exchange rate ...

[Ted in Halifax]

It's killing me ....

My Disney trip has increased by more than 10% in the last few weeks .... nooooooooooo!!!!!!!

 

[Xanthe]

I know how you're feeling! I'm taking solace in the fact that we don't go until Aug 2009 so I have until July to pay the trip off.

Its a rock and a hard place, though....our dollar goes down along with gas prices so I can save money on my trip but pay more for gas or save money on gas and pay more for my trip. Can't win

Xanthe

 

[boundfordisney]

I had to pay my trip balance off on tuesday in us dollars and found out that one bank compared to another doesnt always have the same rate, I never knew that till Tuesday when i asked that question at the bank. turned out that I saved by comparing before I converted to us. cibc had a better rate that day , saved about 60 dollars on 2600 by going with cibc, so shop around before you buy.

 

[mollyseven]

I totally understand your pain, we owe final payment on Nov. 5th I believe and we have been paying some every month as we have it instead of paying it all on credit card when it was close to at par. Now of course it's at 84 cents and I am wishing I had paid it a couple of months ago. It will add an additional 500.00 to our trip! That sucks. Now I wish we had been able to get free dining. Our dates were o.k for it but we don't have the visa so we couldn't get it!! Boooo Hisss to disney at it's rules. I wonder if there will be alot of people cancelling the beginning of november when final payments are due for christmas trips???? between the americans money problems and now our dollar I am betting there will be.

 

[laura001]

Be thankful that it isn't at .40 cents on the dollar like a few years ago. I will take it the way it is right now for sure over that!

 

[misslissa]

I'm crossing my fingers as well... While I would take this rate over the one from a few years ago... our final payment is due on Christmas Day!!!!!!

 

[irisesareblue]

All my stuff - tickets, hotel (priceline) have been prepaid and I think it's a blessing because most of it was done b4 the exchange rate got so rotten. I then got a room for $26.00 a night through Priceline with a fridge and microwave with breakfast included! the other day and that was the last major expense and that's already been paid for now. Our plan is to have breakfast at the hotel and to bring snacky lunches or suppers, so we will only eat one meal on-site per day....cheapo budgeting I know but at least we'll get to enjoy Disney. winn-dixie here I come!

 

[bdoyledimou]

Something to consider if you are a gambler..

I suspect that as the US Election looms closer, the Canadian dollar will drop, based on the popularity of Obama.

If McCain does win, the s dollar will slump again.. the global markets don't want another republican gov't in hte US.

If obama wins.. i suspect the Can % to drop back down to the 55 cent range...

not looking forward to that..

 

[bluenosemickey]

This is why we opened a US dollar account and a US dollar visa card. This way, we do dollar-cost averaging. When the exchange is good, we buy more US $ and when the exchange is bad, less US$ are purchased with the same set amount per month.

Now, we gamble some times and send over a larger lump than budgeted for, just on the chance that our dollar will be dropping.

We started doing this when our dollar was $1.04 US and we were still stuck paying more than par! Really burns you. So now we pay a minmum exchange for the transfers.

Was a bit of a pain to set up, but I think it's not a bad way to go.

 

[davidsprincess]

I had to pay my trip balance off on tuesday in us dollars and found out that one bank compared to another doesnt always have the same rate, I never knew that till Tuesday when i asked that question at the bank. turned out that I saved by comparing before I converted to us. cibc had a better rate that day , saved about 60 dollars on 2600 by going with cibc, so shop around before you buy.

That is good to know. I paid $2900 just to get $2400 back in American. This so sucks!

 

[LittleFlounder]

Luckily I paid off my November trip back in August when the exchange rate was still good (around .95 I think). But for some reason, which I just don't understand, I waited to buy my U.S. cash.. watching the dollar plummet.. and then a little light went off last week and I bought a bunch of U.S money(at .85). So right now I can say my whole trip is paid off! ... as the dollar keeps dropping.

 

[slg]

I'm freaking out! We have an ABD in July that is just squeaking into our price range, and a 2010 baltic cruise. There is no way we can afford them if the dollar drops to .55! Where did you find this info? DArn that cancellation insurance doesn't cover a plummeting dollar.

We're also going to Hawaii in December and I am hoping that the dollar stays where it is and doesn't plummet any further. We'll still spend the same amount in Canadian, but the americans are going to get less of our cash...

 

[shydonna]

This is why we opened a US dollar account and a US dollar visa card. This way, we do dollar-cost averaging. When the exchange is good, we buy more US $ and when the exchange is bad, less US$ are purchased with the same set amount per month.

Now, we gamble some times and send over a larger lump than budgeted for, just on the chance that our dollar will be dropping.

We started doing this when our dollar was $1.04 US and we were still stuck paying more than par! Really burns you. So now we pay a minmum exchange for the transfers.

Was a bit of a pain to set up, but I think it's not a bad way to go.

Well worth the time and effort to set up a USD account and a USD Visa with one of the five major Canadian Banks. Dollar-cost averaging is the way to go...we've been planning our cruise for over 18 months and had the USD set aside long ago for all of the expenses.

Not sure about a .55 CAD dollar, but only time will tell...

 

[Lollipop's Mom]

I paid my January trip off in full about 6 weeks ago - sooooooo happy I did!

 

[LittleFlounder]

I'm happy I paid off my November trip back in August when the dollar was at around .95. For some reason I watched the dollar fall before a light went off in my head and I decided to buy my U.S. dollars when the loonie was at .85. I'm SO glad I did! I hope I got enough US money to last my whole trip... I really do'nt want to charge anything to my CC and have to pay the horrible exchange!

 

[aristocat65]

I paid my January trip off in full about 6 weeks ago - sooooooo happy I did!

That's great Lollipop's Mom. Even though you didn't get your PIN you wanted (neither did I ) it's almost like you got a 20 -25% discount anyway

 

[Charleyann]

.55 cents

Charleyann

 

[chimo2u]

Our trip is due in July. I am waiting with abaited breath that maybe the CDN $ will climb back up to around .85 or better... I was upset when I bought $2000.00 at .95 a few weeks ago, and paid $105 extra. Now if it would only head that way again, I'd gladly take that exchange rate over todays! I really hope it goes up a little again as I still have about $2000.00 more dollars I'd like to exchange towards our trip. If free dining is offered again in march/april for next Sept. that would really help us save a lot and bring our trip down another $1,500.00 or so.... heres hoping

 

[roscoepc1]

It was 1.28 today. Even the cashier's jaw dropped.

We're using our tax refund to pay ours off....I'll just have to hope things go up again before then...

At least our airline tickets are bought and paid for at par!

If the exchange rate stays this bad, it'll add 20% to the cost of our trip...and we refuse to cancel after waiting all our lives.

 

[slg]

There's lots that can be done to trim costs to a disney trip. Once you're there, the three costs are:

tickets, dining, and souvenirs.

Tickets: go for basic. We always do and have never missed a hopper. In fact, we don't waste all that time going from park to park and just plan on one and stay there all day. Although the water parks are nice, we prefer the pools at the end of the day. This can save a substantial amount of money, especially with larger families for long stays.

Dining: the counter service restaurants are very economical, its the sit-downs that cost a lot. Always order water and don't spend money on pop. If you can't survive without pop, buy the length of stay mugs and have those back at the resort. Limit sit-downs, and when you go, go for lunch. You'll get all the same experience for a much lower price!

Souvenirs: limit these to one t-shirt each and snap a lot of photos.

I didn't mention staying off-site because that is something I wouldn't consider, but others might. I would rather stay a couple of days less than stay off-site.


Disney is magic, and yes the dollar is FREAKING ME OUT! But, I'll try to find ways of still making my disney trips with a lot less cash.