travel04

Hi,

If we reserve hotels in advance from US for a hotel in Madrid, and say they require an initial deposit upon reservation. Once we accept, the initial deposit is shown in a dollar amount by the hotel in the confirmation email. The remaining amount to be paid upon arrival is shown in a dollar amount. Sorry i'm confused - now do I assume this dollar amount to be paid upon arrival won't change depending on rate changes from dollar to euro in the meantime? If they say we need to pay 100$ upon arrival in two months - that 100$ won't change correct??

Thanks.

greg

The answer is cautious yes.

However, you need to ask yourself: why would the hotel want to take a currency fluctuation risk? In case of a similar choice given to me, I found out they were not. They were using a ridiculous exchange rate in their favor. I opted to pay in local currencies.

Patrick

This is an old ploy used on unsuspecting tourists. Although they may quote you in dollars, when you get there they will look at the current dollars and then actually charge in local currency at THEIR chosen exchange rate -- probably a very bad rate indeed. We found this in Ireland a few years ago. Although we had been quoted in punts (before euro) when we went to check out of a hotel they said very politely they had written the bill up in dollars for our convenience. When I saw what they were actually going to charge us in their currency it was a whole lot more than the orginal quote. We all know (or should know) that hotels generally use deplorable exchange rates.

ira

Hi trav,

I think you would be safer to ask for a quote in Euro. At least that won't change.

I thought about bringing the balance in USD and giving that to them, but they would probably add a charge for exchanging the currency.

JonJon

Get smart and take Ira's suggestion. Better yet, find yourself ANOTHER hotel..if they're doing this they'll try other stuff too..there are too many nice places to stay in Madrid to put up with this stuff.

travel04

k thanks a lot. It was actually for a hotel in Barcelona and Madrid I think. The rest of the places in Spain is in Euro - so not too worried about that. We shall just pay in Euros upon arrival. Damn exhange rate. Thanks again!

StephenG

Ira??
Did you really think this one through?
"I think you would be safer to ask for a quote in Euro. At least that won't change."
I guess your going to buy Euros today and keep them in your pocket till you get there??
That would be the only way to keep it from changing!!
I don't know why everyone thinks the hotel should take it in the ass for our weak currency.
The real irony is that you probably will be screwing yourself because it is pretty obvious that the dollar will probably be stronger in 2 months.

jenifer

Stephen - Actually, Ira's exactly right. The quote in Euros won't change. The equivalent in dollars probably will, but the price in Euros will not.

And no one is suggesting that the hotel should do any such thing. Only that hotels notoriously use a horrendous exchange rate. They are NOT generally doing you a favor by putting the bill in dollars, even if they say they are.

And I'm quite impressed that you know for sure what the dollar will do in 2 months! With that knowledge I'm sure you could make yourself a lot of money if you knew what you were doing!

nytraveler

Stephan -

So if I prepay you for my summer vacation now in dollars - you'll guarantee to cover the euro cost in June?

StephenG

jennifer:
Message: Stephen - Actually, Ira's exactly right. The quote in Euros won't change. The equivalent in dollars probably will, but the price in Euros will not.

More great logic?? As long as the Euro price stays the same it will cost you the same??
The original question was will it cost more in dollars!!

jenifer

Hmmm - Maybe there are some hidden lines in my post that only you can see. Because I can't see where I said it will cost the same. Only that the hotel will CHARGE the same. BIG difference.

And actually, using your logic that the dollar will be stronger in 2 months, it's definitely the right way to go.

But that's irrelevant.

The original question was whether the $$ amount would be changed BY THE HOTEL in the future, or whether it was a guaranteed fixed price.

Others shared their experiences that the hotel was probably offering to charge a fixed $$ rate at a VERY highly inflated exchange rate, essentially ripping off the unwary traveler.

Two people can argue till they're blue in the face over whether the dollar will become weaker or stronger between now and some point in the future. Financial analysts try to make this prediction every day, and they're only right sometimes.

But I think you'd be very hard-pressed to try to convince me, or most people here, that it's a good idea to pay in dollars now, at a very poor exchange rate, because then it will be fixed and not fluctuate in the future.

The suggestion is merely to deal only with Euros when paying for your hotel in countries whose currency is the Euro.

You can decide for yourself whether it's better to pay at today's exchange rate or tomorrow's, but it's better to get the exchange through your bank or credit card, NOT the hotel.

Does that clear up the issue of logic for you? You're making people out to be quite stupid, when really the logic used is unflawed.

travel04

Of course the Euro they quote has to remain the same, why would that change. Anyway I was just asking for accounting purposes - I'm going with a friend and so was tallying up the amounts so far but didn't want to factor in the stuff we 'owed' upon arrival yet as if they do charge us more upon arrival due to the exchange rate, it would just add to the confusion. Anyway thanks everyone for your inputs!