Exchange rate???
 

Any insight as to the high exchange rate in Europe? My husband and I traveled to London and Paris about 8 years ago when the exchange rate was in America's favor. We planned to rent a car and travel the England/Scotland countryside in October for 2 weeks; but on a recent retirement income have wondered if we should postpone the trip until the exchange rate is more favorable. Some friends recently went for a week and said a meal at McDonalds in London cost them $20 each! Any insight?
Thanks! Ava

10GBP at Mc Donald's? One daren't imagine what size they are.

We ate at Mcdonalds in Paris and Amsterdam in Sept '04 when the exchange rate was about $1.22 = 1 Euro and I remember it was about 7 Euro for a super size big mac meal. The exchange rate is what it is! If your money is too
tight to weather 7 cents on the Dollar
more if the rate gets worse, save your money until next year then go because if you have to worry about a few Dollars
you really shouldn't go.

I'm sorry, but I'd have trouble listening to anyone who went to London and ate at MacDonald's. If that's a goal, then of course, it would be wise to stay home where you can do the same thing for much less.

The McD story is somewhat of an exaggeration. A Big Mac meal is ~4BPs = ~$8, so maybe they were talking about 2 meals PLUS.

Anyway, don't expect the exchange rate to change in $ favor in the near future. I look at the situation a little differently. Let's say that a year ago a 1BP equaled $1.75 and today it equals $2.00. If you plan on spending $3000 for your trip (land portion only), you will get ~1500BPs today or you would have received ~1715BPs a year ago. Is it possible to save that money somewhere during a week long stay? Sure, get a 2^ hotel instead of a 3*, find a nice pub to eat or better yet, do lunches in a park instead of eating out. Go to the local grocery stores and pick up fresh fruits, cheeses, bread, cold cuts even a nice bottle of wine. Get a cheap, styrofoam cooler. I could guarantee that you will save more than the 215BP from the above example if you follow the suggestions.

And at the end you will find that you still had a great time and many memories.

If you postpone waiting for a more favorable rate of exchange, you could be waiting a looooooong time!

London is notoriously expensive, but I do not believe it cost $20USD per person for a meal. As far as your plans, avoiding London would be one obvious way to keep expenses down a bit.

Ava, go while you still have the money, the health, the interest, and the relative youth. Who knows what the exchange rate is going to do! There are a million ways to economise and still go on a trip. The exchange rate, in the scheme of things, would be the last reason for me to stay away from Europe.

The countryside will not be that expensive. Even with the exchange rate it will be cheaper than NYC or SF. Go - if you postpone the rate may just keep getting worse.

Thanks everyone--I appreciate the replies. We're not Micky D eaters either, but that was a comparison--the trip cost them $5,000 for the week. I'll continue planning, watching the websites for airfare specials and continue reading these posts for great tips.
Is it cheaper to "prepay" some of the costs here in the US--such as the British Heritage pass, car rentals, etc.or buy them there?
Thanks again.
Ava

avad:

You definitely want to arrange your car rental in the States before you leave. I recommend AutoEurope (www.autoeurope.com/1-800-223-5555).

I haven't bought British Heritage or other passes for the UK in a few years, but in my general experience, it has never been cheaper to buy them in the USA - even with a lousy exchange rate. The people selling them to you are not going to do so without making a profit.

I think they may be exaggerating everything a tad. $5000 for one week is very high unless they stayed in very upscale places and threw money around.

I can usually do London for a week including airfare from the west coast for about $2000 including single supplements for B&Bs/hotels. And in rural areas/countryside w/o the extra expense of London restaurants and theatre every night I can easily do 2 weeks for that budget. A couple would not need to double that since the per person costs are often less.

There are LOTS of ways to economize w/o scrimping.

I think this is the wrong approach to try to budget a trip based on McD's price comparison. If it's cheap in US but expensive in Europe doesn't mean European food is so expensive!

I've heard from so many people: coke is expensive, what do you drink there? We all know the answer. Same with food, if McD is expensive, there must be some local inexpensive eateries.

The Great British Heritage Pass is not more or less expensive bought from home. It is a product sponsored by Visit Britain (the British Tourist Authority) and the prices are set annually. Vendors charge the set price. The only difference is if you have to pay shipping charges.

There can be currency flucuations that may make it cheaper or more expensive in real terms but the difference will usually only be pennies.

A big advantage to buying it ahead of time is you get the full color catalog describing all 600+ properties covered by the pass. This brochure is a great resource for planning an itinerary.

I've had this discussion with friends...it is extremely hard to compare commodities from one country to another....

Friends have told me how can Europeans exist if it costs $8 for a quarter pounder with cheese value meal....but it doesn't cost $8...it costs £3.99 to a Brit...two or three years ago, it was £1 to $1.40 so that meal was $5.60 to an American but still £3.99 to a Brit (probably a bit cheaper because of inflation but I hope you see what I mean)...a cup of coffee might cost €1 in Paris and we might be exasperated how anybody can pay $1.35 for a cup of coffee but the same cup of coffee two or three years ago was 87 cents only to us. To a Parisian it was €1 then and €1 now if there hasn't been a price change. The cup of coffee hasn't gone up by 48 cents...it still basically costs the same (or again a trifle more because of inflation but not 48 cents more)...

International exchange rates are not established to have anything to do with what it costs tourists. The prices are what they are in local currency.

What will be true six months from now? Who knows...I don't know, the "experts" don't know. About 10 days ago the word came out the US trade deficit balance had reached an all time high (or low depending on your viewpoint) and that it was expected the US dollar was heading for new lows. Guess what, in the last week, the dollar has risen so that it is now below $1.30.

So forget about the exchange rates. Go for it if you can and whatever it costs, it costs. Perhaps it might mean a slight step down in your choice of hotels and/or restaurants. So what...

As they say, you can't take it with you.

we rented from SIXT.com prepaid and got a very good deal except for the drop fee
but the rate was all inclusive, We were
all over europe for about 3 weeks and stayed at nice 3 star hotels, did all the tourist stuff except 300 Euro dinners in Paris and the total with airfare was about $8,500.00. we didn't go to London.

Hi avad,

>...have wondered if we should postpone the trip until the exchange rate is more favorable. <

The pound is not likely to drop to $1.50 and the euro go back to $0.87 in your lifetime.

Go while you can still enjoy it.


((I))

I'm so old that I can remember when we read (and believed) Frommer's "Europe on $5 a Day."

Here are some basics we gleaned from many, many trips over there. Avoid big cities. Stay in small towns on rail lines leading into the cities. Eat near law courts and/or newspaper offices. Why? Because locals eat lunch there -- quickly and cheaply.

Picnic wherever possible. Buy meat, bread, cheese, and drinks at local markets.

Ask for all discounts on tickets to popular attractions; helps to be elderly...and look it. Check in at local tourist offices and tell the nerd behind the counter that you are a tourist (as if you had to) and wonder what specials are being offered. We saved huge amounts on British Rail by taking "special day trips" during off-hours.

Stay in B&Bs, "zimmer freis," or gites de France. Don't know what they are? Study up and save. Wash your clothes in the sink or speak with the landlady about your dirty clothes "problem" -- amazing what she can do to help you. An Austrian lady even ironed our underwear!

Don't wait. The exchange rate is only going to get worse so long as America has no financial discipline.

Pay for as much as you can in advance and with U.S. dollars; car rentals, especially. Don't buy admission tickets in advance; they're a rip-off.

Don't eat where you see decals on the door advertising popular credit cards. Pay cash everywhere. Don't use your credit card except at ATMs. Do NOT use travelers checks.

Don't forget to have fun. And, by all means, do NOT seek out Mickey D's -- you can do better with local stuff.

Not to be a wet blanket, but my bank's foreign exchange analyst, who at the beginning of 2004 predicted within $.01 the year end dollar:euro exchange rate, today predicted a 1.45:1.00 rate at 2005 year-end. Sure, he got lucky, but as others have said, don't look for it to improve.

>Don't use your credit card except at ATMs.<

Uhhhhhh, USNR, did you mean to suggest using cash advance, or did you mean ATM card?

((I))

The statement about credit cards is totally nonsensical IMHO..

1. Almost every place now takes credit cards..even places like McDonald's. In London, about the only places that don't take credit cards are pubs and even many of these take credit cards for for food as opposed to drinks at the bar.

2. You get a far better rate of exchange on credit cards than when changing cash. The difference is not even close.

So why should anybody not use an establishment with credit card decals on it????????