Exchange Rates

[funtimes]

Hi all Thanks jashermd for the website this will help! Wouldn't you know we would plan a European vacation when the dollar is down ...often a day late and a dollar short ...thankfully LL helps make up for this Happy Travels ...Funtimes

[jashermd]

Hi Curtiejoe,

What are the 'O' auctions? I've heard about the $1 auctions -- surely this doesn't mean $0? Please enlighten me!

Cheers,
Julian

[curtiejoe]

hi jashermd

"0" auctions are ones that start with no set minimum bid. So, anyone interested in an item is free to start the bidding as low as they want (usually in set increments of $1). That means, that if I'd want to try for an item on LL Auctions, and I was the first bidder, I could make my bid $1. The next person interesated would then bid $2 or any other higher amount. This process would continue until the time for the auction expires and the highest bidder wins. By then, the bids may have reached thousands of dollars or if no one else bid at all, stayed at $1. I have seen a number of auctions on skyauction (another luxury travel site) go for $1. In fact friends of ours recently won such an auction for a week's stay at a luxury resort just outside Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia.

They loved it and said it was a fabulous place. All they paid in addition to the $1 was about $150 in taxes and their transportation cost (driving there from Toronto and back). A great deal!

curtiejoe

Message Edited by curtiejoe on 01-26-200707:53 PM

Message Edited by curtiejoe on 01-26-200707:54 PM

[jashermd]

Hi Curtiejoe,

Thanks for clarifying that. I haven't received any emails about these auctions...I wonder if my overzealous spam-checker is blocking them, though I put LL in my address book to prevent this.

I've never heard of skyauction -- I'll take a look. If I could get a good deal there plus a cheap flight on Ryanair or some other discount airline, I could be going on holiday for less than it takes to buy groceries!

Cheers,
Julian

[curtiejoe]

Hi jashermd

That's exactly what I did! In November 05, I visited London for a couple of glorious days of walking and 'tubing' about through virtually all of Central London

on my own. I'd bagged (for next to nothing) a terrific auction on Skyauction on a small but elegant old hotel not far from the Barbican Center (a few blocks north of the old remains of the Wall of London).

From London I hopped a Ryan Air flight dirt-cheap (19 pounds plus taxes) to Stockholm. Spent a glorious week with friends at their country home near Brottby north of the Swedish capital.

Then, caught another very cheap Ryan flight to Paris. Met my Belgian cousin Jarl there (he's arranged rooms for us at a lovely boutique hotel in the north-east section of Paris). We toured the sights of the City of Lights for a couple of days on foot, using the Metro, and hopping a double-decker tour bus one day to hit all the usual tourist highlights (Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Mont Martre, Champs Elysee, Arc de Triomph, Left Bank, Notre Dame, Moulin Rouge, etc.).

Jarl drove us north to Waterloo, near Brussels, where he lives with his wife and son. While visiting with them for a week, my cousin and I toured many memorable part of Belgium, including the Napoleonic battlefield

just outside Waterloo, the ancient trade center of Brugge, the fishing port of Ostende on the North Sea, the cosmopolitan City of Brussels itself (which is now headquarters for the European Union), and finally the mountainous Ardennes region (famous for the WW II Battle of the Bulge). At the end of my stay in Belgium, jarl drove me north into the lowlands of Holland and to Eindhoven, whwere I caught a Ryan flight back to London.

The whole wonderful roundtrip cost me about $400 for the flights and the London hotel!!!

Try it sometimes, you'll love it.

curtiejoe

[funtimes]

Hi Curtiejoe WOW that trip sounds wonderful I'm so jealous hey I've never heard of Ryan air - please enlighten me ...Any other ideas regarding inexpensive air travel anyone? ...Funtimes

[jashermd]

Hi Funtimes,

There is a thread on budget airlines on the Europe board called 'Flying around Europe' which lists some of the major players, such as Ryanair, Easyjet, and Air Berlin.

I've also found a handy website called 'www.whichbudget.com' which will tell which budget airlines fly to the place you want to go. This can be very handy for tracking down those cheap flights.

Cheers,
Julian

[jashermd]

Hello,

Here's another exchange rate tip. Recently I've encountered a phenomenon where a merchant will offer to charge me either in local currency or in my home currency (British pounds). I always choose to be charged in local currency as that way I'll get the Visa/MasterCard exchange rate, which is invariably a few points better than the rate the shop will offer you.

This is basically a way for the shops to make a bit of extra money while offering it in the name of 'convenience'. Caveat emptor!

Cheers,
Julian

[funtimes]

Thanks Julian These tips are appreciated.I will go to the European air thread next. This is exactly why LL has become invaluable and rather an addiction. Thanks all for the posts!!!... Funtimes

[jashermd]

Hi Funtimes,

Glad I could help. BTW there are also budget airlines in South Africa...

http://www.kulula.com

http://www.1time.co.za

Cheers,
Julian
Message Edited by jashermd on 01-30-200701:43 PM