Waiting for Canadian dollar to climb?

lauracitawita · May 3, 2015

Hi,

I booked a free dining deal for November. Our package is $4670 US. With the exchange, we are looking at approximately $1000 more. I was going to pay in full when I booked, but decided to only put down the $200 deposit instead hoping for our dollar to rise.

Is anyone else doing this? It feels like I'm at the casino gambling. Lol

For the past week I've been watching the exchange. The last time I checked it was a tiny bit higher than when I booked. Lol

We have until the end of September to pay in full. Do you think I should just pay it or wait? !?!

grover · May 3, 2015

I'm in the same boat for our trip at the end of May, I'm just going to wait it out to get my usd, our room we can pay at check in-so I'm hoping the next few weeks it goes up. If I were you I would wait a bit!

xlxo · May 3, 2015

Keep you eyes on this link.... https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=CADUSD=X&t=5d

Starwind · May 3, 2015

We booked our cruise on board in November for next December. We booked our resort stay a couple months ago. The exchange rate has been all over, but right now is a few % lower than the highest we have paid.

My plan is to allocate a certain amount a month and choose the same day each month and make that partial payment. While this won't take advantage of a big rise in the value of the dollar, it insulates a bit against drops and it spreads out the rise and fall in exchange rate...

SW

Gigi22 · May 4, 2015

Starwind said:
We booked our cruise on board in November for next December. We booked our resort stay a couple months ago. The exchange rate has been all over, but right now is a few % lower than the highest we have paid.

My plan is to allocate a certain amount a month and choose the same day each month and make that partial payment. While this won't take advantage of a big rise in the value of the dollar, it insulates a bit against drops and it spreads out the rise and fall in exchange rate...

SW

This. We purchase US$ every month to average out our costs on the exchange. We also divide up our major costs like airfare, hotel, admission and purchase them gradually in the months prior to our vacation. This minimizes the shock to the budget, and also averages out the exchange rate.

Just me, but I wouldn't wait for the $ to rise before purchasing everything.

mab2012 · May 4, 2015

Starwind said:
My plan is to allocate a certain amount a month and choose the same day each month and make that partial payment. While this won't take advantage of a big rise in the value of the dollar, it insulates a bit against drops and it spreads out the rise and fall in exchange rate...
SW

IMO this is absolutely the right approach, although I'm not very good at putting it into practice myself.

Currency exchange rates are extremely volatile and unpredictable. Two months ago the sky was falling, the CAD was at 78 and heading straight down to 70, by most accounts. Where is it now? Up. To the OP's question about whether or not to wait: take a guess at what you think the absolute best-case exchange rate might be before your final payment is due (your guess is as good as anyone else's). Now take the same guess at the worst-case scenario. If you think your potential savings in the best case are worth risking the added cost in the worst case, then by all means wait. Otherwise dollar cost averaging is the way to go!

scrappinginontario · May 4, 2015

xlxo said:
Keep you eyes on this link.... https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=CADUSD=X&t=5d

Thank you for this. Very helpful!

Like others, I think I'm going to pay a certain amount each month and see where it takes me. Thankfully my income tax refund hit the bank today so most of the funds are there....until I calculate in the exchange. :sad:

SaraJR · May 12, 2015

I have the full amount but am waiting either for a dip in exchange or just closer to the date because i get interest while i wait

xlxo · May 12, 2015

There is a surge today.....
https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=CADUSD=X&t=5d

SaraJR · May 12, 2015

oh no i cant do it today frig i up it stays up

DeniseinNS · May 13, 2015

I am waiting and watching too for my August trip

migel · May 14, 2015

Canadian dollar is up to 83.68. Good site to monitor is forex.ca. I often use Forex for any larger CND to USD conversions, they beat the large banks hands down.

brighteyes · May 14, 2015

I was about to pay my trip off, but I use my visa/debit throught TD. What is Forex and how can I take advantage of it?

migel · May 14, 2015

Forex is a foreign exchange service, they are international, but have a Canadian subsidiary based in Toronto . You can check out their site at www.canadianforex.com. They can do a 1 time transfer or set up weekly/ monthly etc. money transfers.

To take advantage of them you'd normally have to open aUSD account with your bank. Forex will withdraw from your CND account, calculate the exchange, then deposit directly into your USD account. No extra fees, and a much better rate than the banks.

Great for larger transfers, or for setting up a regular bi- weekly, monthly transfer.s (i.e. saving a certain amount monthly for the next Disney trip!). I got fed up with the rates my bank and credit cards tacked on.

brighteyes said:
I was about to pay my trip off, but I use my visa/debit throught TD. What is Forex and how can I take advantage of it?

brighteyes · May 15, 2015

great!! Thanks I will do that tomorrow! Thanks for the info.

Mittz · May 19, 2015

I work at a bank and I am in the same boat where we are wanting to plan a trip but with the usd conversion it is much more expensive than usual what I have started doing, that is along the same lines of mutual funds is whenever I see the usd drop i purchase some and place it in a us account. Overall you will generally end up on top and take on a little less risk if you purchase throughout the year at lower dollar values. If you purchase from a credit union they often only change their rate once a day opposed to some of the bigger banks that can flux throughout the day. Shop around because different institutions may have different buy rates from the competition

isabellea · May 19, 2015

I almost paid off my balance last Friday at 0.83$USD and now CDN is down to 0.815$!! Grr!

brighteyes · May 20, 2015

isabellea said:
I almost paid off my balance last Friday at 0.83$USD and now CDN is down to 0.815$!! Grr!

Me too....missed the boat on that one!

jeepwreck · May 21, 2015

we are also going in Nov but the balance of your trip minus the deposit is not due till Sept things may look better till then. that is what I am doing waiting till the end before I pay off the balance

DougEMG · May 26, 2015

Just saw the a report yesterday that is predicting the dollar to go back down to 76 cents by the fall.

Waiting for Canadian dollar to climb?

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