Get Euros now or later

I simply DCA into the euro in preparation for my next trip.
 
Lsbcal said:
We're planning a trip for September and want to make some advanced hotel reservations to get into the better value hotels before they become harder to book. I'm guessing that booking very early is a good idea. For instance, we have a Greek tour set up and know the dates. Want to get into the hotel the tour uses so we won't have to change hotels.

The best rates are non-refundable. I'm guessing they will charge our card right away. If so this will be a bet on the Euro level.

Is this right, do hotels normally charge the card immediately to do a non-refundable booking? Do they charge the card immediately for even a refundable booking (particularly in Italy)?
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So, would a 20% change in the value of the euro really make a difference based on the cost of the hotel room? I buy non-refundable all the time.
 
2B said:
So, would a 20% change in the value of the euro really make a difference based on the cost of the hotel room? I buy non-refundable all the time.
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When you buy non-refundable is it charged immediately or at check-in? I just want to understand the methods used in Europe.

It's true, I would not hold off just based on betting on the direction of exchange rate as the current market rate is the world financial market's best guess. Maybe future prices are another angle on this, but I don't worry about guesses.

EDIT: I looked up the Euro exchange rate and it shows
current = 1.18
futures (Mar 2015) = 1.184
futures (Jun 2015) = 1.186
 
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I'm in no position to give advice, but a few weeks ago The Economist magazine stated that most of the world's major banks predicted a 1:1 USD-EUR exchange rate this summer. It that happens, I will very seriously consider buying a house in Italy in my wife's hometown.
 
Helen said:
Yikes!!! What is the right kind of ATM card to use? My credit union is on the PLUS network. I have sent an email to them to find out if they have a foreign transaction fee or ATM fee. It would be horrible to get over there and not to be able to withdraw money!

I plan on taking 2 credit cards and 2 debit cards and keeping them separate - one on my person and the other in my luggage or hotel /cruise ship safe.
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You should be fine with those options, but a little cash on hand is always a good hedge. For our trips to Australia, New Zealand and Vanuatu last year I kept a $100 cash just in case we had trouble with ATM's. In Vanuatu there were several walk in Western Union places where they manually scanned a debit card for cash. I'm sure that Europe will be as well serviced with walk-in forex places should ATM's not work for you.

PS
Vanuatu was still on magnetic stripe for cards.
 
Lsb, to answer your question on hotels in Italy: when I went with my mom in 2006, I made all of our reservations in advance. After her accident, I called the rest of them and negotiated down to first night charges only. That was the best I could do. They charged my card at the time of the reservation, not before.

Also, check out Booking.com for hotels. We used that extensively in some very backwater central Asian towns to find hotels and were pleasantly surprised. I imagine it would be great for finding stuff in more tourist friendly areas as well.


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Lsbcal said:
When you buy non-refundable is it charged immediately or at check-in? I just want to understand the methods used in Europe.

It's true, I would not hold off just based on betting on the direction of exchange rate as the current market rate is the world financial market's best guess. Maybe future prices are another angle on this, but I don't worry about guesses.

EDIT: I looked up the Euro exchange rate and it shows
current = 1.18
futures (Mar 2015) = 1.184
futures (Jun 2015) = 1.186
Click to expand...

In my experience, I usually get charged soon after I make the reservation but the time varies. Generally, it's within a few days. I had one reservation not actually charge me until we showed up. I got the lower rate of the prepay but really didn't. I don't know what would have happened if we didn't show up.

The exchange rate I get on my credit card is shown in multiple decimal places that is very close to the "headline" exchange rate but I've never done a direct comparison. This is the same as getting cash on my debit cards.
 
Alan said:
You should be fine with those options, but a little cash on hand is always a good hedge. For our trips to Australia, New Zealand and Vanuatu last year I kept a $100 cash just in case we had trouble with ATM's. In Vanuatu there were several walk in Western Union places where they manually scanned a debit card for cash. I'm sure that Europe will be as well serviced with walk-in forex places should ATM's not work for you.

PS
Vanuatu was still on magnetic stripe for cards.
Click to expand...
I also carry $100 with me for the same reason. DW also carries $100 and I make sure she has at least about $100 in local currency.
 
Half and half

We're going to Scotland in June. If I had a relative coming, I'd probably do what Chuck indicated and and exchange 40-50% of what you intended to spend now, then finance the rest in Europe through an avenue like the Schwab card (we have a Schwab account so maybe we'll do that).

The Euro has dropped a lot, quickly. I wouldn't be surprised for Greece and economic weakness to push it further towards parity, but whether that would last until/through summer is another question.

Euro Skid at Longest in 4 Months on Stimulus Talk; Ruble Tumbles - Bloomberg
 
Lsbcal said:
Thanks Sarah and 2B for your experiences with hotel charges.

This booking.com link gets one to the English language version: Booking.com: 586,112 hotels worldwide. 41+ million hotel reviews.
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FYI

There has been a very successful and convincing scam in operation on folks that have hotel reservations made through Booking.com that I heard about on news podcasts in some detail.

Scammers target leading online travel agent Booking.com - BBC News

By accessing Booking.com reservations, the crooks have been able to obtain contact details to send customers demands for prepayment.
Click to expand...
 
I've always made reservations directly through a hotel's web site or by contacting them. If something goes wrong, I'm hoping the direct contact will make it easier to correct. But we have used sites like TripAdvisor for info purposes.
 
Lsbcal said:
I've always made reservations directly through a hotel's web site or by contacting them. If something goes wrong, I'm hoping the direct contact will make it easier to correct. But we have used sites like TripAdvisor for info purposes.
Click to expand...


No problems there if you work directly with the bank to make the reservation.
 
Lsbcal said:
I've always made reservations directly through a hotel's web site or by contacting them. If something goes wrong, I'm hoping the direct contact will make it easier to correct. But we have used sites like TripAdvisor for info purposes.
Click to expand...

Us too - book directly with hotel whenever possible. Much fewer problems that way. I've only booked through booking.com if the hotel to B&B website directed me there for reservations.
 
Another tip for Booking.com FYI: if you are going to a country that requires a visa, and as part of that, proof of hotel accommodations, they can be very useful. When I worked on visas for Kazakstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, as well as Gypsy Ed's home away from home place, Azerbaijan, the embassies required a hotel booking in each person's name. Handy to make the reservation and keep it until after the visa was issued, then cancel.


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audreyh1 said:
Wow, my €50 taxi ride keeps getting cheaper and cheaper! :dance:
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OT Got me thinking.....can't even remember the last time I took a cab. :confused: /OT
 
Nemo2 said:
OT Got me thinking.....can't even remember the last time I took a cab. :confused: /OT
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When your 82 year old Dad can't really walk more than a 10th of a mile without needing a rest, you take cabs a lot in Amsterdam!
 
The most fun is when the credit card bills from the vacation arrive and the charges are much less than you expected because the dollar grew stronger before the charges were applied and converted. Almost offsets coming home and not being on vacation anymore.

You European vacationers will really enjoy your upcoming trips!
 
EastWest Gal said:
AAA also can provide foreign currency if you are a member. I know they do Canadian money; pretty sure they do Euros too.


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Click to expand...

We just returned from a 2 week European adventure, and AAA offered a better exchange rate than my bank (of course we went to AAA for something else right after the bank trip :nonono:)

I second the advice on getting a few euros to have on hand before you leave.
 
audreyh1 said:
When your 82 year old Dad can't really walk more than a 10th of a mile without needing a rest, you take cabs a lot in Amsterdam!
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No, no..it wasn't a snipe at you (or anyone)...it's just that I got to thinking that it must be decades since I took a cab......last time, IIRC, was from the airport in Riyadh to our compound (because we landed too late to ask someone to pick us up).
 
Pajaro said:
Goldman Sachs now says that we will have EUR:USD parity this summer, and that the EUR will continue to fall in value until the end of 2016.
Click to expand...

I'm glad someone is confident. It's not me, though!
The dollar tumbled toward its biggest one-day decline against the euro since March 2009 on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve scuttled some investors’ expectations for rising U.S. interest rates.
Click to expand...
U.S. Dollar Tumbles After Fed Statement - WSJ
 
Well, the exchange rate moved from a low of 1.05 US/Eur a couple of days ago to 1.085 today with the Fed's statement. People who are going to spend $10K on their trip have just lost US$333. That's 6 long taxi rides. ;)

Better buy your FXE now to lock in what you can.
 
Nemo2 said:
No, no..it wasn't a snipe at you (or anyone)...it's just that I got to thinking that it must be decades since I took a cab......last time, IIRC, was from the airport in Riyadh to our compound (because we landed too late to ask someone to pick us up).
Click to expand...

I actually rather enjoyed it. The cabs in Amsterdam were very nice. €10 here, €10 there, but we got to take Dad a few special places and overall budget wise it wasn't bad! Come to think of it - there were usually four of us in the cab, it suddenly is a lot more economical.

For comparison, €10 each will get DH and me riding the Amsterdam trams/buses a couple of trips a day for 3 or 4 days.
 
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