When the Canadian Dollar is Weak…

As we are moving into the Spring, most people will take advantage to travel before the students are let off from school. For us in Canada, it becomes nicer out, the weather is warmer and you can be sure that your flights will not experience any delays. With the falling Canadian Dollar, it makes things rough for us to cross the border to our neighbours for some cheap outlet shopping. But that doesn’t mean that we should sit at home and wait for our market to get better.

If we look at the plunging loonie, you can expect that there is an inflation waiting to occur. Before this happens, there are a number of places the currency conscious Canadian should consider in travel.

Travel in the Country (Canada)

A weak Canadian Dollar means that you can travel to the places in Canada which you haven’t had an opportunity to yet. Better yet, with the cheap gas, you can easily travel by car to places closeby and it would be end up being much cheaper than taking an aircraft.

For people like us located central, travelling East to the Maritimes can be quite the drive, but with the low fuel prices, it may not cost as much as we had presumed to get us there. For those who love seafood, Maritimes is the place to go. The cuisine of the Maritimes includes lobster rolls, seafood chowder, fish and chips and smoked fish.

Hopewell Rocks in New Brunswick

Cape Breton Highlands National Park in Nova Scotia

You can also travel North to the Territories (Yukun, Nunavut and Northwest Territories) and see how life with six months in darkness feels like. You can also visit the Aurora Village in Northwest Territories to watch the Northern Lights, a natural light display in the sky, which are predominantly seen in the high latitude regions. Unfortunately, a road trip may not get you there; this one may require our handy local aircrafts.

Aurora Village in Northwest Territories

In the West side of Canada, you have Alberta with their most voluminous waterfall and British Columbia where you can walk the trails of Whistler, take a skyride up to Grouse Mountain, or cross the grand Capilano Suspension Bridge.

Travel to Countries in the Same Boat (Europe)

This would be a great time to travel to Europe as the euro is also dropping in value. The euro has been going up and down in the past few years and continues to fall into a descent. CNBC states that hotels in Paris cost approximately $100 less than what it was a year ago. These savings also applies to taxi fares, attraction tickets, and restaurants. Additionally, flights to Europe will also be much lower.

Poland is one of the few European countries that is worth travelling to during this down time of the loonie. The Polish zloty continues to decline significantly against the Canadian dollar.

Travel Far Away (Asia)

It seems that those furthest to us, in particular Japan are not doing as well in their economy. This seems like the best time to visit a country which seemed very costly 20 years ago. Currently, the Canadian dollar can exchange us 85 Japanese Yen, compared to the 1:70 ratio ten years ago.

Another notable destination would be Malaysia, where the ringgit remains neutral against the Canadian dollar. Currently, the Canadian dollar can exchange for 3.12 Malaysian Ringgit, which remains roughly the same ten years ago. Malaysia has been known as a very popular destination in Southeast Asia, and with a consistent weakening of both economies, you will not be losing out nor gaining if you decide to travel here.

Travel Packages and Cruises (Caribbean)

Travel packages are great deals and we never really take into consideration that during times when the economy is not doing as well, travel packages remain roughly the same rates during the times of a weak economy.

The Dominican Republic has been serving Canadian travelers due to its cost effective prices and accessibility. Travel to the Dominican Republic remains at a price cut of 40% with flights flying from Toronto and a cut of 55% with flights flying from Winnipeg.

Take Advantage over New Flying Routes

According to Travelzoo, WOW Air will launch new routes from Toronto and Montreal to Iceland this spring. Prices are estimated to be as low as $99 for one way.

NewLeaf, an upcoming ultra low-cost carrier based in Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport in Manitoba plans to offer flights between seven Canadian cities for as low as $89 per one-way flight. This includes all fees and applicable taxes. NewLeaf states that their highest priced route will be limited at $149 per one-way ticket. NewLeaf plans to fly to Abbotsford, Halifax, Hamilton, Kelowna, Regina, Saskatoon, and Winnipeg.

This is usually part of the initial investment for a new venture or travel startups, so take advantage of it before this promotion runs out.

The Bottom Line

The Canadian dollar is set for a rebound in the coming future, so if you would like to travel while the dollar is still low, you should start planning soon. You may already see that gas prices have remained at a steady rate for the past month as an indication that there will be a comeback soon for the Canadian market.