Ventoux Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 This time last year when I set off for Europe it was 1.47 to the Pound. Today it is 1.27 :'( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggyd Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Ventoux - 2008-03-17 7:26 PM This time last year when I set off for Europe it was 1.47 to the Pound. Today it is 1.27 :'( Yes ad by the time the summer comes it will be even stevens!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wills Wagon Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Well done Gordon Brown, youv'e ruined the UK's finances and are now ruining our holidays. About time we got rid of this shower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wills Wagon Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Well done Gordon Brown, youv'e ruined the UK's finances and are now ruining our holidays. About time we got rid of this shower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fred grant Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 fred as just baught 3 million camping cheques my biddies, so expect to find him touting for business outside french campsites this summer. he wont get a holiday, but he will certainly make a killin my luvvlies. alice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Cole Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Just returned from France not only is the Euro expensive, fuel is no cheaper with the poor exchange rate, tolls have gone up on the motorways and toll bridges, food and bread prices have risen quite steeply and speed cameras are appearing all over the place (not that us camper drivers would ever think of speeding) but still a great place to visit. If you are going to France remember that ALL villages have a speed limmit of 50kph unless otherwise sign posted there are often speed traps set up next to the village signpost so be careful, its easy to forget to slow down in time and the cost for not slowing down in time will cost you about 90 Euros to be paid staight away , ouch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliveH Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 The reason why we cannot drop our interest rates is because Brown when Chancellor sold all our gold! What a prat. Whilst I agree with the desire to get rid of this lot, the reason for the £ slipping against the euro is because we are seen to be more in line with the US$ than the Euro. This is not true in many ways and our exporters are having a great time selling into Europe and at the same time not having a great deal of difficulty maintaining exports to the US as the US$/ £ is about the same still. It will change as the interest rates in the US fall dramatically over the next few weeks. The Euro and the £'s interest rates will fall a bit whilst the US interest rates (and the Canadian $ due to its close links to the US$ - not due to any Canadian credit problem) will fall a lot more as they work hard to get consumer confidence back. Conversely the Australian $ interest rates will rise due to Oz having to take note of the emerging markets in the pacific rim. So in the near future a good time to have a holiday in Oz, or buy a holiday home in the US, but maybe not a good time to plan having a holiday or buying a home in Europe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ventoux Posted March 17, 2008 Author Share Posted March 17, 2008 CliveH - 2008-03-17 7:59 PM maybe not a good time to plan buying a home in Europe. Which is what I intended doing this year :$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hymer C 9. Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 CliveH - 2008-03-17 7:59 PM Conversely the Australian $ interest rates will rise due to Oz having to take note of the emerging markets in the pacific rim. So in the near future a good time to have a holiday in Oz, or buy a holiday home in the US, but maybe not a good time to plan having a holiday or buying a home in Europe. Friends have just come back from oz last week, been there 4 months they have travelled extensivley and say the weather was wet more times than dry lots of gails where none where supposed to be, and she could not believe the price of food, a lettice cost £3 english and a loaf of bread at least £1.50p they have been there many times before and said they could not believe how expensive have gone, so maybe the grass is not always greener on the other side. Carol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Ventoux - 2008-03-17 7:26 PM This time last year when I set off for Europe it was 1.47 to the Pound. Today it is 1.27 :'( Blimey, thats a good rate! M&S today 1.22 *-) I'm oft to south of France for Easter, it is going to be an expensive break..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffersonCampervan Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 CliveH - 2008-03-17 2:59 PM The Euro and the £'s interest rates will fall a bit whilst the US interest rates (and the Canadian $ due to its close links to the US$ - not due to any Canadian credit problem) will fall a lot more as they work hard to get consumer confidence back. Just another perspective: As a Canadian, I'm rather pleasantly surprised at costs in Europe, when converted to CDN$. We shipped a couple of Westfalias over in the 90s, doing many trips - our last in 1999 pre-Euro. Last year we shipped a Winnebago Rialta over &, with the exception of gas (sorry - petrol :-D ), my sense was that prices in CDN$ were about the same as 10 years ago, in relation to prices in Canada (effectively inflation-adjusted). This was most easily seen in France, where often I would see prices in both Euros & FF (in 2007!). This thread had me do a bit of research on the OANDA historical currency page - & it turns out my intuition was correct - even today the Canadian$ is worth about 10 Euro cents it would have been if the Euro existed in 1999 (I guess that is based on the Euro intro rates for the DM,FF, etc.) I double checked that against what I paid for DM,NLG,BEF & FF in the late 90s. That is largely due to the CDN$ "rising" against the USD (or more accurately the USD dropping). (our dollar does not trade in lockstep with the USD). Just another perspective - we've always had a rather volatile currency, so we simply pay the freight, so to speak. But I can say that relative prices for us in Europe, including airfare and shipping the Winnebago, aren't much off what they were 10 years ago, (adjusted for non-currency inflation). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Jones Posted March 19, 2008 Share Posted March 19, 2008 I think I'll talk to my church treasurer and bank manager to see if I can start having my wages in Euros! (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vernon B Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 Given my admittedly limited understanding of economics I can't see any logical reason why the £ has taken such a hit against the E in recent months. Our relative high interest rates make sterling attractive to hold and in contrast several countries in the eurozone (Italy and Spain for example) are in recession. Only possible explanation is that a "managed" convergence would make it a lot easier for Brown to argue that we should adopt the euro. But don't panic he's promised us a referendum on that! [And before anyone says it would be a good idea, just remember what decimalisation did for inflation] V Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curly Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 I have just exchaged cash for Euros and you can squeeze a little, banks, post office @approx. 1.22/3 but the money exchange places are a little, just a little better I managed 1.25 euros to the £. I have made a prediction that when we join the EU zone not if, we will see the 50p in slot machines of all descriptions be a 1 euro (remember th D mark over night the 1 D mark in machines became 1 euro) and I also predict that maybe within a decade the exchange rate will be 1 for 1 i.e. £1 will be 1euro, you have heard it here first. I agree with the Brown shower us pensioners and the lower paid will now pay double the tax, yes double on the first £2200 10% to 20% above the paultry allowance. Happy holidaying. Curly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianR Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 Also, ask any Frenchman, German or Italian what the converson to euros did for inflation in their country! The reason why the recession in the "Club Med" countries (Greece, Italy, etc.) has not affected the value of the euro is because these countries don't control the exchange rate. This is the biggest argument of all for not going over to the euro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ventoux Posted March 22, 2008 Author Share Posted March 22, 2008 I heard on the TV 'the rate at high street exchanges like M&S is more favourable'. Is this Marks & Spencer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 Ventoux - 2008-03-22 9:27 AM I heard on the TV 'the rate at high street exchanges like M&S is more favourable'. Is this Marks & Spencer? Yes, 1.23 today, post office offer a similar rate normally one point less then M&S But may be more convenient...if you still have one near you *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly58 Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 Its handy having a son living and working in France he's just come home for a while with a stash of Euro's and his rate of exchange is very good, so we will be ok for our forthcoming trips to Europe.http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/images/emoticons/icon_lol.gifhttp://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/images/emoticons/icon_lol.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 kelly58 - 2008-03-22 11:10 AM Its handy having a son living and working in France he's just come home for a while with a stash of Euro's and his rate of exchange is very good, so we will be ok for our forthcoming trips to Europe.http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/images/emoticons/icon_lol.gifhttp://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/images/emoticons/icon_lol.gif what rate did your son get in Europe? as we can wait and use Nationwide card......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olley Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 Hi got 1.21 at RBS on thursday. Olley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly58 Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 I do not know what rate he gets in France he gets paid in Euro's he is self employed but pays French Taxes on his income we compromised on 1.35 to £. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vernon B Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 kelly58 - 2008-03-22 4:02 PM I do not know what rate he gets in France he gets paid in Euro's he is self employed but pays French Taxes on his income we compromised on 1.35 to £. He's either a very kind and generous son or a little naive Kelly - but I'd give him the benefit and kill the fatted calf when he comes home. V Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 any one an idea of what sort of rate we will get from an ATM machine in France using a Nationwide card? is it worth doing that way or getting here beforehand. we normally get a lump of Euro's before we go and use ATM through the hoiiday.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ike Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 Judge As it's Easter Monday you will be in France but I've only just read your post. hope you had a good trip.For future reference, if you haven't already found out for yourself, using your Nationwide card gets you a better rate. The rate will show up on your bank statement so you are able to make the comparison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 ike - 2008-03-24 2:43 PM Judge As it's Easter Monday you will be in France but I've only just read your post. hope you had a good trip.For future reference, if you haven't already found out for yourself, using your Nationwide card gets you a better rate. The rate will show up on your bank statement so you are able to make the comparison. Thanks ike, actually not leaving until the 4th April. That's when the kids break up for "Easter" holidays. *-) got the nationwide cards recently for this purpose, as read on here they are the best way (cheapest) to get money abroad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.