“So you’re avoiding a whole continent because the dollar has been reduced to the value of Monopoly money? Rather than miss out on Athens’s Parthenon, Paris’s Eiffel Tower, or London’s rainfall, why not approach a European vacation as a budgeting challenge? Stretching those dollars requires an open mind, a dash of adventure, and, in some cases, the flexing of long-forgotten travel muscles. Rediscovering that adventurous travel spirit—rather than coasting from one luxury hotel to another—can bring you much closer to what makes a destination special.

Get cultural, go to concerts, use funky new urban transit, and learn to laugh at the five-star experience (do you really want to fly 4,000 miles to watch a flat-screen TV in your room?) Eat the freshest local food at some of the world’s best markets, and hit beaches that don’t make it into gossip magazines (on this side of the Atlantic, anyway).

It helps, of course, to stay clear of London and Paris, which have become staggeringly expensive even without the miserable exchange rate. But if you can’t stay away, we’ve got tips for those dollar-devouring shark pools, too … ” ( Via www.msnbc.msn.com and Concierge.com ) by Ralph Martin

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“AS strong euros and pounds continue to push the price of European vacations higher for Americans, the best strategy to keep travel costs down may be to hedge.
Like portfolio managers who carefully balance out their riskiest investments with safe bets to minimize their exposure to swings in the market, Americans planning trips to Europe this summer can minimize the cost of their vacations, should the dollar drop further, through careful planning now.

One of the most common ways is to buy an all-inclusive vacation like a cruise or packaged tour. Prices of such trips are typically set as much as 18 months in advance so they can be printed in brochures. Travelers who buy these trips lock in the price of their vacations, essentially shielding themselves from any price increases caused by currency fluctuations.

For example, Collette Vacations is offering an eight-day London and Paris package in July for $1,999, or $3,044 with airfare from New York. The dollar has dropped about 15 percent against the euro since the company set those rates more than a year ago. As a result, those customers received a built-in discount.

European cruises similarly stretch the dollar, and you can also pay for onboard purchases like spa treatments and shore excursions in dollars.

“If anything, the decline of the dollar has strengthened the attractiveness of an all-inclusive cruise product such as ours,” Ana Figueroa, director of business development for Amadeus Waterways, wrote in an e-mail message. Already, she added, the company’s summer river cruises in Europe are full.

It’s possible to hedge without going the all-inclusive route, simply by prepaying as much as you can — for things like hotel rooms, airfare and car rentals — before leaving the United States.
“The more you can buy in advance, the better,” said Assen Vassilev, co-founder of Lessno.com, an online travel agency that specializes in discount trips to Europe. By prepaying in dollars, he said, “you’re not exposed to fluctuations in the euro” and travelers can also “avoid international fees from credit cards or having to pay exchange fees.” By Michelle Higgnes ( via www.nytimes.com)

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