Doing Any Good Things With The High $AUD?

[cove]

The Australian dollar is up or other currencies are down so what should we be doing to take advantage of this when we are travelling overseas?

Having travelled with the value of the $AUD at sub 50 cents to the US dollar and the English pound where 3 Australian dollars could get you one I have wondered whether we are changing our behaviour.I was looking at Dom Perignon champagne at a bit over 100 and thinking what a great price. Then I was thinking about a nicer hotel in New York and London.Is there something I am missing?

 

[FlyboyAl]

Arrived in LAX an hour ago, and off to Vegas for a conference in an hour or 2, and plan to take as much of an advantage of the high dollar.
Lets see..... there is TJ Max, Frys, BestBuy, Flemings Steakhouse, and they are just the ones I want to go to. The FlyGirl has her priorities too!

 

[cove]

With your objective of having $10k on the plane there would be a mad scramble to find a form that none of the other 400 odd passengers want to fill out.Now with Flemings Steakhouse we go to Costco and buy $600 of Flemings gift cards for $480 and we are ready for some dining at a discount. You can buy them at $100 a time for $80 as there are 2 $50 cards for $79.99.Nordstrom sale starts on 15th July and you can get staff to reserve stuff for you from around 5th July.(now that may stop you having to declare a stash of money when you cannot afford to save any more money!)

 

[cove]

Foreign accounts in pounds,US dollars an Euros earn almost zero interest so it is hard to park funds in those accounts and not feel you are about 7% or so behind.There are plenty of shopping and travel bargains in the US at the moment so don't forget to have a bag inside your bag!

 

[blackcat20]

5 weeks in the USA coming up soon...planning to go with one fairly empty suitcase and come home with two very full ones

 

[simongr]

I went to London earlier in the year and found no bargains

I would kill to get back to the US to restock clothes for toddlergr - he is growing out of his ralph lauren collection quite quickly...

 

[Alanslegal]

just visted bali, singapore and hong kong and the high aud makes general spending very very good . just landed in FRA an hour ago so we'll see how europe compares ... all i can sense for now is loads of european branded clothes & accessories shopping

 

[cove]

I think you could call the store at the outlet mall and get some stuff shipped.You would need to know toddlergr size and I would tend to buy for next years size!We have also used comgateway.com successfully.Today I was trying again to get a couple of store credit accounts opened but Australians do not exist on American data bases so getting to No seems easier than getting to Yes. Clothes here are about 35 to 50 per cent of the prices in Australia.

 

[Mr_Gimlet]

I'm planning on exploiting dollar strength and pound weakness for my hols this year. I'm planning on eating a lot in London in Michelin territory for prices that aren't far off Melbourne. The Ledbury, Pollen Street Social, The Gilbert Scott, Hawksmoor, Dinner are all on the list this year - and maybe a bit of Burgundy

 

[Durin's Bane]

Even when the dollar was US80c it was cheaper to buy many goods in the USA, so my habits have not changed other than to spend a little more than normal online and in the USA.

 

[simongr]

I think you could call the store at the outlet mall and get some stuff shipped.You would need to know toddlergr size and I would tend to buy for next years size!We have also used comgateway.com successfully.Today I was trying again to get a couple of store credit accounts opened but Australians do not exist on American data bases so getting to No seems easier than getting to Yes. Clothes here are about 35 to 50 per cent of the prices in Australia.

comgateway.com looks interesting - as they buy from retail the prices arent that great but certainly better than Australia - US$85 for a polo ralph lauren standard men's polo is cheaper than here - but I guess I need to factor in shipping - thanks for that link.

This might assist as well with something we want from FAO schwarz...

 

[cove]

Typically I go to either Carlsbad or Camarillo Premium Outlets and the real price for RL is 59 plus tax for their polo.Nautica was less at about $39. I would call them to see if they can mail a purchase as the prohibitive tariffs on clothes are long gone so you just need to be below $1,000 which is very easy seeing stuff is so reasonably priced.Toddlergr will be looking good.

 

[JimS]

Another new option for Australians buying US retail is storetoyourdoor

They offer a purchasing service and offer pretty competitive shipping rates. A friend in the building industry suggested I try them as he used them for USA itunes cards and they were super quick to answer my questions. Haven't used them yet as the better half can't decide what she wants but the credit card looks to be getting a workout soon! Another site I found was buy4me who could be of interest as well (never hurts to compare prices!)

 

[Robmn]

Not sure how to put this but, where the AU dollar sits makes little difference to its buying power.

Certain items are cheap but this has been consistent over the last 8 years. I can't buy a camera in the US from BHPhoto as its cheaper buying in Australia so are many other photographic items. Joggers are certainly cheaper but not the lower quality models in the range. Big items are cheap ie TV's but you can't bring them back in your luggage. I don't think clothes are all that cheap, Levi jeans what save $20. Computers are cheaper here.

Sales are the only thing that make things cheap, fun to explore buying something unusual, expect the unexpected. Don't go expecting to save a motza you will not.

Perhaps HK or China are the bargain places, not so much the US as the US Dollar does not have the same purchacing power. Then you can't carry it all home

How much can you save? and add your shopping airfare into that equation.


r

 

[Flashback]

Not sure how to put this but, where the AU dollar sits makes little difference to its buying power.

Certain items are cheap but this has been consistent over the last 8 years. I can't buy a camera in the US from BHPhoto as its cheaper buying in Australia so are many other photographic items. Joggers are certainly cheaper but not the lower quality models in the range. Big items are cheap ie TV's but you can't bring them back in your luggage. I don't think clothes are all that cheap, Levi jeans what save $20. Computers are cheaper here.

Sales are the only thing that make things cheap, fun to explore buying something unusual, expect the unexpected. Don't go expecting to save a motza you will not.

Perhaps HK or China are the bargain places, not so much the US as the US Dollar does not have the same purchacing power. Then you can't carry it all home.

How much can you save? and add your shopping airfare into that equation.


r

Uhm.. laptops are much cheaper in the US then Australia.

 

[cbourl]

Yes of course!!!! it makes it even better to shop at Daffys in NYC and pick up my cashmere for even cheaper than before - pick up everything at 1/1millionth of what it would cost in AU! The pop over to Loehmanns just under my appartment on the upper west side an pick up 4 or 5 pairs of Persols for US$50 Do a daytrip to San Fran just to visit Marshalls at San Bruno and Loemanns on Sutter have lunch in the Castro then fly back to NYC and stock up at Marshalls in the Harlem or East Bronx on my Ahava Israeli Deas Sea cosmetics for 1/50th of what I would pay for them in Israel at the Ahava outlet near Mineral Beach in Israel!
Lets face it AU dont have the best shopping by far - last time i shopped in AU except for overpriced groceries i can buy on the upper weest side for 1/4 the price here except the american stuff tastes and its so ethnic (wel lthats what nyc is or the us is !) ie itsa normal euro/asian/midddle easter stuff which to ossies is ethnic (notice the pun - if ur German u know what i mean ):mrgreen:

 

[drron]

Things are changing fast.Macys will now ship to australia-so i can now do this through AA shopping and earn airline miles.
Another US site that we haven't ordered from yet but shipping to Australia appears very reasonable-
USA Designer Direct

 

[drron]

Not sure how to put this but, where the AU dollar sits makes little difference to its buying power.

Certain items are cheap but this has been consistent over the last 8 years. I can't buy a camera in the US from BHPhoto as its cheaper buying in Australia so are many other photographic items. Joggers are certainly cheaper but not the lower quality models in the range. Big items are cheap ie TV's but you can't bring them back in your luggage. I don't think clothes are all that cheap, Levi jeans what save $20. Computers are cheaper here.

Sales are the only thing that make things cheap, fun to explore buying something unusual, expect the unexpected. Don't go expecting to save a motza you will not.

Perhaps HK or China are the bargain places, not so much the US as the US Dollar does not have the same purchacing power. Then you can't carry it all home

How much can you save? and add your shopping airfare into that equation.


r

Surely you are joking.I bought my camera this month from B&H in NYC.With extra battery,case and larger memory card was $A585.In Australia base price is $A699.

 

[serfty]

... I don't think clothes are all that cheap, Levi jeans what save $20. Computers are cheaper here. ...

Netbook (XP) I purchased here for AUD340 was selling in Costco three weeks later for ~AUD310 (w7 HP).

Pair of "Dockers" for USD18? Try that in Oz.

Polarised Sunglasses, 2 for USD11 ... from Walgreens,

Not sure where you are getting your prices ...

 

[Cynicor]

Not sure how to put this but, where the AU dollar sits makes little difference to its buying power.

Certain items are cheap but this has been consistent over the last 8 years. I can't buy a camera in the US from BHPhoto as its cheaper buying in Australia so are many other photographic items. Joggers are certainly cheaper but not the lower quality models in the range. Big items are cheap ie TV's but you can't bring them back in your luggage. I don't think clothes are all that cheap, Levi jeans what save $20. Computers are cheaper here.

Sales are the only thing that make things cheap, fun to explore buying something unusual, expect the unexpected. Don't go expecting to save a motza you will not.

Perhaps HK or China are the bargain places, not so much the US as the US Dollar does not have the same purchacing power. Then you can't carry it all home

How much can you save? and add your shopping airfare into that equation.


r

I disagree, even with the airfare you can save a bundle, and you don't need to fly somewhere to buy from them. I pretty much filled my new kitchen with stock form amazon US and an Irish site at a fraction of the aussie cost. And many cameras from BHPhoto are a lot cheaper, even with postage factored in. Maybe you are comparing some of the lower-end models rather than the costlier ones.