Canadian Dollar!

[BOTL76]

Ok what is up with our dollar! In August went shopping in New York State and had 5 cents to the dollar in our favour!

We are going in Late November/early December, can any experienced people comment on whether we will get close to parity by then or will it keep dropping? Any forecasts are appreciated!

So frustrated!!!

Thanks!

 

[vacation_junkie]

Ok what is up with our dollar! In August went shopping in New York State and had 5 cents to the dollar in our favour!

We are going in Late November/early December, can any experienced people comment on whether we will get close to parity by then or will it keep dropping? Any forecasts are appreciated!

So frustrated!!!

Thanks!

I was going to book a month ago and didn't...serves me right! I wanna tear up every time I see what its trading at...

 

[dennise]

It isn't looking very good right now.

 

[vacation_junkie]

It isn't looking very good right now.

*Tear..why did I listen to my DH ???? he said oh wait it will be FINE

 

[thetallone101]

The finance minister said in an article on msn that he expects the dollar to decline to around .93 by the end of the year and by the end of 2012 it will hit parity again.

 

[colin25]

You do realize that it's still doing better than it has in a long time, right? I remember booking DL trips between 2003-2005 when our dollar was in the 80's. Yeah, it would be great it the dollar was at parity, but if we're only losing a few dollars per hundred, it's not really that bad.

 

[Sue M]

I'm glad i booked my air a couple of weeks ago before it dropped.

 

[dancin Disney style]

You do realize that it's still doing better than it has in a long time, right? I remember booking DL trips between 2003-2005 when our dollar was in the 80's. Yeah, it would be great it the dollar was at parity, but if we're only losing a few dollars per hundred, it's not really that bad.

My thoughts exactly.......everyone needs to remember that in general our dollar is worth less than the US. It's been that way almost forever. We have been very lucky in terms of shopping and vacationing south of the border for the last couple of years. Don't forget about all the years and years when we were paying an extra 40-50 cents on the dollar. Sure parity is really, really nice but the reality is it hurts our economy.

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

In 1999 it cost me $1.60 to buy US!! I'm okay with $1.07!

 

[keaster]

Agreed about not getting too worrie...in February 2009 when we went on our first DCL cruise our dollar was around 79 cents US...so I'm not panicking yet!

Also...when the dollar does start to founder...WDW and other tour companies start offering deals to Canadians to offset the exchange rate and encourage tourists to keep coming!

 

[HeatherLassell]

The finance minister said in an article on msn that he expects the dollar to decline to around .93 by the end of the year and by the end of 2012 it will hit parity again.

That's what I read too!

Also, I don't see this as a big deal since all my other vacations I've taken I've only got about 60 cents to the american dollar. So anything over 90cents and I'm pretty happy!

 

[thetallone101]

In 1999 it cost me $1.60 to buy US!! I'm okay with $1.07!

I remember that! I went to Maryland at Christmas time that year and almost had a heart attack for paying $1.64 at the bank for every US dollar.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

After yesterday's little rallly (up about a cent to approx. $0.96 US), I think I will go ahead and convert the balance of the amount we want to have in cash for our trip.

For us, all the big stuff is already paid (park tickets, flight, hotels, etc.) and I already have $1000 in cash in our US high interest savings account, earmarked for food. In a rare stroke of genius on my part that lump-sum was converted a couple of weeks back when we were still above par and only cost me 10 cents to exchange .

I will probably put an additional lump-sum over in the US account this morning to cover parking fees, fuel, and souvenirs. That should really only leave us with the charges for the rental car .... and my fingers are crossed that we can whittle that cost down before we leave in December.

Our last trip to Orlando was in January 2009. When we booked our trip in August '08, our dollar was worth about 93 cents US. By the time we travelled, it was in the high 70 cent range . So as long as it stays over 90 cents for this excursion, I will be a happy girl.

 

[KaraLyn]

My thoughts exactly.......everyone needs to remember that in general our dollar is worth less than the US. It's been that way almost forever. We have been very lucky in terms of shopping and vacationing south of the border for the last couple of years. Don't forget about all the years and years when we were paying an extra 40-50 cents on the dollar. Sure parity is really, really nice but the reality is it hurts our economy.

So true.

I have been watching the dollar slowly drop, begrudgingly...considering we're leaving for WDW the first week of December. It is what it is...we'll still have a wonderful time. Afterall it's Walt Disney World, how could you not

 

[chimo2u]

I'm glad i booked my air a couple of weeks ago before it dropped.

I am glad I book with West Jet...at least I can pay in CDN funds but if I lived close to a US airport where I could get a cheap flight on an american airline like Jet Blue, or Southwest....I 'd be driving to that airport! Unfortunately, living in Edmonton, it lowers my options.... I don't like United, so I will stick to my friendly canadian carrier for my flight

 

[DisneyRookie2007]

The finance minister said in an article on msn that he expects the dollar to decline to around .93 by the end of the year and by the end of 2012 it will hit parity again.

I wonder if he got his info from a crystal ball or a lucky 8 ball? I highly doubt he has any insights as to what it will be tomorrow - let alone 6-18 months from now.

 

[ChisJo]

In 1999 it cost me $1.60 to buy US!! I'm okay with $1.07!

My first trip in 1999 was to Disney with that trade. It was SO expensive to travel to Disney that it surprises me that I still want to go over and over (although, now I'm older and smarter and experienced!!!).

 

[MedicGoofy]

I wonder if he got his info from a crystal ball or a lucky 8 ball? I highly doubt he has any insights as to what it will be tomorrow - let alone 6-18 months from now.

Back in the spring, my financial planner told me that the money was going to go down come the fall. And it looks like he was right. People who are 'in money' for a living understand these things. He told me about trends, predictions and stats.....like I get it. BUT, he was right.

And in listening to him back in the spring, our Disney trip is paid in full, airfare bought months ago (when it was good!!) and I have $1000 American sitting in my account. I have nothing to worry about. We booked in Jan, so the decline doesn't hurt us.

Having said this, the decline is nothing compared to where money is years ago. We are doing good. American money today is only costing a small amount for a hundred bucks. We shouldn't even begin to be complaining.

 

[minnie mum]

The recent dip (nose dive?) in the value of the Cdn dollar is precisely why we opened our US $ savings account. We were really lucky that we deposited money into it, and paid off our package back when the dollar was sitting pretty at $1.05. We saw that the dollar had started to slip just before we left for our vacation and made the decision to bring cash with us instead of using our credit cards.

Yes, I know lots of people are afraid of carrying large amounts of cash with them, but it works for us. And we avoided currency conversion fees from the credit card company as well as further erosion of the dollar value during our trip. As long as you're prudent. We carried most of the cash and our passports in our money belts, with only enough cash for each day in our wallets. We did have a couple of credit cards in case of emergency, but never used them. Once we got to WDW, the credit cards and most of the cash went into the room safe. We charged all of our purchases onto our KTTW and paid it off in cash as well.

Even driving to and from the world was easy when paying cash. Several times (especially when paying for gas) we got discounts for not paying with a credit card.

Now I realize that many people will balk at the idea of carrying real money around, and it won't be economical unless you can buy that cash at an excellent exchange rate. We got lucky this time, and hopefully will be able to make a timely currency purchase before our next American vacation.

 

[dennise]

We use the cash and Travellers cheques as much as possible, rooms and flights are always paid in advance. Today I got $1000. at the bank, cost me$1054. That is nothing to complain about. Our last trip was got at or above par so I consider that a bonus. Its worth a few dollars just to get the nice weather, I had to clean my car off the past two days.