Leaving for France May 10. As of today the euro has gone up, compared to last week. As long time travelers do you think the dollar will continue downward?

I understand no one can really answer this with any certainty, but I would still like to hear your thoughts on this. Not sure what to do....

If we knew that we would all be answering you from our ultra luxurious retirement villas in the Carib.

You need to decide if a difference in rate will require you cancel the vacation. If no, there are ways to economize (food etc) while you're there. If you mean buying euros now - that would be very expensive. If the increase versus the dollar is 10% - you would come out about even.

So, the question is - do you think the rate versus the dollar will increase significantly more than 10% or so.

ditto

You might be interested in this thread from last week:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-on-sunday.cfm

I'm curious when you started planning this trip. It would not be unusual if the current rates are better than they were when you started planning. I've planned trips and had the rates get better and better as the trip approaches and I've planned trips and had the rates get worse and worse. It all averages out in the end, it seems.

<Not sure what to do.... >

As in what sense? Are you thinking of cancelling your trip because of this? Travel anywhere outside of your home country will always involve a fluctuation of some sort in currency. I am going to Europe in May as well, but when I purchased my tickets last June, the dollar was $1.54 to the Euro. I look at it like this - if the dollar is good, then great, but I can't stress about what the exchange is. When it is all said and done, maybe travel in May will cost me a few hundred dollars more than it would have in March, and if I can't take that risk then I shouldn't be going in the first place.

When I am in Europe, I put myself in the mindset of "one euro = one dollar", not "this gelato at 3 euro really just cost me $4.05 USD". It is what it is, and isn't worth stressing about IMO.

If it makes you feel better, go ahead and pre-purchase some euro now from your bank. Just weigh the cost of what you are paying now in transaction fees against what your money may earn sitting in your bank for another 6 weeks. Personally, I may get a little money ahead of time if I have cash deposits to make immediately upon arrival, but typically I just hit the ATM when I am at the airport in Europe.

Enjoy your trip and don't let the little things bother you. Maybe cut back on eating out - get picnic food or make lunch your big meal of the day. Take advantage of all the discounts you can with museum passes.

BTW - right now the dollar is $1.353. Yesterday I saw it at $1.37, so you just never know!

If you are like the majority of travellers going to Europe, you will take a few euros to tide you over for the first day and then use an ATM machine to access more Euros. Bigger purchases would be charged to your Visa card. You will therefore just have to take the exchange rate for what it is on the date your purchase is processed. If you do not spend excessively, it might only cost you $100 - a drop in the bucket compared to the overall cost of your vacation.

As others have stated:

1) You are unlikely to find anybody here who is qualified to give you an educated guess as to where the dollar is heading.
2) The net impact on your spending is unlikely to be that large.
3) Short of cancelling your trip, there is little you can do about it.
4) The fx rates are volatile enough that you could end up getting caught out even if the long-term trend is working in the dollar's favor.

All of that being said, since you did ask for our opinions, and didn't say that you wanted our guesses to be educated, I will offer the following shots in the dark:

1) I think that the pound will rebound at some point. I think that GBP 0.70/$1 is just too low. Maybe GBP 0.60/$1?
2) I think that the Euro will remain pretty steady against the dollar for a while. I think that it will end up fluctuating around the EUR 0.75/$1 mark.
3) I also think that the Swiss Franc will remain pretty steady in the CHF 1.1/$1 range.

Bear in mind, though, that I am completely and utterly unwilling to put my money where my mouth is and I would never make a financial decision based upon my guesses above. I urge you to use them for nothing more than a conversation starter.

No, we are not thinking of cancelling our trip. We planned this trip two weeks ago when we saw the great air fares available. We often wait till the last minute. Thanks for your suggestions and views.

Look at it this way -- you could be planning a trip to somewhere like Hawaii -- where even without any exchange rate everything seems to be a whole lot more expensive than in much of Europe. It's not all about "how many of their units you get for one of your own" -- it's really all about the bottom line cost -- and I still find that much of Europe is a bargain.

I am also watching the euro carefully, hoping the dollar will gain a little strength as we head to Italy next month. We booked this trip back in June when I saw a RT frequent flyer ticket available on United, LA to Rome. Since then, two of the four of us have been laid off our jobs, and one woman is retired. So we must watch our euros carefully. I found inexpensive places to eat in London and Paris in the past, so I'm hoping we can do the same in Rome. Capri and Amalfi will be more challenging. But in no way are we going to cancel.

I would be so rich if I could predict currency variations.