Gambling with Fares
I hate gambling on the stock marked and any kind of speculation, and I think that the losers get what’s coming to them (having myself being badly bitten by a house price slump in 1997), but when you book your travels you become a speculator whether you want to or not.
Yesterday, the pound’s slumping against the dollar would have added about fifty quid to my return flights to Trinidad. Today I recovered about eight quid of that. Now…do I wait in the hope of getting the return tickets down to the 500 quid mark or do I book now while cheap December flights are still to be had?
I’m tempted to go for it. But knowing me, the pound will reach an all-time high against the dollar the day after I’ve made the booking (you’re looking at someone who lost £1300 on Black Wednesday because my then German bank wired the money on that day, and they’d required one year’s notice!)
Fifty quid may not be much, but it pays for a couple of nights’ accommodation and a few meals on the road. It also happens to be the amount I owe to a friend. And after I’ve paid for the flights and insurance, it looks to be about what is left for our weekly shopping. Time to tighten the belts and bring on beans on toast then.
On the upside, it is probably what we’ll save back on the heating cost increases while we’re away.
Oh, how much money we could save by moving to Australia…
Or Trinidad.
Tags: Currency, Fares, Money, Travel, Tag Index
Denni
November 23rd, 2008 at 12:17
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