How low does our $ get for you to stop travelling to the US?

[Ima Disnewby]

The title says it all! I'm curious!

We're all panicking over our upcoming trips over our sinking dollar...at what point do you stop taking trips abroad?

 

[tgropp]

Below $0.60. I went many times in the 90's when the dollar was around $0.64...and this was during the Christmas holidays. I just saved harder

 

[Gigi22]

Yeah, that about says it for us too. We try to prepay as much as we can in Canadian $ before we go.

 

[alc571]

We do the same as above. We usually take two trips per year - one long weekend and one 9-day trip. We may end up having to cut out the long weekend. For the most part, we just try to book as much as we can using sites like Expedia where at least we are paying in Canadian dollars. Also, using Chase credit cards like Sears Mastercard or Amazon Visa helps because there is no foreign transaction fee (usually 2.5% on bank credit cards).

 

[chimo2u]

We do the same as above. We usually take two trips per year - one long weekend and one 9-day trip. We may end up having to cut out the long weekend. For the most part, we just try to book as much as we can using sites like Expedia where at least we are paying in Canadian dollars. Also, using Chase credit cards like Sears Mastercard or Amazon Visa helps because there is no foreign transaction fee (usually 2.5% on bank credit cards).

I will be using my Sears MC to pay off my balance to save the transaction fee, just hoping for a day the $$ is a little stronger (hopefully above $.80) to call my TA and do it!!!

 

[canadiankim]

I love my trips to the US and hope that I don't have to cancel any future plans because of the exchange rates.

Now I know this is a little controversial and I don't want a torrent of abuse but in my opinion to do a similar trip in Canada such as a flight and hotel somewhere, meals out, car rental etc. that I have to book to go to Florida even with the exchange I don't think there is too much difference in cost. Yes if you add all the Disney parks, US, IOA etc., etc., you are going to drive your prices up.

I guess it all depends on what type of holiday you want, what your budget will get you, how hard you can save, and how important WDW etc. is to you.

 

[bankr63]

Yeah, $0.60 sounds about right. We started travelling when the dollar was pretty low, and it made sense then. Harder to take now that we got used to a few years near parity, but it still makes sense.

In some ways our trips are getting cheaper. We are vacation shopaholics normally, so used to spend a ton on cheap US goods. Now, not so much shopping as the deals aren't as good. So all together, I may actually spend less in a week than if the dollar was higher. And with probably another couple of trips left on our 10 day WPFAMNE tickets which we bought back when the $ was par, and ticket prices were lower, the entertainment costs are in check too.

Also, when we drive down the oil slump that caused this whole thing has pushed gas prices even lower in the states. So transportation costs are pretty manageable as well.

 

[bcwife76]

I've travelled in the past when the dollar has been MUCH lower than this. So yeah, probably not unless it was around the 60 cent mark or so.

 

[trivial]

Going in September and everything is paid for except dining (we're dining out-of-pocket). We won't be planning any further trips until the situation improves.

 

[bababear_50]

I'm staying in Canada this December , we are planning a few days away with the family at a nice Canadian destination(ski resort).
I will still be going to Disney next March but only because most of that Holiday is paid for already.

Hugs Mel

 

[dsneygirl]

Not sure. I found our honeymoon receipts recently and it was like 1.57 or something like that. We'll still travel just cut back on other. Less $$$ meals, less extras. It's cut way back on our cross border shopping though you have to really search for the deals now I find.

I still find it way cheaper to travel in the US, especially meals and gas. I can feed my family of 4 at a place like Bob Evans for like $25. We spent $75 at Jack Astors yesterday (and no booze). We stayed at a nice hotel with a full hot breakfast for $100 over easter weekend. Nothing like that around here.

 

[Ima Disnewby]

Not sure. I found our honeymoon receipts recently and it was like 1.57 or something like that. We'll still travel just cut back on other. Less $$$ meals, less extras. It's cut way back on our cross border shopping though you have to really search for the deals now I find.

I still find it way cheaper to travel in the US, especially meals and gas. I can feed my family of 4 at a place like Bob Evans for like $25. We spent $75 at Jack Astors yesterday (and no booze). We stayed at a nice hotel with a full hot breakfast for $100 over easter weekend. Nothing like that around here.

I so agree with you! It was in 2013 that my disney addiction began because I was looking up trips to take the kids on locally lol I hadn't been to WDW since I was a kid and when I saw the prices of a weekend at GWL, it made me wonder how much a vacation would cost instead...a couple days later I had booked my kids first disney trip.

As crappy as our dollar is, I find you just can't get the value here that you can in the US. We still are online shopping (but use cross border shipping companies), still go to the US for a big grocery stock up every now and then and still are doing wdw at least twice a year. I'm just cutting back on things I do in general to make up for the spending, using my US acct and my chase visa.

 

[darwinsrule]

I can remember a couple of those early post-university trips after DW and I got married to Vegas where the exchange rate was 1.63 C$ to buy 1 US$. Not pretty by any stretch but we aren't even close to that yet. Yes we all miss when the $ was above par, or at par, but if you have been travelling for a number of years now you have likely seen it all.

 

[jeepwreck]

ya we have a trip coming up in Nov and I am hoping the dollar get a bit better before I pay off the rest of the trip

but I would say around .60$ would be the cut off for us. but if it does every get that low again we will probably still travel we would just have to modify the trip a lot of make it work

 

[alohamom]

Funny how things are relative. I an remember those .60 cent days clearly and they still make me wince but then the dollar started to climb and I was sooo happy when it hit .75 cents! Dont get me wrong, from a travel point of view I would much rather it be at par (sigh) but you know, same as most here, I am not stopping heading to the US any time soon-just might shop less!

 

[dancin Disney style]

For me, I look at the total cost of a trip. I'm very good and knowing what things will cost while we are away....at the end I'm usually within $300 of what I projected the cost to be. As long as the total remains lower than what is would cost to go someplace else we will continue to go. Regardless of the exchange rate.

We like to vacation for 10-14 days so Orlando is probably always going to fit the bill. It's very easy to rent a timeshare or condo for under $500/week. If need be we can drive down rather than fly.

 

[mort1331]

I agree with the PP it depends on what the total cost would be after all is said and done. We have right now extra points on our DVC that we rent out to cover some extras, along with AM for some tickets. Leaving our travel cost and food. So we might drive down and buy some groceries to make it go a little farther. I hope it doesn't go below 70 though.

 

[OnceUponATime15]

As crazy as our dollar makes me.. I can't see not going to the U.S. - at least right now. I had sticker shock last weekend on a short cross border trip for a concert & some shopping. But I'm still planning my next WDW trip. lol.
I think my psychological stopping point would be around the 0.70 mark.

Anything better then that and I can adjust my vacation details. A Moderate or even Value instead of a Deluxe. Fewer table service meals. No Hopper option on our park tickets...

I've become very spoiled on my WDW trips since 2012 when our $$ was better then the U.S. $ - or even just at par. *sigh*

 

[Chickkypoo]

We still plan on going, just may not splurge as much. We just cancelled our booking on the Disney Wonder in January, and booked a similar cruise on Carnival for $1300 less. Luckily we are getting a much nicer room on the Liberty, so it takes some of the sting away of having to give up the Disney cruise.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We would cut back to a no-parks vacation long before we would forego our trips entirely. I would rather indulge in a week enjoying the included amenities at our resort (with a beach day or two thrown in) than not go at all.

The low dollar hurts, for sure, but so far, our trips are still do-able. We just booked flights from Buffalo for April/May 2016. and even with the exchange factored in, we were still over $300 ahead versus Westjet's prices from Toronto for the same dates.

I don't see splurges like Discovery Cove in our future until our dollar rallies a bit, and we'll surely be looking for ways to stretch our vacation budget (crossing fingers for BOGO annual passes on SeaWorld's annual Black Friday sale this November). But so far, there's no change to our plans to travel regularly. We have our next three trips already booked: October 10th to 17th, December 19th to 26th, and April 24th to May 3rd.