Europeans, Brits and Canadians find US a bargain; Americans pinched overseas
When my husband and I visited Britain six weeks ago, we were shocked by how little the dollar buys there. A bus ride between two London railroad stations was $5. The least expensive three-star hotel we stayed at was $100 a night. Every amount in pounds on the right side of the menu had to be multiplied by two to convert it into dollars. We tried to be frugal, but it was difficult, and I don't know how students will fare overseas this year -- especially since the British pound is weaker than the euro.
Earlier this week, one of our former German exchange students and his wife came through on part of their 16-day road trip through the American west, starting in Denver, ending up in Seattle and including several national parks. This was a good year to visit, they said, because gas is "only" $4 a gallon, Hertz was charging "only" $195 to drop their rented-in-Denver SUV off in Seattle and the American artwork they hoped to buy would be a real bargain, even including shipping it back to Germany.
At this point. about €0.65 buys US$1.00. In late 2000, US$1.00 bought about €0.90. The US dollar used to be worth considerably more than both the Canadian dollar and the Swiss franc. Now they are about at par. What a flip during the first decade of the 21st century -- a flip that benefits international travelers coming here.
Canadians are coming south. Europeans and Brits are flying west. They travel, the eat, they shop. And Americans, increasingly, are staying home -- wondering what went wrong.
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When I was last in Europe two years ago, I had Euros left at the end of my trip. I decided not to exchange them for dollars, but instead save them until my next trip to visit my relatives in Germany. Now I'm really glad I did this; though it was mainly laziness and the desire not to waste money on repeated currency exchanges at the time!
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