Photo: Unsplash
Cover Photo: Unsplash

Start booking your flights because this may just be the best time in a long while to take that trip to Europe or the United States

You’re not alone if you think almost everyone on your social media feed is currently vacationing in the gorgeous cities of Europe, or road tripping through America.

If you are planning to fly across the world for a long-awaited trip soon, good news is in store because for the first time in 20 years: the Euro and US dollar have reached parity. This means that the two currencies are currently worth the same, something that has not happened since December 2002.

This happened after the Euro hit US$1 on July 12, which is down about 12 per cent since the start of the year. Finance experts credit the drop to fears of a recession which has been fuelled by high inflation and energy supply uncertainties caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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This exchange rate means that travellers will see their dollars going much further when they make purchases abroad. It also means that this is the best time to travel to European countries that use the Euro such as Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.

Essentially, this is like getting a 15 per cent discount on your purchases while travelling because one Euro is currently worth less than US$1.01.

The discount comes at an excellent time as high inflation continues to remain the biggest gripe of those intending to travel soon. In the US alone, the cost of airfare, lodging, recreation and meals were up almost 19 per cent in May this year.

In short, if you were mulling over a trip—start packing and booking because you have a flight to catch.