You are correct, Bob..the "weak dollar" is not a "random event." Teh current Administration has pursued the so-called "weak dollar policy" in order to encourage foreign investment and to decrease the trade deficit since a weaker dollar makes our goods cheaper to buy overseas. Economically it should be working but, unfortunately, it isn't working as well as folks expected.

When the next BMW costs three times as much and the income hasn't risen then you'll probably hear a lot more from that quarter, too..be it a "traveler" or not.

Helsinkiflyer, thanks for joining me in my crusade. I am constantly amazed when people say things like "you think it's expensive for you, we have to pay in Canadian dollars so it's even more expensive for us!" as if the number of different monetary units makes something more or less expensive. My classic example was always "how could anyone from Italy come to the US, where everything would cost them 2000 times as much as it does us?" in the lira - pre euro days.

The euro came out at $1.18.

It is now $1.31.

That is a 10% rise.

Previously the euro had fallen to $0.87 - a 30% drop.

What miraculous policies was the US following that caused the euro to drop so precipitously and so far?

((I))

Although the weak dollar sucks, it doesn't have to be a huge obstacle. Consider that a 1/4 or 1/5 of the trip's expense is the airfare, which is dollar-denominated so this expense is unaffected by exchange rate movements.

You can always trim a little fat of the trip's budget. Shorten the trip by a day or two, picnic a little more to save money on expensive restaurants, stay in a 2-star instead of a 3- or 4-star hotel, and so on.

Tell me where this is incorrect please: First, forget the flight..it is dollar based as one writer said..Now, let's take two hotels, identical in all respects; identical rooms, identical features,everything. One is in Paris, the other London. Say I have $2500 set aside for hotels..that's dollars. If the rate for the Paris hotel is 200 euro(approx $262 a night)per night and the rate for the Brit hotel is 200 pounds per night(approx $382 a night), am I incorrect in saying my dollar has gone farther in Paris? Six nights in Paris=$1572...Six nights in London=$2292. I have seen comparable hotels in each, which is how this came to mind in the first place. One could quibble that there is NO WAY two hotels could be identical..again, this is for demonstration purposes only, no animals or children harmed in the process. Where is my reasoning flawed here. I can take it..hit me.

If there were indeed two such equal hotels, then you could say that. But it wouldn't really be that the Euro goes further than the GBP, it would be that Paris is cheaper than London.

But so far I've been able to get cheaper, well-located 4* hotels in London than in Paris - because of Priceline. So it all depends.

I think people complaining about the Canadian dollar actually have a subtext complaint which is that Canadian professionals tend to be paid less and be higher-taxed than US professionals.

To bring this post more near Whitey's original question: I believe Suze and P_M are right - the exchange rate is what it is, and that won't stop me, for one, traveling to Europe at this point. One just needs to cut some corners here or there. I actually plan to increase my travel to Europe in the next few years, but that's because I will be lucky enough to pay off my house in 3.5-4 years. YAY!!!!

Caroline: Please don't let the current regime keep you from visiting us. After all, it's not like you're staying/visiting with Bush, et. al. Most of us really aren't so bad! I visited China six months ago, even though I disapprove of their regime, and found the Chinese people to be absolutely wonderful.

Azwurth, you are right that your dollars may go further in Paris, but it has nothing to do with the monetary units and how many of them you get per dollar.

Look at it this way -- your dollars will go further vacationing in Valdosta, Georgia that they will in New York City -- yet both use the same currency.

Many things are more expensive in London than Paris, but it's just because of the difference of the cities, not because of exchanging your currency!

Azwurth, you just aren't understanding this -- I think your flaw is you are assuming that the exact same thing will cost 200 GBP and 200 euro. Then, it's just the multiplier difference.

The problem is, the price for thesame thing will not be identical in two different currencies in the number of those units (except by accident). Yes, a 200 euro hotel will be cheaper in USD than a 200 GBP hotel, but that isn't the point. Things aren't going to be priced the same number. Do you think there is some law that a cup of coffee that costs 3 euro must be priced at 3 GBP? there isn't.

YOu will have to translate all costs into USD and then compare that price to make sense of this.

ok..yes,then Paris at this moment in time IS cheaper than London. That could have been my question I suppose. Oh, cost won't stop us now; we're too ratcheted up about the trip now. We'll just cut back on the afternoon teas. Are they REALLY that good to spend 20-40 pounds each on? Is this one of those "you must do" things in London that could you could easily forego and not feel like the trip's been ruined? I'm game to do whatever; just seems rather expensive and...ok, I'll say it.. boring. Uh oh, bet I just stepped on the Queen's crown that time didn't I?

I think I'll continue to travel. I planned using a part of my tax refund for my travel, and just discovered that I didn't get as much money back. So I've been cutting back on my restaurant and mall outings at home :) so I could still take my trip in July. I know that I wouldn't spend as much as I did last year shopping in my destination either.

I haven't seen the reverse of this post much!!!

We're not in jubilation territory yet re: the dollar vs. the Euro -- and besides we got back before the Euro really started downward, so tant pis for us.

$1.20 to the Euro isn't exactly a bargain, and truth is, neither currency nor economy of US OR Europe is exactly rock solid at the moment.

>$1.20 to the Euro isn't exactly a bargain...<

True, but it came out at $1.18, so that is about what one should expect it to be.

Cassandra, At what point would you say it is a solid bargain? $1.10? $1.00?

Well, there was a month in 1998/99 where a Euro cost $.85. THAT was a bargain! --by which I mean that the exchange favors the dollar enough to make a noticeable difference to me/an American as a traveler/consumer. A 200E hotel room was $170.

Originally, some did observe that $1.18 was about right at the time, while others said it favored the Euro in order to mollify EU countries using the Euro; and there were also those who thought that it should be 1:1 exactly.

IM$O: $1.30 is NOT a bargain, and $1.22, while better, still doesn't qualify -- it still makes hotel rooms in most EU countries relatively more expensive than their counterpart in the US, and meals are still more expensive than their counterpart -- ROUGHLY speaking (don't start hectoring me about New York City vs. Dubrovnik, etc.)

So, yah, I'd be happy (happier) at $1.10, but there's no exact-decimal cut-off -- just a sense of what my dollar will buy on a trip to Europe.

We just returned from Europe. With the EU being debated and voted down by some countries, the Euro was falling while we were there. So to say the "Dollar is getting killed by the Euro" definitely wasn't true the past two weeks. The dollar was at its strongest point of the year while we were there-- lucky us. When planning the trip in December, the EU was $1.31, but during our trip it was as low as $1.21. Same was true for the pound sterling. In December $1.91, in June $1.81. Again, lucky us. Every little bit helps.

>..don't start hectoring me about New York City vs. Dubrovnik...<

I will hector you about NYC v Paris.

Even at $1.30/E, hotels and restaurants are cheaper. So is the metro.

((I))