US residents--is there a point when a low dollar vs. Euro will stop you from going to Europe?
Jun 27th, 2007, 05:00 AM
#1
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US residents--is there a point when a low dollar vs. Euro will stop you from going to Europe?
I'm just curious as I have been thinking about this. The dollar has been hovering around $1.35 to the Euro for quite some time now. I think, but don't jump on me if my figures are off, a year ago it was around $1.26, and the summer of 2005 it was around $1.18 maybe. Then there was the heyday in early 2002, I believe, when a euro cost me .80. The obvious trend is it costs more and more to visit Europe for those of us who live in the US.
We just returned from Turkey, and even there felt the effects of a weak dollar. As a travel addict I'm already thinking about future trips. There are so many places we'd still like to visit in Europe, and we keep going despite the poor exchange rate, but I wonder if it will reach the point where we just say "no" this is ridiculous.
Do most of you just disregard the exchange rate, or does it come into consideration? I think some people shorten their trips in response to the rate, but for us, after paying the airfare and dealing with the jetlag, we prefer to stay for around 2 weeks.
We just returned from Turkey, and even there felt the effects of a weak dollar. As a travel addict I'm already thinking about future trips. There are so many places we'd still like to visit in Europe, and we keep going despite the poor exchange rate, but I wonder if it will reach the point where we just say "no" this is ridiculous.
Do most of you just disregard the exchange rate, or does it come into consideration? I think some people shorten their trips in response to the rate, but for us, after paying the airfare and dealing with the jetlag, we prefer to stay for around 2 weeks.
Jun 27th, 2007, 05:34 AM
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It always costs "more and more to travel" which is why those "Europe on Five Dollars A Day" books were helpful back in 1970 and irrelevant now.
Have you replied to the other thread currently ongoing about this same issue?
Have you replied to the other thread currently ongoing about this same issue?
Jun 27th, 2007, 05:52 AM
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I may be taking the wrong approach, but we're headed to Paris, London and Germany in the fall because I believe we may be approaching the point were it's unaffordable. In other words, if I don't go now, I may never go. I see no signs that the exchange rate is going to improve to any extent in the near future.
That's probably good for the American economy but bad for Americans interested in going to Europe.
That's probably good for the American economy but bad for Americans interested in going to Europe.
Jun 27th, 2007, 06:08 AM
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2:1 would also probably do it for me too. However, as costs creep ever higher, I am finding more imaginative ways to save money without negatively impacting the experience.
Picnic lunches are a particularly good one esp since we like to try the food the country we're visiting. Also going to neighborhood restaurants that the locals go to. I notice that these are some of the more memorable experiences.
We've become adept at getting the most out frequent flyer and hotel programs too.
Picnic lunches are a particularly good one esp since we like to try the food the country we're visiting. Also going to neighborhood restaurants that the locals go to. I notice that these are some of the more memorable experiences.
We've become adept at getting the most out frequent flyer and hotel programs too.
Jun 27th, 2007, 06:18 AM
#8
Your macro-economic question needs to address micro-economics and demographics.
First, the low dollar isn't going to defer the affluent, only some of the less-than-affluent.
Second, age is a consideration. If one is 35, one could always wait til a higher dollar arrives. Given 3 score and ten years, that would leave 35 more years for the opportunity. At age 69, one has a short horizon; so one perhaps chooses between making oneself happy, OR making the grandchildren happy. If the former, the low dollar matters not.
First, the low dollar isn't going to defer the affluent, only some of the less-than-affluent.
Second, age is a consideration. If one is 35, one could always wait til a higher dollar arrives. Given 3 score and ten years, that would leave 35 more years for the opportunity. At age 69, one has a short horizon; so one perhaps chooses between making oneself happy, OR making the grandchildren happy. If the former, the low dollar matters not.
Jun 27th, 2007, 06:23 AM
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Not for travel, but as I live in the UK and some of my clients are in the U.S. and pay in dollars, I have started to turn down some of the lowest-paid assignments. With the weak dollar, the rate they're offering just isn't worth the work.
Jun 27th, 2007, 06:25 AM
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It hasn't stopped me so far, but that's mostly because I've been fortunate enough to use either freq flyer tickets or points for some hotel nights. Even then, I am rethinking travel to Europe. These past couple of trips were expensive.
Jun 27th, 2007, 06:40 AM
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I suppose there is possibly a rate that could, but it wouldn't be likely to occur under any realistic world economic situation, so I guess practically, no. First, one of the biggest expense components isn't affected by that (air fare). Other than that -- well, I don't spend that much money in general, so an increase of 10-20 pct of some discretionary vacation expenses doesn't matter that much, actually, in my annual budget.
For example, I am guessing I'll spend at the outside US$250 a day average for myself on my European vacations (for hotel and food and all transportation and entertainment, etc.). I don't get that much vacation, so never go more than two weeks. Even if it went up 20 pct more, which I think is unlikely, that's only an extra $50 a day in cost or around $700 in my entire annual vacation budget. So, no, it wouldn't make any difference in my decision.
I don't have a lot of major expenses in my life, none, actually, and that's because I don't waste money and spend it on unnecessary things or what a lot of people do. For example, I drive a 12 year old Honda Civic that gets over 30 miles to the gallon and runs perfectly fine, whereas some folks blow hundreds a month on car payments and more on gas as they drive these huge monsters around town. I have never even had a car loan as I just pay cash for cars when I buy them. I don't own a big screen TV or that kind of electronic expensive stuff, either.
Well, I don't mean to get off on details, but the point is that I don't think a difference in exchange rates for euros is really the issue but what people's spending habits are at home and when they travel. My expenses of $225 a day are actually pretty generous as I travel alone usually, so am paying for the hotel room all by myself, and I am not staying in real budget hotels, either. I like a nice hotel on my trips, and usually pay around $150 a night for one nowadays in Europe. The most expensive hotels I've ever booked in Europe were 4* in London or Switzerland (even one 5* in Prague), and I've never paid over $200 a night for a hotel room, even then, and I'm not going in the winter, but in nice weather. For example, I just booked a deluxe room in a 4* hotel in Montreux, Switzerland, hardly a cheap city, and it only cost me 160 CHF or US$156.
I don't do picnic lunches, either. I really don't believe people can't eat in regular restaurants or stay in moderate hotels if they don't have extravagant tastes, as my budget shows -- unless you really have a very low income, of course, and I understand that as I did when I was very young, also.
For example, I am guessing I'll spend at the outside US$250 a day average for myself on my European vacations (for hotel and food and all transportation and entertainment, etc.). I don't get that much vacation, so never go more than two weeks. Even if it went up 20 pct more, which I think is unlikely, that's only an extra $50 a day in cost or around $700 in my entire annual vacation budget. So, no, it wouldn't make any difference in my decision.
I don't have a lot of major expenses in my life, none, actually, and that's because I don't waste money and spend it on unnecessary things or what a lot of people do. For example, I drive a 12 year old Honda Civic that gets over 30 miles to the gallon and runs perfectly fine, whereas some folks blow hundreds a month on car payments and more on gas as they drive these huge monsters around town. I have never even had a car loan as I just pay cash for cars when I buy them. I don't own a big screen TV or that kind of electronic expensive stuff, either.
Well, I don't mean to get off on details, but the point is that I don't think a difference in exchange rates for euros is really the issue but what people's spending habits are at home and when they travel. My expenses of $225 a day are actually pretty generous as I travel alone usually, so am paying for the hotel room all by myself, and I am not staying in real budget hotels, either. I like a nice hotel on my trips, and usually pay around $150 a night for one nowadays in Europe. The most expensive hotels I've ever booked in Europe were 4* in London or Switzerland (even one 5* in Prague), and I've never paid over $200 a night for a hotel room, even then, and I'm not going in the winter, but in nice weather. For example, I just booked a deluxe room in a 4* hotel in Montreux, Switzerland, hardly a cheap city, and it only cost me 160 CHF or US$156.
I don't do picnic lunches, either. I really don't believe people can't eat in regular restaurants or stay in moderate hotels if they don't have extravagant tastes, as my budget shows -- unless you really have a very low income, of course, and I understand that as I did when I was very young, also.
Jun 27th, 2007, 07:07 AM
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Except in Spain during the late Eighties, I've never felt I was getting my dollars-worth in Europe. I think the cost of living is just higher there. (The Economist's "Big Mac" comparison is revealing.) I doubt the exchange rate will become so lopsided that I change my travel plans, and I expect the cycle will continue and the dollar will eventually gain. In the meantime, I hope our European friends will come over and spend some Euros.
Jun 27th, 2007, 07:12 AM
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Here's the link to the latest "Big Mac Index." Apparently only Turkey is at parity. Some interesting bargains out there . . .
http://www.economist.com/markets/ind...ory_id=8649005
http://www.economist.com/markets/ind...ory_id=8649005
Jun 27th, 2007, 07:16 AM
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You get used to it. Just as you will get used to the $4 gallon of gas.
We in Canada still travelled to the US and to Europe despite the differences in the currencies - as low as 65 cents a few years ago..
Even though the Cdn$ is about .94 of the US$, it is about the same as it was last year to the €.
We in Canada still travelled to the US and to Europe despite the differences in the currencies - as low as 65 cents a few years ago..
Even though the Cdn$ is about .94 of the US$, it is about the same as it was last year to the €.
Jun 27th, 2007, 08:03 AM
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It started slowing down my enthusiasm for Europe travel ever since about 2003 or 2004. 30,000 AAdvantage FF mileage award (easy availability of seven seats at that award level last May) to the Virgin Islands seemed like a much better deal than almost any financial analysis of a trip to Europe a year ago.
Still going to Europe this fall, as I have promises "on the table" to at least a half dozen more family members (mostly siblings) to "take them" to Europe. They better hurry. Rising euro and falling life expectancy may converge sooner, rather than later.
In 1994, I made a pledge to myself - - "whatever you want to get done in the next decade, make a realistic plan to do it... or stop pretending that you intend to..."
Still working for me, kinda... though my focus is more like five years than ten, now. Glad to have had those 23 earlier trips to Europe under my belt already!
Best wishes,
Rex
Still going to Europe this fall, as I have promises "on the table" to at least a half dozen more family members (mostly siblings) to "take them" to Europe. They better hurry. Rising euro and falling life expectancy may converge sooner, rather than later.
In 1994, I made a pledge to myself - - "whatever you want to get done in the next decade, make a realistic plan to do it... or stop pretending that you intend to..."
Still working for me, kinda... though my focus is more like five years than ten, now. Glad to have had those 23 earlier trips to Europe under my belt already!
Best wishes,
Rex
