Buy now or wait until loonie improves?

[Why Is The Rum Gone?]

I'm looking at a FEB '17 sailing and could be ready to pay today, but our loonie is not doing so well. Would it be cost effective to wait a bit longer to see if the loonie improves, or would I save more by booking now?

 

[Why Is The Rum Gone?]

I see a similar thread started already. lol Sorry! (I'm new here and can't find my way around!)

 

[ILovePixieDust]

If you are looking at a Disney Cruise sailing for Feb 2017 then i would definitely book it now. As people book and the cruise fills the prices will just go up. Feb. does not tend to be busy season (unless it falls within Presidents Day Week) so prices will likely not rise as quickly or as much as other times but the risk is still there. When you book you put down 20% deposit which is refundable up to the paid in full date. You could pay in full now, if you want, if you are afraid the canadian dollar will plummet more. That part is harder to predict.

 

[Why Is The Rum Gone?]

Thanks! I just booked it and only paid the deposit. I'll just have to keep an eye on it, I guess.

 

[thetallone101]

I'd book now because the dollar is going to keep sinking lower for the foreseeable future.

 

[Fennella Brewer]

Everything will be against a upward swing in the CAD with the BoC likely to keep interest rates low and the FED likely to increase this week. I think I will purchase US money today just to be safe. Everything that I have read indicates that it will get worse before it gets better.

 

[Fennella Brewer]

$300 US cost me $405 CAD today. The Bank of Canada rate was 1.3349 at close of trading, today. The bank charged 1.35, so the bank still made a profit of about $5.00.

 

[Maddysdaddy]

My advice when people ask this question is to purchase smaller amounts of US currency on a regular basis (e.g. a few hundred dollars every paycheque between now and when you think you'll need the money). That way, you'll avoid the risk of having to purchase a large chunk at rock bottom if the dollar doesn't improve. If, for some crazy reason that the "experts" are saying won't happen, the dollar does go up to a level that you are comfortable with, you can then purchase a larger amount at that time.

Knowing that my family will keep wanting to vacation in the US on a regular basis, I dollar cost average my currency purchases as outlined above. I purchase $500 US monthly/every six weeks (my bank advised that I would receive a slightly better rate at that amount), and just keep it in my USD account and use it to pay off my USD Visa when we vacation or my wife makes online purchases from the States. For our next vacation, the dollars we spend will have been purchased in the 75-85 cent zone, so not as bad as having to pay for everything at today's lousy rate.

 

[Maddysdaddy]

FYI, was just reading a report that Morgan Stanley and Macquarie both peg the dollar to drop to 69 cents in 2016, although they were the doom and gloomers of the bunch. Apparently the median forecast of the 73 participants in the poll was for the dollar to go down to 74 cents.

Of course if any of them could actually (accurately) predict the future, they would be gazillionaires living on an island somewhere, not writing speculative forecasts.

 

[zebsterama]

Looking into my proverbial crystal ball, as of yesterday a barrel of oil broke the $40 on news that the Saudi's are increasing production output by 1.5 million barrels a day. There's a possibility that oil starts to push towards it's next resistance mark of $30 a barrel, which does not bode well for our dollar.

But like someone else said, and it's true, if I really knew that was going to happen - let's just say - the cost of my Disney trip would be the least of my worries ... choosing the leather trim stitch on my newest Ferrari, now that my friends would be my real worry.

OK enough of the jokes. If I was going in Feb I might want to get my currency exchange now.

Our family is going next August - I'm buying in July .... risky .... I'm banking on the swoon in the price of oil ... people increased use of fuel due to driving in the summer ... or the Middle East becoming more unstable - whichever comes first.

It's all a mafia.

 

[TommyJK]

And now we're down to .7356

 

[charlie2]

And now we're down to .7356

I just paid in full today , final payment was due in January for our April cruise . I was afraid if I didn't pay in full now the dollar might get worse . I'm hoping I made the right choice !!

 

[migel]

The consensus seems to be the dollar will sink to about 71-72 cents over the next three or four months (some speculate as low as 69 cents), but we may begin to see some relief by the end of 2016, where it should back up to 75+ and hopefully climbing. But anything can happen. As long as oil bottoms out soon at about $35 per barrel, a slow recovery may follow.

 

[suebecdan]

I am so thankful I booked my cruise a year in advance through an agency. That way the price was looked in with a canadian rate and it did not make a difference if our dollar got worse. Now I just have to worry about spending money!

 

[keaster]

Below 73 cents this afternoon ugh!

 

[dancin Disney style]

Like a PP I also put money weekly into my USD account. Anywhere from $50-$100(or more) depending on how much extra I have.

I'm not trying to be nasty or anything but it seems that the exchange has become a really big deal. I certainly do not enjoy the fact that my trips are now costing more but there was a time when the exchange rate was MUCH worse. I suppose that we got comfortable with near par. I'm very much an 'it is what it is' kind of person so I alter my plans to accommodate if need be.

 

[xlxo]

The oil ruble is based on world demand for oil..... with an over supply continuing from the middle-east.... North American's driving hybrids and all-electrics. I don't expect a recovery in the short-term.

 

[Donald - my hero]

Like a PP I also put money weekly into my USD account. Anywhere from $50-$100(or more) depending on how much extra I have.

I'm not trying to be nasty or anything but it seems that the exchange has become a really big deal. I certainly do not enjoy the fact that my trips are now costing more but there was a time when the exchange rate was MUCH worse. I suppose that we got comfortable with near par. I'm very much an 'it is what it is' kind of person so I alter my plans to accommodate if need be.

THIS!! If it's something i'm willing to pay that's all that matters. I just remind myself that i'm lucky to go anywhere, period. I just try not to look at what my American friends are paying for the same thing because the only way to fix it (since i have no control over the economy) is to live south of the border and i LOVE being a Canadian and the benefits that grants me.

 

[mtmbyck]

Bought $1000 dollars U.S. On Saturday and it cost me $1408 OUCH! Only for you Mickey Mouse!

 

[thetallone101]

Bought $1000 dollars U.S. On Saturday and it cost me $1408 OUCH! Only for you Mickey Mouse!

Ouch! I bought $1000 a couple weekends ago for $1377 and thought that was bad lol