The price of the Euro and GBP is killing me!

I was seriously planning a trip into London, Paris, Brussels and Barcelona this winter, but with the exchange rate as bad as it is, I'm beginning to doubt it at this point. Even with the 2 for 1 airfare I've got through Amex, a 2 plus week trip would be WAY TOO EXPENSIVE!

I feel your pain! I just purchased Euros at the equivelent rate of $100 E to $147.16 dollars. That is horrible for us!

May be that's a great opportunity for the Spanish people to visit the USA.
How expensive is the USA compared to Spain?

As of today 1 Euro = $1.36 It is a very good time to come to the US.

Valenciano_en_Madrid: I noticed that at El Corte Inglés the new Sony Playstation 3 (60GB) is 600 Euros. That's about $819 USD. In the USA, the same console is $600!! That's about 440 Euros. Too bad one couldn't buy it in the USA and bring it back to Spain - although the electricity would be different and possibly the Bluy Ray Disc would only play in NTSC format.

Things in the USA, in general, are pretty cheap including restaurants, clothing, gasoline (believe it or not!) toiletries/aspirin/alka-seltzer. But beer, wine, bread, and milk is expensive. It used to be that these "staples" were the cheapest things in the USA but not anymore.

Some family of mine are coming to visit me soon from the USA so they'll definitely feel the BITE of the Euro versus the USDollar.

Saludos, MadridMan

And things are even worse than last year! There was an article in today's USATODAY.com website entitled " The buck doesn\'t stop here; it just keeps falling ".

Ugh, I am trying not to think about how much this is going to cost me to come to Spain for two weeks! My American dollar is not going to get me very far! :yuck:

Know what you mean, I'm coming over in December this year, and I've been buying Euros a little at a time....can't wait to come back to my fav place....

It's sort of wierd but as MM knows ,I used to be a trader in London's financial markets .
The dollar is always considered the major currency but towards the end of my 19 years there people were asking "why?"
The Euro has always been a topic of intense discussion in the UK but we've always been very protective of the British pound .. And it's , more than often , been stronger than the main currencies .. Dollar , Yen , Euro ... The only one currency that can hold a light to us is the Swiss Franc .. A popular "safe haven "

I think i need to apologize in a way ... My comment is NOT anti-American Dollar but it's a "question" of whether Anerica deserves the right to the power they seem to yield ... It's an opinion .....

A bit of good news, the dollar reached a 5 month high on Friday (8/8/08) dipping just under the $1.50/Euro mark.

It's a start, but we'll have to see how long it'll last.

The gadget on my desktop that tracks the dollar says $1.259 to buy a Euro. That's almost a 25% savings over my last trip in March. Between that and the price of gas here in the US, I might make up the damage to my IRA in 20 or 30 years!

The financial panics in other parts of the world has devastated the local currencies, the increase in value of the dollar reflects a lack of better options for currency investors. The dollar strengthens when real interest rates rise versus the real interest rates relevant for other currencies. The real interest rate is the interest rate minus inflation. When real dollar rates are high, or expected to rise, then investors sell the home currency to buy dollars in order to benefit from those relatively higher real interest rates. The government will sell bonds to raise money to resolve the recent financial crisis. This will drive interest rates higher so people are buying the dollar to speculate on these higher rates driving the value of the dollar higher. When the crisis ebbs, investors will focus on other issues again, and the dollar will resume its downward course.

Dollar Vs. Euro

Month by month rate going back to Jan. 1999
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/data/EXUSEU.txt

April 2006 is the last time it's been this low.

Wow .. You know , I never really was that interested in the financial markets even being a money market trader in London... It was work ! But now i'm on the sidelines i'm actually enjoying listening to what's happening in the financial markets .
A senior economist ( I think from Wachovia Bank ) was on the BBC today to give reaction to the Fed's lates 50 basis point reduction in the base rate . He made an interesting point about the future of the dollar which I would have to agree with :
He said , that now the base rate in USA is 1.00pct ... the lowest in maybe 4 or 5 years .. There's a good chance they'll cut by another 50bp .. but they have little room to manoeuvre now .
The Bank of England and the European Central Bank are really just starting their interest rate cuts ( they should follow the Fed's move very soon ) .
The exchange rates between the Euro and the pound against the Dollar will be a little volatile but will favour the Dollar right now based on the interest rate scenario .
I would also argue that , what seems an imminent win for Barack Obama , this week will also boost the Greenback .
To quote ( roughly ) a politician on UK TV : " If you were looking at the Earth from space you would see the World collectively holding it's breath in anticipation of Barack Obama becoming President " .
So to finish , I'd say you guys in the USA are going to be on the right side of the exchange rate if you're heading here to Europe . The Dollar's looking good for now .
Steve

I sure hope so, the right side of the dollar will be great or my trip in December...I'm just not sure when to exchange monies to get the best rate before my trip....

I have wondered if the Bush administration supported the weak dollar as it improves U.S. trade imbalances, helping prop up the stock market and worried investment bankers, and strengthening American companies in many regards. Usually , the weaker dollar will allow American companies to sell more overseas but the lower interest rates create a situation where they can borrow here cheaply and expand their reach while European competition is paying higher rates for capital and also having a harder time selling goods and services. But according to Professor Alan Greenspan, they did not see the subprime crisis coming despite an era of record low interest rates. Any change in the value of the dollar after the election will be an emotional one, then the value of the dollar will be determined by supply and demand in the foreign exchange market. Although policy makers can influence the value for short periods of time by altering the supply and demand, there is no evidence that the value of the dollar can be determined and maintained against market forces intent on establishing a different value.