How will the falling dollar effect your travel plans

[TiredOldFlyer]

Just wondering how the falling dollar will effect your travel plans - if at all ?

In our case, as we need to book and plan up to 12 months ahead, we just bite the bullet and get on with it and console ourselves
by averaging the cost over the last few years. Perhaps not sensible but makes me feel better !

 

[Pushka]

I think its only in recent years that anyone gave much thought to the exchange rate when planning travel. When you decide to go on a holiday, then you just bite the bullet. A favourable exchange rate is simply the icing on the cake. And it isnt all that bad yet anyway. My most frequent memory of the USD is around 72 cents and I still halve when I think of British pounds!

 

[harvyk]

Aaaaaaarrrrhhhhhh!!!!!!! :evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil:

 

[OATEK]

We are always planning 12-18 months ahead, and I use very conservative exchange rates for the budget side. It might mean Y+ instead of J for the 2014 major trip, but hopefully not. We depart in September 2013 on the next one (SYD-DXB-LHR-DXB-SYD) with side trips to Paris, Berlin and Krakow. Already have all the currency we need pre-loaded onto the CashPassport, and so this year's journey is well protected.

Basically I am trying to make sure we do as many trips as we can while still working full time, so that we can take advantage of pre-retirement salaries. Might be a different story in 2016 though, but I doubt the AUD$ will stop us. In the past it has just increased the interval between major trips while we put together the extra funds.

 

[casanovawa]

Thankfully i have a bunch of points in USDM plus a few Avianca ones and the QF ones keep accruing several thousand each month, so i think the major air travel part of it is covered for a few years trips... The travel when i get to these places might have to be reassessed a little as i do hop around the continents/countries i visit quite a bit, maybe i'll have to stay put more.. But i am usually a value traveller anyway so don't splurge big when away so not much fat to cut...

With my July trip most of the air fares have already been paid for, still a couple to book... Just gotta bite the bullet i suppose, few train trips as well...

I remember 2008 when the A$=US$0.48 so we are still way ahead, but yes, oh for the good old days of US$1.10...

 

[OATEK]

I remember 2008 when the A$=US$0.48 so we are still way ahead, but yes, oh for the good old days of US$1.10...

I remember being in London in October 1987, when after the crash the $ got down in the low 30p range!! I was very grateful to be carrying travellers cheques when many around me were getting stung on the credit cards.

 

[casanovawa]

Its one draw back about the Citibank card and 28 degree (at least when the A$ is on the slide, reverse when it appreciates) is that you get the free foreign exchange fees but have to take the rates offered on the day, rather than locking in rates with some of the other products...

Even if Travellex and some other rip off merchants might charge a lousy rate of exchange for buying products, you probably still would have come out ahead if buying them when the A$ was still at US$1 or there abouts compared to US$0.91-0.92...

 

[craven morehead]

Does anyone ever consider earning points on Credit Card spend as more important than worrying about exchange rate? Maybe not such an issue if you can afford it ...:mrgreen:

 

[casanovawa]

Now i have my citibank debit card i try to never use my credit cards for overseas purchases or withdrawals... Seeing i value my points at around 1 cent each (or at least try to keep it to that or below when earning them) and most overseas transactions attract a 2-3% transaction fee earning points that way is of no real interest to me...

 

[cove]

I remember paying close attention to my overseas spending when the dollar bought Half a US dollar and a third of a pound.
The current exchange rates are still what dreams are made of even though they changed a bit recently.
We will go overseas 4 times in the new financial year.

 

[BAM1748]

No change to my trips. Perhaps two O/S vacations in the next year plus work travel.

Matt

 

[ellen10]

I remember the days of 33c to the pound. Very expensive in the UK for accommodation and food then.
And we also took the children to the USA when it was Au50c to the US dollar. At least it was easy to calculate the cost of things!

We are going to Europe in September, we are conscious of the dollar euro exchange but wont let it stop us once there. Who knows what will be around the corner tomorrow or next year.

 

[harvyk]

Just to elaborate on my earlier post, it won't actually affect my travel plans, it just means everything will be more expensive whilst OS, I will still do the same things whilst OS.

 

[Hvr]

Almost like a perfect storm, currency being devalued and ASAs being devalued. I suggest the latter may also impact on travel plans.

 

[BadgerBoi]

Makes no difference to my plans, my next big trip is March/April 2014, have just booked my ticket and about to put down the deposit on an apartment in Paris. Who knows what might happen to the dollar between now and then? Like others in this thread, I visited the US when it was about 50c to the dollar, and the UK when it was under 40p.

I don't have extravagant tastes, I'm not much of a shopper and in Europe I enjoy eating at local sort of places. I splurge on a business class ticket for long haul, otherwise I'm not really spending on things I wouldn't be spending on at home. If I was going to let exchange rates worry me I think that I probably wouldn't travel overseas.

 

[erkpod]

I'm going anyway. Who knows what will happen between now & the time I leave in January.

 

[blackcat20]

I'm booked and paid, so no major change for me. Means my spending money is slightly less, but not even enough to worry about.

 

[yeahbut]

I'll just have to spend all my superannuation on travel...

 

[JohnK]

I really should not be travelling but that is another story.

I usually travel in economy, stay in cheap hotels, drink cheap beer and play expensive golf courses.

The lower AUD means I either have to find a way of saving more while I am in Australia or spending less overseas. Somewhere in between is probably the right answer.

 

[TJA]

It's not affecting my current travel plans (we leave for the USA in 7 weeks), but its hurting my week-to-week budget.

i'm a poor traveller! Each fortnight I dedicate a huge chunk of my wage to our trip, but because the dollar is falling, that chunk is getting bigger and the money has to come from somewhere (grocery budget, fuel budget, etc).

our next trip will ore than likely be domestic anyway or a cruise based our of AUS in AUD, so the falling dollar probably won't have an impact on those travel plans.

Im lucky that 75% of my trip was paid for when it was $1 for $1 and lessons learnt next time to factor in a falling dollar when doing my very precise budget.