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Would you consider a shopping trip to take advantage of the strong dollar?

Would you consider a shopping trip to take advantage of the strong dollar?

Old Jan 22, 2015, 7:58 pm
  #16  
 
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Originally Posted by jspira
The euro and dollar are closer to parity than ever imagined as the euro continues its descent
Stopped reading at that point. For those of us older than thirteen years old we remember that the dollar was actually worth more than the Euro for all of 2000-2002.
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Old Jan 22, 2015, 9:45 pm
  #17  
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Originally Posted by zkzkz
Stopped reading at that point. For those of us older than thirteen years old we remember that the dollar was actually worth more than the Euro for all of 2000-2002.
IIRC the Euro dropped as low as $0.86 at one point.
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Old Jan 23, 2015, 9:30 am
  #18  
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We're going for two weeks this summer. Didn't even think about the exchange rate when we booked the trip, and I still find myself doing math in my head with a simple 1.4 number. So it'll be a welcome bonus if we get home and see a lot of 1.2 on our credit card statements.

Doubt it will affect our purchasing habits too much. We don't buy a lot of stuff on our Europe trips in general. Maybe if we see a piece of art we especially like...the cheaper Euro might serve as a nudge. But I'm under no illusions that things will suddenly appear "cheap". It's still Europe.

I'm sure there are other parts of the world besides Europe where one can enjoy the stronger dollar, but I guess there just isn't much stuff I need that I'd set up a whole trip just to shop.
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Old Jan 23, 2015, 9:59 am
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Yes. I did this many years ago to have suits made in HKG. Cost was far lower to fly, stay and have the suits made than it would have been to have them made in the states.
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Old Jan 23, 2015, 10:40 am
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Originally Posted by jspira
But more importantly, are you considering or would you consider a shopping trip to take advantage of the strong dollar?
I own a company that offers shopping tours in Europe and I can tell you that my business has definitely increased this year.
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Old Jan 23, 2015, 10:56 am
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I would not book a trip just to shop. But with the current exchange rates for the euro & sterling I'm looking to take a trip.

Yesterday I did mail order from the UK for some stuff that isn't retailed in the USA. The retailer has a USD website in addition to their UK site. Doing the transaction off the UK site with a no transaction fee credit card netted a 10.5% "discount" from the USD site. All kinds of ways to play this.
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Old Jan 23, 2015, 11:38 am
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Originally Posted by ShopAround
I own a company that offers shopping tours in Europe and I can tell you that my business has definitely increased this year.
The shopping tour concept looks really interesting. Nice business idea!
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Old Jan 23, 2015, 10:52 pm
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Definitely luxury goods like clothing, handbags, luggage & watches would be much cheaper now in Europe at current USD FX than the regular prices in the US. True for the high-end luxury brands that do not discount in the US like Cartier or Hermes or Rimowa (and also they are not going to adjust US pricing for the weakness in the Euro anytime soon). You can easily figure the savings by looking at their websites in localized EU addresses vs. US site. Then take the additional 10-12% VAT refund and it would pay to fly over there for a weekend if you were to buy goods in the $9,000+ range. Nice time for a major anniversary type gift. I can only dream of a Patek...
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Old Jan 23, 2015, 11:22 pm
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As the dollar continues to strengthen, I'm guessing you'll see an increase in medical/dental tourism.
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Old Jan 24, 2015, 12:10 am
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In about 1985 when the dollar almost reached parity with the British pound, I recall secretaries at a company where I worked flying to London to buy a bunch of Burberry coats and such.
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Old Jan 24, 2015, 1:18 pm
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Originally Posted by FrequentBusinessTraveller
As long as the U.S. economy continues to remain in better shape than Europe’s (the U.S. gross domestic product, a primary indicator of an economy’s health, grew 5% last year...)
No offense, but if you want to pimp your blog here on FlyerTalk, you should at least try to get the basic facts right...
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Old Jan 24, 2015, 2:59 pm
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By the time you equalize for taxes, it has not been the case for some time that things are always cheaper in the USA. The USA charges taxes on top, even for things which are to be exported. Purchases in the EU include tax, which is refunded on export. These features make a huge difference in the net cost.
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Old Jan 26, 2015, 11:12 am
  #28  
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Originally Posted by newaarondavidson
Yes. I did this many years ago to have suits made in HKG. Cost was far lower to fly, stay and have the suits made than it would have been to have them made in the states.
+1...my suits are from HK and I love them.

Although to be fair, we *wanted* to go to HK ...the value of my time, just to buy suits, would have been a deal-killer even if someone was giving me the suits for free. It's about a 72-hour process with initial measurements, intermediate fitting, and then final fitting.

Also: I get the sense that as Hong Kong suits are no longer that big of a "secret", the pricing has come up a bit from what people talked about 10 years ago - at least in the area of high-quality, fully-bespoke suits. Still a great deal for excellent suits, of course. (Rock bottom cheap for really cheap suits = Shanghai. I bought a couple of those and they did not last long.)

But since HK is always a good time, if the suits are what it takes to nudge you that way, so be it. ^
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Old Jan 27, 2015, 3:26 am
  #29  
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Originally Posted by toomanybooks
In about 1985 when the dollar almost reached parity with the British pound, I recall secretaries at a company where I worked flying to London to buy a bunch of Burberry coats and such.
At the time Harrods (in London), ran ads in the NYTimes, noting that with the Jan. sale period in progress*, that even factoring in the airfare, one could still save a bundle (1-1 pound dollar parity + duty free VAT refund).
*They only have 2 "sale" periods.
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Old Jan 27, 2015, 12:45 pm
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Was that the People Express era for NYC-LON? Predates me a little, but I remember talking to people who flew to Europe on cheap walk-up fares (paying cash!) around that time.
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