Question on reservations

I do not book non-refundable at all. 2020 caught a lot of people out who had booked non-refundable and then some of those people were furious when they could not get refunded. Who knows when the next pandemic will be?

I did not not book non refundable. My question is I’m sorry they didn’t charge my card, the dollar is so good right now, maybe not in December.

I’ve had some hotels charge my card upfront and others wait until arrival or a week before arrival.

You could always check on Booking.com and see if you have the option to pay now. Just be careful as Pam mentioned, to select the option where the hotel is refundable.

I’ve done it both ways and also usually have some activity reservations and train tickets that I purchase a few months before the trip. Personally, I feel like over the years it’s evened out for me whether the reservation exchange rate was even better or whether it was worse by the time I traveled.

You are nearly eleven months away. What if the dollar gets even stronger?

This isn't a question about reservations; it's a question about exchange rates. If you think 1.07 is good, then you could hold that money in an exchange account and use it to pay when you get there. I just made a strong statement against these accounts for tourists, but if the exchange rate is important to you, look at Revolut, or Wise, formerly known as TrasferWise. Just be sure these companies don't charge you a monthly fee for holding the money. Wise tried to do that but reversed itself when the customers started to flee.

By the way, in 2021 the dollar was around 1.20 for quite a while. Last summer, it was 1.02, 1.01, and then at parity with the Euro, 1 to 1 for a few days and then back to 1.01, 1.02. ... A year ago it was around 1.10. I prefer peace of mind rather than trying to follow the $ and I live with the two currencies on a daily basis.

The best thing you can do is get a no-fee credit card you can use in Europe and even better if it gives cash back. I have a Capital One that doesn't change an exchange rate on my purchases overseas and gives 1.5-cents back per dollar.

It's impossible to know whether the exchange rate will improve for dollar holders between now and then, or worsen.

You could save money or lose money by locking in the current rate. There is no way to know.

Defining the dollar as strong is always very subjective. In the last month or so, the dollar has fallen noticeably against the euro, around 8%.

Except for corporate chains, I have found that the best hotel prices in France are those given by directly contacting the hotel itself.

Last time we were in Paris the dollar and Euro were even -- now the Euro is much stronger -- I am not seeing a strong dollar right now. I just prepaid for a visit in May for Amsterdam and was surprised to discover the dollar is now down 7% from our visit in October. Of course with the current shenanigans in the House who knows what havoc will be wrecked upon our travel plans with the dollar.

All these comments point out that what you are looking for is advice on currency speculation. Everyone's tolerance for risk is different, but it usually isn't a huge difference one way or the other. My bigger concern is why are you booking on Expedia? If you know where you want to stay, why not book direct? Worst case, the dollar falls by what, 5%? So your increase is so marginal. And in many cases, you can pre-pay if that is a big concern. Why not ask the hotel?