US$ for dummies

[clairebearinaus]

Afternoon,

 

Maths isn't my strong point and currency conversion in particular gives me a headache.

 

I have lots of money to spend (on shorex mostly) some time between now and my next cruise in April. It'll be on the Celebrity website where I think they convert to AUD before charging my card.

 

Do you have any advice on timing this purchase to take advantage of good exchange conditions, or any other tips to avoid being gouged?

 

I know nobody can predict the future but I'm sure some of you will have a lot more experience in this area than I do... please!

Edited August 17, 2016 by clairebearinaus

[CruiserBruce]

It is not possible to time currency fluctuations. You can monitor, and try to get a trend. But there is absolutely no way to predict that at some point there will be the best deal.

 

There was someone here back in February or March, was adamantly almost yelling that the Euro would at parity with the US dollar during the Northern Hemisphere summer. Hasn't happened, and absolutely no sign that it will in the remaining weeks of summer.

[Mum81]

I'm not sure if you can do this with Shorex, but we have done it with beverage and dining packages and saved literally hundreds of dollars. We booked our drink packages at the time of booking cruise and based on that exchange rate we paid $92 AUD per person per day, when our exchange rate got better, we cancelled them and re-booked at $86 AUD per person per day. When our exchange rate got better again, we cancelled for the second time and re-booked them at $77 AUD per person per day.

 

Recently Celebrity had a 30% off promo and we managed to get them for $66 per person per day, but even if they didn't have this we would have ended up saving heaps, just by watching the exchange rate.

[By The Bay]

The question I ask myself is, "Am I happy with the current exchange rate of around AUD$.76". With the RBA's stated long term aim of having the AUD$ around .70, I would have to say yes. :)

[The_Big_M]

Mum81's approach is pretty much the best you can do.

 

As said above, exchange rate movements can't be predicted. As you say, with Celebrity for Australian bookings they convert the price to an Australian price. They will hold that price for a while, until there is a major change in the currency. They don't change the price daily, cent by cent.

 

As for the Australian currency, there are pressures both ways. So it's been rising recently, but fell today.

[MicCanberra]

I agree with the previous posts, no one really knows how the AUD will behave, the best you can do is purchase when you feel it is a good price and if it changes for the better, then good, if for the worse, try and cancel and re book.

[Gwendy]

My crystal ball is out of action. I book when I have made a decision and let the couple of cents fluctuation work themselves out.

[joybook]

My attitude to currency fluctuations is this. The Aussie $ is not a basket case and the amount you are likely to lose or gain in currency fluctuations even over a 12 months period is not likely to be more than a few dollars in each 100 dollars. My feeling is that it is not worth worrying about when compared to the overall cost of your holiday.:)

[Kiwi Kruzer]

While everyone has their favourite sites for conversion rates ,here's an easy one that I use.

The converter gives the latest rates, and once you have locked your conversion in place you can print out a cheat sheet to keep in your wallet while travelling.

 

Currency Converter

https://www.oanda.com/currency/converter/

 

Cheat Sheet

https://www.oanda.com/currency/travel-exchange-rates

[MicCanberra]

Great links, cheers.

[ekka49]

While everyone has their favourite sites for conversion rates ,here's an easy one that I use.

The converter gives the latest rates, and once you have locked your conversion in place you can print out a cheat sheet to keep in your wallet while travelling.

 

Currency Converter

https://www.oanda.com/currency/converter/

 

Cheat Sheet

https://www.oanda.com/currency/travel-exchange-rates

 

Thank you, looks a great tool

[clairebearinaus]

Lots of great advice as usual, thanks everyone!