OH MY GOD British Pound is only 1.3 USD
 

This is absolutely unbelievable. remember when the pound was worth over $2 once upon a time! could it get any lower than this? has it EVER been lower than this?

Yup - near parity under Mrs T.

With apologies to those of you who live in the UK, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that it stays there for another couple of months.

Britain may have to go into the Euro group to survive it seems

all banks probably will be nationalized soon - the Royal Scottish Bank just reported the largest losses in British corporate history.

Even folks in the Cotswolds and Greenwich are feeling the pinch as their Icelandic investments evaporate.

God Save the Queen; God Save Britain.

Pish, and indeed tush, PQ. When will people realise that currency exchange rates gyrate around for all sorts of reasons? They ceased to be a totem of national virility decades ago.

Good! Maybe I can afford to go home for a visit!

I haven't been back to London in over 4 years; the last time the prices gave me the shivers!!

Thin

You can get a really good deal on an UK bank too

I think, as the last remaining British taxpayer, that I own about four banks now.

I think, as the last remaining British taxpayer, that I own about four banks now>

WHICH qualifies you for being the absolute poorest person in Britain

Bank of Scotland can print it's own money.

It is now at $1.3768, which is a lot closer to $1.4 than it is to 1.3.

I have seen the GBP as low as $! and as high as $2.75.

((I))

Ira, how low is $!?

What's the sound of one hand clapping?

Hi; Actually as of 3:15 the pound is at 1.3652. ENJOY Iris

The really exciting thing is the British will have more Americans to entertain this year!

Come on, you know you love us. Especially when we dress as cowboys!

Hi bdj; We have always loved the British. You can wear your cowboy outfits and from the east coast we will have our 'Pilgrim hats '. Ira's right on. The pound is at 1.3789. ENJOY Iris

I was just alking about this with a friend last night...I was in London all of last week and if it had been this week, almost literally the trip would have been $200 cheaper as I thought I was doing well when my six day hotel charge cleared at $1.43 and now it's $1.37 or thereabouts.

We were talking about going to the theatre....I had been in London this past summer when the pound was at about $2....now same seats at what last week was $1.44 and is much cheaper today...go to TKTS for a half priced ticket...last summer £30 or close to $60, a good buy but last week, same show, same £30 is $43...meals...didn't find the restaurants I frequent to have increased their prices in sterling much (I'm a cheapskate and do mostly moderately priced Japanese restaurants)...same meal that cost $30 last summer was $21 last week and even less today. No wonder I said, and was hooted for saying, London is almost affordable today (I suppose to a Brit it's still very expensive)....my 7 day tfl pass...last summer $54....last week $37 and again even cheaper today. Bloody unbelievable.

But it really has other effects too. We were talking about how many shows on Broadway had closed this January and one of the reasons, if not the overriding reason, is the USA has now become very very very expensive for Brits (and most Europeans as the euro hasn't fared much better) and the days of the streets in New York teeming with Europeans with wads of euros to spend are over.

Now the question becomes, of course, of just how low the pound (and euro) will sink....will the euro and the dollar reach par in the near future? And will sterling be far behind? And sterling is edging closer and closer to the euro. Does it make sense then for Britain not to join the euro?

And finally given the shape of our (US) economy, how many people can afford to travel and take advantage of these "bargains?"

Very very scary to say the least.

There are a million reasons why Britain will never join the Euro and the relative conversion rates of the countries isn't one of them.

(Basically we don't like or trust the Europeans).

One would think with the deficit headed into the stratosphere and the treasury printing more greenbacks...the dollar is not on solid ground...more like jello..or chocolate pudding...(yorkshire puddin'?)

Is it true that Bank of England soon will rename the British Pound to

the British Ounce?

From what I've read, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, most economists believe that it is inevitable that Britain will have to join the euro sooner or later. I do agree relative conversion rates are not a big factor in it but from what my British friends tell me whenever we discuss this, many Brits would not know how to react if their coins and currency did not have a picture of the Queen on them (or what will happen if Charles ever becomes King?)

There's no chance of us joining the Euro. Our economy is out of synch with Europe's (and no we aren't a part of "Europe"). It would be madness to join.

Plus johnny Europe is a bum pinching coward that smells of garlic.

<There's no chance of us joining the Euro. Our economy is out of compliance with the financial requirements needed to join the Euro Zone>

and will be for the foreseeable future so it's a non issue. Poland will qualify before England does.

Maybe England needs a new Marshall Plan from the Yanks again

I say England because London is where all the banks are and the root of all financial evil in the U.K.

Scotland and Wales will now be better off than ever before as independent countries using the Euro, like Eire does.

poor, poor us. we were so smug when the US started to have problems. now we are headed for ruin and we have had to shut our smug mouths pretty quickly.

we are just not dynamic. we don't have the energy to shake off the mould and reinvent ourselves. we are stuffed. let's all give up. we are doomed. we're iceland without the fit birds.

God save the Queen. This may be bad news for those who live in the UK. But it's good news for those of us who are planning a visit to the UK!

I'm planning a trip to Europe soon, and have been wanting to take a trip to the English countryside and to Wales. The exchange rate has certainly impacted my travel plans. I'm also keeping my fingers crossed.

Okay, so if we're pretty sure we're going to be in England and Scotland in June, should we buy our Heritage passes now? I know no one can say with any certainty whether the pound will stay this low...

The pound will vanish and the dollar will vanish too, so why care about future "exchange rates". Game over, reset to zero. Enjoy, and don't worry about yesterdays problems.

Let me ask you a question assuming you're from the USA....

Last summer, everybody was predicting a catastrophy regarding oil prices and heating oil for this winter....oil was about $150/barrel and predicted to go higher. Many people decided the prudent thing to do was to lock in the current price and signed a futures contract for home heating oil.

Well we know what happened.

Last summer, some were predicting the USD was on the verge of collapse and was headed for $2 = €1 and it was urged people buy their euro then to lock in the "good" rate of $1.60. And many did.

Look how they're feeling now.

Does anybody really really know? If you're happy with the price today, lock it in but realize it could go up...it could go down.

If it goes up and you locked in the rate, you'll feel like a genius.

If it goes down and you locked in the rate, you'll feel stupid.

As I said I felt great last week. My hotel bill for 6 nights was £348 and it was converted to USD on the day I charged it at $1.44...I felt I had done realy well till I followed the currency exchange and realized that if I had timed my trip one week later, I would have saved $25 or thereabouts on the hotel alone. Damn, I thought but then I realized one has no way of knowing now does one.....All I could tell myself was that when I first planned the trip, I figured $696 for the hotel so I saved almost $200 over what I expected to pay...

Welcome back logos...

What happened to your $2 euro?

Can't win them all eh.

I'm waiting for it every day now. So fascinating. I've shifted all I own out of those doomed currencies, except for some everyday needs. Going to be over soon. :-)

...and where are you stashing your millions now? Perhaps in Chinese currency...my prediction...by summer, the USD and Euro will be almost equal.....with sterling at about $1.20....

>Chinese currency
Do you trust them? I wouldn't. They have all the power. I sold my yen (wasn't much anyway) and put quite some money in gold. Gold may go down, but will recover fast. Maybe it shoots up, then I'll sell to buy back later. No stocks right now! Far too risky.

Feels like Scrooge Mc Duck, ;-) ;-)

&quot;<i>should we buy our Heritage passes now?</i>&quot;

Can't tell you since none of us know how low (or high) the &pound; will be in June.

But if you DO decide to buy now -- be sure to purchase it from a site quoting in &pound; and not $.

The $ prices of the GBHP were set back several months when the exchange was worse. So the current &pound; prices are significantly less than the $ price.

If I was heading to the UK this month I'd wait and buy the GBHP when I landed at LHR. In real money terms it would be about 20% cheaper than buying it from the States.

But it's a crap shoot - if the &pound; continues to drop, it would be even cheaper to buy it in June.

CAPH, I've seen those passes going for very little on eBay. Might be worth a look. Caveat emptor, naturally.

I'd personally never buy a GBHP on the resale market (eBay or Craig's list or whatever) - it would be waaaay too easy to end up w/ a pass that was already exhausted . . . .

And plenty easy to dispute a scam on eBay with Paypal. I did not suggest Craig's List. Worth a try for the prices I've seen (under $20 US), regardless.

not really - you would not know if the pass was used up until you tried to use it -- not all that convenient to protest w/ paypal until you are back home. And in the mean time you'd have to buy a full priced pass anyway.

IMO there are economies and false economies.

Thanks, Janis. Sounds like good advice!

Do what you like, janis. CAPH can do the same.