Euro drops below the dollar for 1st time in 20 years: What it means if you’re

The euro has fallen below the dollar for the first time in 20 years, mainly due to the ongoing war in Ukraine and recession fears in the euro area.

Thus, if you are traveling to Europe as an American, or want to, now might be a good time to take advantage of booking hotels without the markup, as well as shopping overseas without having to do conversions.

“It would be difficult for there to be more interest in Europe than there is right now,” Leslie Overton, director of travel operations at travel advisor consortium Fora, told The Points Guy.

The dollar is becoming stronger against the euro, and the looming recession in Europe is driving the euro’s value down even more.

For Americans, that means the opportunity to take advantage when going abroad.

But although the exchange rate is ideal on paper, taking that vacation may be more expensive than expected.

Hotel and flight costs have increased between 20% to 60% depending on the market, according to CBS News.

“The fact of the matter is that you probably need to see at least another, dare I say, 5 or 10 percent dollar appreciation versus the euro before that becomes a serious consideration where it’s cheaper to travel abroad than it is for someone from New York to visit California or even Florida,” Christopher Vecchio, head of commercial integration and senior strategist at DailyFX, told Cheddar.

There is also the issue of hotel availability at affordable prices. According to Overton, some hotels remained closed after the pandemic and other properties are facing staffing shortages.

The same can be said for airlines. Flights are being canceled due to staffing shortages and high gas prices.

But once Americans get to the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, they will start seeing savings.

“The dollar is much stronger and goes further on certain things,” Melissa Biggs Bradley, founder of Indagare, told CBS News. “The kind of opposite of that impact is that flights and hotels are much more expensive than they were a year ago, so in a way you’re not going to have a bargain on a whole trip,”

“Where you’ll find the biggest bang for your buck is in restaurants, buying a cup of coffee, and taxi cabs,” Bradley added.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Katherine Rodriguez can be reached at [email protected]. Have a tip? Tell us at nj.com/tips.