Dollar/Euro

[robert brown]

I follow the dollar against the euro like a hawk (www.saxobank.com is a good place to do so. Just tell them you're not a trader when they call after you register). I go to France because I have to, but I am curious if anyone is postponing plans to go, or is choosing other European countries to visit. If you still are planning a trip to France, how might you compensate for a dollar that is, depending on where you calculate it, 25-35% lower. Unfortunately I see no desire in Washington to turn the greenback around, especially when you have the Secretary of the Treasury saying we have a strong dollar policy and the currency market should determine the level!!!! (An invitation to knock it lower, it seems to me). I've been looking for a top since 1.05 and continue to do so here at 1.2154 (the latest from Saxobank).

[fifi]

I just got back from a business trip to southern France. (Yes, it was wet. My travel story is in the Texas forum. NB: That post, A Texan in France was moved to this forum.) There really isn't any coping. You go where you gotta go and do what you gotta do. Food was still pretty reasonable. But, you can bet that I didn't do any Christmas shopping.

I also had a trip to Ireland in October that was a must. My son was running in the marathon. I didn't do any shopping there, either.

For elective travel... That will be postponed.

[Schneier]

We're compensating by voting Bush out of office.

[robert brown]

As a Forum Host I try to stay away from politics. But I'll go along with that.

[picaman]

We're compensating by voting Bush out of office.

We're going to Paris for a week at the end of March/beginning of April, so I guess I'm going to compensate by trying to save more money between now and then. It's definitely depressing to do the math, but I'm not letting it stop me.

Jamie

[menton1]

What can one do? We devoted francophiles must just grin and bear it. (Great exchange rate in Canada, but that's not for me!)

I think the latest is $1.22 per €. On our trip in June 2002 it was as good as .98 . Not to mention the currency-exchange add-ons that we have discussed at length. It's very depressing. They also say it helps sell our US goods abroad. I've also noticed a substantial hike in the prices of imported foods in the stores here.

P.S. Robert, I personally like www.oanda.com for the rates-- they have wonderful customized charting for historical rates. Read them and weep!

(You only go to France because you have to? What a plight!)

Edited December 8, 2003 by menton1 (log)

[wnissen]

I just figure that we were given a gift with a few years of very favorable exchange rates, and now we're coming back to reality. We honeymooned in Antibes and Paris in June 2001, and everything was dirt cheap. The food stupidly so. Now the prices have come back up so that it actually costs the same amount to stay in Paris as in, say, New York. Seems about right to me. While I cringe at the exchange rate, I worry more that overseas investors will pull their capital if they see the dollar sliding much more. I can afford a 30% increase in the cost of a vacation. I can less well afford a 30% drop in my retirement accounts. BTW, the comment by Sec. Snow was that he felt a strong dollar was one that people would want to use for commerce, and that couldn't be counterfeited. No, that's a strong dollar bill, you moron! :(

That's a long winded way of saying that our driving trip from Frankfurt to Paris in April 2005 is still on. (What can I say, we have a lot more vacation ideas than vacation time). Who knows, maybe the pendulum will have swung back by then.

Walt

[coachboy]

Having been the past three years, and feeling the "relative" pain this past summer (1.16 vs. .92 in 01), I would still go if we weren't expecting child #2 in May.

What I noticed this past trip (Paris and Italy) was that there are a lot fewer shopping bargains and temptations. Fortunately, we were there during "sale" season, so the discounts offset the increased currency plus some

As for food, I ordered less expensive wine and avoided the higher end restaurants - bistros and trattorias for us. The total cost was not much different in the end.

Coachboy

[oldschooltie]

as an alternative to France, does nobody fancy trying the freedom fries in Iraq - put your mouth where your money is

[wnissen]

as an alternative to France, does nobody fancy trying the freedom fries in Iraq - put your mouth where your money is

This post is a little too subtle for me, oldschooltie, perhaps you could explain the point of it to me, using small words? :)

[The Little Blue House]

We were in France for three months, September-December of 2000... And boy did we eat well!

I had two pastries for breakfast every morning instead of one. In Tours, we ate bistro food and drank good wine. We had Crepes and Fondue and even visited a goat-centric restaurant somewhere in the country side. Jean Bardet was quite nice, and so was Jamin in Paris. It was all amazing. Now, I couldn't afford to spend the same money at these restaurants because my dollars do not carry the same weight.

So, when I go back to France next month for a week, I'll have to scale back to just a cafe au lait for breakfast and hope that my sister is cooking for lunch! (And if you want to talk about Bush, try having been in France during the whole election debacle. We were actually mocked.)

-Emily

[marcus]

I just got back from 11 days in France and didn't change my behavior at all, I just pretended that the dollar and euro were at par with each other. This is called sticking your head in the sand.

[The Little Blue House]

Sounds like a plan.

[docsconz]

The situation is even worse in Spain and Italy, which were real bargain grounds before they tied in with the Euro. Now there really aren't too many bargains to be had. I just got back from Catalunya in August and Italy in November. I limited my shopping to what was either very special or not readily available in the US. At this point, it hasn't stopped me from going over, but if it continues, I will either go less frequently or not at all.

The one country I wish would join the EU and convert to the Euro is England. I remember back in 1999 London had NYC prices only they were in pounds!

[guajolote]

you could always hedge and buy Euro call options for the time of your vacation.

[pirate]

There is always speculation in currencies and currently it is bearish on the dollar . Most big banks and brokerages are betting against the dollar

and brokerages on Wall Street are betting against the dollar and profiting handsomely. As am I although

i wish I had not taken some dollar profits too soon. Just as the overvaluation of the dollar didn't last neither will the undervaluation.

[Bill Klapp]

I hedged by buying a home in Italy. I bought it at a six-figure price with 85-cent Euros. Based upon current exchange rates, it must be worth millions! All I know is that the next time that the Euro is in the toilet, I will be converting everything I own into Eurocash...

[Bux]

You win some and you lose some. We managed to be traveling through the Dordogne the summer about eight years ago when the dollar hit ten francs. That's probably about a euro and a half or more. We invested heavily in foie gras. I'm happy to eat tripe the next time I'm there. We found first rate Spanish restaurants, at least in the Pais Vasco, still a decent buy and there's good value in the less expensive restaurants of Paris and France.

[wnissen]

Re: 10FF to the dollar. Pretty amazing. That's 1.52 euro to the dollar, or a euro at 0.66!

Walt

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Marcus and Bux echo my thoughts. At a point in your life you realize that you have enjoyed both good times and bad, and if you are really lucky, you will enjoy more good times and bad! In a hundred years, all will even out.

More foie gras, more "3 wedges for $24 Reine Astrid glaceed fruit nougat", more....!

[Explorer]

Also, most credit cards charge another 2% on top of the exchange rate. Actually, Amex charges +2.5% above, so one way to avoid this is to convert to cash at the best exchange place you can find (not a bank or airport).

I like oanda as well...

[marcus]

There are still credit cards which don't add to the standard 1% charged by Visa and Mastercard for currency transactions, you can seek them out. I use USAA, and I believe that MBNA also doesn't add on. I used to use People's, but dropped them when they started sucharging an additional 2%. Fleet claims to not add on, but in comparative tests, they have alway delivered a significantly worse exchange rate than USAA, which I currently recommend highly.

Edited December 9, 2003 by marcus (log)

[Bux]

Rarely will you get a better exchange rate anyway except on an ATM withdrawal, but be careful here as some banks claim not to surcharge withdrawals, but actually do. This has been the subject of another thread. HSBC, which is a bank with international affiliations, doesn't surcharge foreign curreny transaction on either it's credit cards or ATM cards. In spite of it's international affiliation, it doesn't offer it's cards all over the US.

[robyn]

I follow the dollar against the euro like a hawk...

It is a good time to use frequent flyer/stayer points to cash in for things like your hotel (which is what we're doing when we go to Europe this spring). Robyn

[rshorens]

The UK is no better, and probably worse, than France as far as exchange rates. My family's week vacation in London over Thanksgiving cost more than twice what it cost 3 years ago. A modest hotel for 2 cost $170, and an economy dinner cost $25 per person. I can't even afford a US vacation this summer. I hope the dollar improves by spring, 2005-my Italian is getting very rusty!

Roz