Travel well and spend less
Whether you are planning the holiday of a life time or making a brief visit to a foreign country for a special purpose, currency fluctuations can have a profound effect on the cost of your trip. We strongly encourage you to plan your trip wisely by checking exchange rates before you finalize your travel plans, because you never know when a cheap airfare may be offset by high food and lodging expenses. A favorable exchange rate means that your local currency is worth more and along with that will provide you with more buying power in a foreign country. Travelers whose local currency has appreciated dramatically will find that they will be able to afford much more on their vacation this year, while travelers to those same countries will find that their money does not go as far as it use to. In contrast, travel will be much more attractive to countries that saw a sharp fall in their currency over the past year. This shift in dynamics is the primary reason why Latin American travel has shot up in popularity recently, rivaling that of travel to Europe.

With the weather turning warmer, our thoughts now turn to spring break and summer vacations. Four hotspots hit our radar as the best and worst travel bargains for the spring and summer season:

Travel Bargains
New Zealand
With a pleasant climate, beautiful landscapes, luxuriant forests, and marvelous wildlife, New Zealand is the perfect destination for active travelers. Though it is a long haul trip for many, there is a good reason to visit the country now. Since the beginning of 2005, the New Zealand dollar has fallen significantly in value. A year ago, it would have cost close to 75 cents to buy 1 New Zealand dollar. Today, it costs less than 65 cents, and if you went a month ago, it would have only cost 60 cents. Without even having to scour the internet for hotel discounts, all thanks to the fluctuation in exchange rates, a week's stay (6 nights, 7 days) in a three star hotel in Auckland now costs $570 US dollars compared to $651 a year ago.

Iceland
Iceland has rapidly become one of Europe's hottest travel destinations. Regular airfare deals and temperate summers make visiting Iceland's natural wonders a great escape from the steaming hot temperatures back home. A trip to Iceland is even more attractive now thanks to a deep slide in the currency. A week's stay in a three star hotel in Reykjavik currently costs $891 compared to $1042.20 a year ago, which is a savings of over $150. One US dollar presently exchanges for 72 Icelandic Kronas versus 62 Kronas last year. If you caught the peak in the rate back in late April, you could have even exchanged one US dollar for 80 Kronas. This means that a 2500 ISK entrée at a decent restaurant would have cost the equivalent of $31 USD in April versus $40 a year ago. Iceland has not been this much of a bargain in close to 2 years and its all do exchange rates moving in your favor.

Higher Expenses
Canada
Canada is the world's second largest country and every year is visited by more than 35 million people. Canada's economy continues to benefit from record gold prices, higher oil prices, and very solid fundamentals. With a wealth of different cultures, each province in Canada offers something different for the discerning travel, however, travel to Canada has become much more expensive over the past twelve months. Three and a half years ago, one US dollar could have been exchanged for 1.50 Canadian dollars. Now, the exchange rate has fallen to 1.1125. Over the past 12 months, the cost of a week's stay in a three star hotel increased from $801.60 to $906. Three years ago, that same room would have cost a mere $594.52 for six nights.

Brazil
Brazil with its stunning beaches, forest trails, and vivacious cities, is the most populous country in South America and its GDP outweighs that of any other Latin American country. Brazil has long been a hotspot for international travelers for its great value, but that same value has become more and more pinched over the past few years. Of all of the currencies in the world, the Brazilian Real increased the most over the past 12 months. The cost of a week's stay jumped from $599 to $721, making the bargain destination for North Americans no longer a great bargain. Even a good airfare deal would have easily been offset by the higher amount of travel expenses that would be required once you arrive in the country.

Travelers Need to Keep an Eye on Exchange Rates
Therefore, paying attention to exchange rates is extremely important in picking your travel destinations, because you never want to get caught with higher expenses when you arrive on vacation. Notoriously expensive countries such as the UK and Switzerland frequently attract travelers with cheap airfare. Once you get there, however, you quickly realize that it costs an arm and a leg just to buy a Starbucks latte. For the summer ahead, we have to be even more wary of exchange rates because of the sharp volatility in the currency markets. The US dollar has fallen in value quite significantly and is expected to fall even further. Therefore, US travelers in particular have to be much more selective in picking their travel destinations.

Over the past 12 months, the Canadian dollar soared to a 28 year high while the Brazilian Real increased to a 5-year high, raising the cost of travel to Brazil by 21 percent and the cost of travel to Canada by 13 percent. On the other hand, the Icelandic Krona fell to a 4.5-year low while the New Zealand dollar fell to an 18-month low back in March. This has made travel to Iceland 14 percent cheaper and travel to New Zealand 12 percent cheaper, highlighting New Zealand and Iceland as our Bargain Travel destinations this Spring and Summer. Iceland has not been this much of a bargain in close to 2 years and its all do exchange rates moving in your favor.