Help For The Terminally Bewildered

You are absolutely right! I have traveled to the Uk many times over 40+ years with greatly varying rates of exchange including the $2.00 pound some years back.
The prices in the UK are much higher than in No. America period. Everyone who lives there complains about the high cost of the trains for one. Hotel rates are very high even if the exchange rate was lower. For years, items that say would cost one dollar in the USA cost one pound there, which is more expensive even if the exchange rate was better.
The only times I didn't feel the cost differential were in 1960 when a pound was $2.80(!!!) but the prices were low and also in 1985 when the pound cost one dollar(!!!) for a while. In fact, in 1985 I went on a giant shopping spree I have never regretted!

The only things I find reasonable in the UK are groceries...everything is expensive by any rate of exchange. I do believe that London is right up at the top of the world's most expensive cities (although I can think of a few others that would take your breath away!). Luckily I have friends I can stay with or else I wouldn't go as often. I live the same distance from NYC as my friends live from London. However, the train costs 3 times as much there. Eat a lot of sanwiches....Pret a Manger is
fantastic...they are now in NYC and doing well.

First, London is either first or second as the most expensive city in the world. May be a toss up with H Kong. Second, inflation has hit everyone. I am sure prices have gone up faster there than elsewhere and the $2 pound makes it worse.

On my most recent visit to London I was watching the news and much talk was about the economy, taxes and healthcare - yes it was the topic there not just here in the states. Over simplifying their national budget here, but it seems their healthcare system may be costing the British a lot of money and they are paying for it through a series of high taxes - which of course are paid in the end by the consumer through higher prices. Obviously, they pay for for much more than just healthcare and I am not making a political statement one way or the other - just stating it was a large topic on the news at the end of June beginning of July on the BBC

Hi Laurel – you’re right prices have gone up greatly in the last 10 years. There are a number of reasons for this. Some of the more obvious reasons are:

The city is noticeably cleaner than it was. Decades of pollution have been removed from some of the landmark buildings and the colour of the natural stone and brick work has been restored. 10 years ago every building in view from Trafalgar Square was either black or dark grey and covered in pigeon muck. Now they’re a joy to see and the pigeon mess is a thing of the past.

London transport is better, cleaner and easier to navigate for tourists. The new tube carriages and the information system onboard makes life easier for ‘out of towners’ and the Oyster Card is everyone’s favourite improvement. There’s more buses and they’re cleaner and pollute much less.

The London sewer system had major repairs. We don’t see what happens below the street level but there were huge areas that were in danger of collapse. They’ve been repaired and should be good for another hundred years.

A lot of the hotels have been forced to bring their safety standards into the 21st century. A lot of them had fire escapes that were more dangerous than a blazing inferno.

Thanks to a network of security cameras on the streets of central London it’s now a lot safer to walk around at night in London than it was ten years ago. This is possibly the biggest change. As someone who regularly has to make his way between Drury Lane and St. Pancras on foot late in the evening I really notice how much safer the streets are and not just the main roads, I mean the little alleyways and side streets are much safer now than they were a decade ago.

Then we have to build the 2012 Olympics – that takes tax money. Everything I’ve listed costs money. I’ve tried to stay off the subject of party politics and such like.
Then again London always was and always will be expensive but it’s still the greatest city I’ve ever experienced.

There are simply two issues at play here:

Just like the US things here cost a lot more than they did 20 years ago. As you rightly say this just inflation.

But more recently (say the last 5 years) the dollar has 'lost' value against the pound faster then inflation.

for example something that cost me £10 five years ago still only costs about £11 taking into account UK inflation.

The difference is now £10 would cost you $19.96. £11 would cost you $21.97.

5 years ago £10 would cost you $15.85.

So in 5 years my £10 purchase has gone up to £11 - this is inflation.

But for an American the same $16 dollar purchase has gone up to $22. this is a combination of inflation and the change in relative currency values.

Thanks everyone for your input. All helpful. Maryann, I always make it a point to eat at least once at Pret A Manger...For awhile they took the Coronation Chicken sandwich off the menu..I hope it's back. After talking to the manager at one of the stores, my husband was finally convinced that they sold enuf sandwiches during the course of the day that none of them is ever not fresh. (is that a sentence?) Al, I agree with you. Me and Dr. Johnson. I will never get tired of London. I don't miss the muck but feeding the pigeons was a lot of cheap fun. Peter, Now I feel a very lot older than 6 years.

I never did spend much on restaurant meals; I grocery shop or buy sandwiches plus fruit wherever I see fresh, whole-grain sandwiches. Pasties and the occasional meal at a church (Bath), YMCA (Bath), or places like the Salvation Army make up my main meal of the day. The SA has a nice cafeteria near St. Paul's in London. Hotel breakfasts are usually adequate for half of my daily needs. I have found hotels and B&Bs in London and Bath for about 35GBP ($70) single. You don't sound confused to me; you've got it figured out. We get slammed from both sides: the falling dollar and rising prices in Europe lead to much bigger travel costs for us. I'm retired now and have decided to just travel as long as I can afford it while working hard to keep within a reasonable budget.

In England, getting outside London will usually save money. I have a new copy of "Let's Go Britain" and am looking for 25GBP B&Bs in the smaller towns. Also,

I'm planning to use bus (coach) travel next time. I qualify for senior rates on transportation and at some venues ("concessions").

Last fall I traveled in England and France for three weeks rather than my usual four weeks. I was more focused that usual and enjoyed the trip.

This is also because of a false sense of where our economy really is. In America we are bombarded in the news with information about our economy is totally in the tank and that in Bush's economy, everything is completely trash. However, in America, we still have WAY more buying power than in most of the world - including in England. The dollar is not doing well, but when you take into account the costs of living, we're doing pretty well.

We were in the UK a week ago and had previously been in 2006, 2003 and 1999. We actually commented that some prices do not seem to have increased as much as you would expect in almost 10 years. Food and drink for example. Petrol yes.

I spent 3 weeks in London in 2003 and although London is ridiculously expensive, I didn´t find prices much increased in the last 5 years although public transport is very expensive.

B & B´s for 25 pounds a night have not been common for many many years - back in 1999 we were paying 25 pounds upwards per person.

Thanks to all of you I have a little better grasp of economics. At the end of the day London is expensive but that is not enough to keep me away. B&B's for 50-60 GBP for two sharing are easy enough to find in smaller towns. Especially if you take advantage of the TI's. BTW some of you might not know that TI's can also book you into B&B's in towns other than their own. So you can deal with several night's accommodation in one swell foop.