn't much you can do against unfavourable movement in exchange rates. And guessing what they will be many months from now is a futile exercise.
What I try to do at times of falling rates (and my home currency, £ Stg, is falling against most currencies except US$, and down 20% against yen from 2007 peak), is to pre-pay in sterling as much as possible - airfare (obviously), hotels (when booked through a UK site), rail passes etc, leaving only day-to-day expenses (meals, taxis, entrance fees etc) to be settled on the spot.

Yeah, I realize it's the dollar falling which is affecting the other currencies. I'm just more focused on the yen at the moment since I don't use the dollar where I live and am not traveling to Europe to use the euro this year.

I suppose it's a good thing I put down deposits on our apartment, machiya and ryokan when I did. At least I got the deposits at a more favorable rate. We'll just cut corners in other areas if we have to, but hopefully the dollar won't fall to terribly much more against the yen.

Statia - You said you don't use the dollar where you live. Where do you live? How is the yen moving in regards to your currency?

<i>hopefully the dollar won't fall to terribly much more against the yen.</i>

That's not very hopeful, is it? :)
Try this: &quot;hopefully the dollar will gain against the yen&quot; by November.

mrwunrfl, yes....let's hope! :)

rkkwan, I live in the Dutch W.I. and our currency is the Netherlands Antilles guilder which is not affected by the yen or dollar. The exchange rate to the dollar has been the same my entire 15 years here.

However....all my &quot;travel funds&quot; are in dollars in my US bank account. :(

Statia - Your Antillean guilder is pegged to the USD. So, when USD falls, your currency falls. You are in the exact same boat as those of us who earn money in USD and keep most of our savings in USD-dominated vehicles.

well, the usd now gets about 98Y. how bad is that?

hope the dollar gets better by your jyu-ichi-gatsu trip.

statia,

What a great time to go to Japan in November....lots of fall foliage. The dollar should be ok by then.....if not there will be a lot more to worry about than the strength of the dollar.

Aloha!

Rkkwan, in the 15 years I have lived here....whether the dollar has risen or fallen....the conversion with the guilder has been steady at 1.78...year after year after year. It's never changed. Unfortunately, the Netherlands Antilles will cease to exist as of December 15 this year....as will our currency....and we will be going to either the dollar or euro, although I hear the dollar is the most attractive option.

BTW - rkkwan, I've never forgotten your most generous offer with my in-laws RV in the past year. They have now been safely ensconced in Houston for several months and are doing well.

I saw today that the exchange on the yen is now .0100 and rising, but hopefully that'll change in time. And, if not...so be it. :) I'm still going! ;)

Thanks for the wishes hawaiiantraveler....we are hoping to see some great foliage while there. (fingers crossed)

<i>the conversion with the guilder has been steady at 1.78</i>

Seems like you stated that as though it was contrary to what rkkwan wrote about the ANG being tied to the dollar. Because 1.78 ANG is always equivalent to 1 USD when the USD buys less yen then so does the 1.78 ANG. Which would be the reason for your concern about a falling dollar. And which would also be a good reason for dollar holders to travel to N.A. for vacation.

Hi Statia,

I was pleased to see your posting. We also are planning a November trip to Japan and have viewed the rising yen with dread (see &quot;Japan itinerary shrinks with dwindling dollar&quot;). What we decided to do is to go for 17 days instead of 22, cut some corners here and there, and plan to go back another time. I miss some of the places we won't be going, but am excited that we have decided to go and plan to make the best of it. Our next set of decisions will be hotels--and where and what to splurge on one night at a ryokan.

Buon viaggio (Italy and Yosemite are home turf for us)
cmstraf

Statia, I agree that going in November will be lovely. We were there this past October and the weather was gorgeous, although warmer than usual (so we were told) so we only got to see the very beginning of the fall foliage come to life.

If it makes you feel any better (probably not, but I'll try!) we were expecting Japan to be a lot more expensive than it actually was. We had heard about how expensive things are, especially with the exchange rate, so we braced ourselves and expected the worse. We were pleasantly surprised. Not that things weren't expensive, just not as expensive as we thought. We've taken plenty of trips to Europe that exceeded what we spent in Japan. Of course a lot of this is due to individual budgets and tastes (we aren't foodies, for instance, we we didn't spend a lot on food).

Japan is wonderful...you will surely have a fantastic time!

Best wishes,
Tracy

Thanks for the info, Tracy. Things are quite expensive in the area we live, so we are usually pleasantly surprised at the difference between the hype and the actual costs of things when we travel some place new. Glad to hear of your experience.

We also found that Tokyo was much less expensive than we were expecting.