Value of the Dollar
 

My husband and I are starting to plan this year's major vacation, and are thinking about Vienna and Salzburg.

However, with the dollar being so weak, we are somewhat reluctant and aren't sure if going to Europe this year is cost prohibitive.

Would love for people to weigh in with your thoughts and experiences.

Thank you!!!

My advice would be:

Don't focus on currency numbers, $1 isn't supposed to equal €1.

Don't look back a historical exchange rates. The fact that the dollar was overvalued against the Euro 3 years ago doesn't affect your holiday at all.

Do work out how much you think the trip will cost, total, in your own currency.

Once you know how much the trip will cost you have two questions to ask yourselves.

1) Can I afford to pay that?

2) Am I willing to pay that?

What makes you think this will improve next year...or if the dollar strengthens then inflation might cause prices to rise anyway....cut back a tad if necessary, state at slightly less pricey hotels...eat at slightly less pricey restaurants but by all means, don't be put off by the currency thing.....currencies go up and they go down but you just don't know how much and when...enjoy your holiday while you can and if it costs a few extra euro, so what...I doubt extremely that you'll miss them a few years further down the line.

Sorry everyone... I haven't been on this board in years, and couldn't find previous threads, but now I have and see it's been discussed pretty thoroughly, so I'm not trying to be a pain!!!! The previous threads have been helpful. And we have AMX points that will pay for our flight, so it looks like the consensus is we can make it work... We will stay in pretty nice places and don't generally do things on a budget when we go on a big vacation like for food and entertainment, but money is NOT unlimited!!

and thanks for the feedback. I just got scared for a minute... of course you're right. make sure I can swing it, and then enjoy life!! actually my husband had a life threatening sudden illness last year, and is fine now, and I'm a cancer survivor, and so of all people I know how life can turn on you any minute.... so, I'll plan that trip, and may be back with questions!!! thanks so much.

The Euro going up feels prohibitive, but conversely the GBP coming down to the same level feels like a don't-miss opportunity.

It's all relative.

Hey! Time is more important than the price. Price out your trip...Can you afford it? Do not be concerned with value of the dollar. The question simply is...Do we want to spend this much money?

can't advise on how you should spend your money, but did want to say that before I went to Austria and Vienna, I had read and heard a lot about how expensive Vienna was. I didn't find that true at all, it was actually less expensive than some other European capitals where I'd traveled before (namely, London and Paris). Everything I'd read made it sound like it was one of the most expensive places in Europe.

What will be your budget per day, i.e. what do you consider reasonable for one night at a hotel?
Since Vienna has a wide variety of hotels, I doubt that you won't find nothing you like.
I don't think that food and drinks is that expensive in Austria - especially not when compared with other locations in Europe.
Plus - you will get a discount of almost 20 percent in every restaurant ;-)

Hi Cowboy---

I'm sure I'm missing something.. but can you explain the 20% discount...don't want to miss it if it's something I need to do affirmatively??!! thanks!

I had no idea, either, what he was talking about to get a 20 pct discount in every restaurant.

I think he means you don't have to tip.

I think that's what was meant also, and not only that but we get used to adding on 5 to 10 percent for tax in the US for our meals, depending on the city or state.

God NP

That scam had slipped my mind - on Cape Cod I think the tax was 14% (4 years ago) - that combined with a 20% tip left us wondering why they bothered with menu prices at all!

I generally break my trip expenses into Airfare, Hotels, Food and Fun. Throw in car rental or train fares to be honest.

One way to look at is is how much of that can you 1) cut back on or 2) pay for in dollars before you go.

Your airfare will be $, you can prebook hotels through places like Priceline that you will pay in $. You might even be able to prepay part of your rental car (not gas of course). Then you are just taking the dollar-to-euro hit on part of your trip expenses.

I hope you're not going there in June. Euro2008 will be held in Austria & Switzerland. The cities you mentioned are the host cities, and hotel prices will be more expensive.

The Dollar is going to make a jump soon!

"The Dollar is going to make a jump soon!"

What possible evidence is there for that?

The Fed made it perfectly clear yesterday that they were likely to reduce interest rates further - and the ECB and Bank of England made it equally clear they weren't.

So in the short term, unless something utterly extraordinary happens (like Russia invades Germany), the dollar can only tread water, or drift down, against the other major countries.

"So in the short term, unless something utterly extraordinary happens (like Russia invades Germany). . . ."

Hmmmm. Is there a petition somewhere we can sign to make that happen? (he asks hopefully)

Hold on Neo.... I'm planning a trip to Germany. Have them invade someone else.