Best Vacation Values, Where To Go To Save On Luxury Travel Right Now

The dollar is strong right now, and its value has risen steadily against many foreign currencies throughout the end of 2023 and up to today. On May 1, the New York Times listed ten major foreign countries that had lost significant ground against our currency since the first of the year, making them less expensive to visit. By significant I mean as much as 10% (Japan)—and that’s just the past five months. Many of these currencies had already dropped last year, making the travel savings for travelers even more dramatic.

In addition, there was a vital eleventh entry, the Eurozone, which has lost 3% more in 2024 and includes 20 additional countries, many of which are among the most desirable tourism spots on earth, such as Italy, France, Spain, Greece and Portugal. I traveled in the Piemonte region of Italy just a few weeks ago and while I have been to Italy many times over the years, every day I was shocked by how low the prices for food and drink were, and Italy is one of the pricier of these popular Eurozone countries.

Beyond this, the Times reported that more than two thirds of the 150 global currencies tracked by Bloomberg had weakened against the dollar. That’s not always a great thing for industry, business and investments, but it is a big bonus for travelers going abroad. However, some of these roughly 100 declining currency destinations are much better buys right now than others, across nearly every type of travel, from luxury to budget.

Eating is one of the areas the strong dollar saves big on, and to exacerbate this, just about everywhere in the world tips less, usually much less, than we do. In most of Western Europe tipping at bars and restaurants is not expected and when you are wowed and do tip, we’re talking 5-10%. Just as the dollar has strengthened in recent years, our tipping culture has gone insane, tipping more for more things, including self-service. No one in Europe is going to use a credit card machine that tries to get you to tip for taking a water bottle out of a cooler like we do here, and when you eat out, you’ll be saving 10% or more on top of the currency just by following normal dining protocols and etiquette.

Two weeks ago, London’s Telegraph, one of my favorite newspaper travel sections, ran a big package on the “50 Greatest Bargains in Travel.” Mind you that’s for readers spending pounds, which have also declined against the dollar, 1.5% just this year, making these bargains even more dramatic for Americans. They wrote, “You can find plenty of bargain places to eat in different cities around the world, but among the major tourist destinations surveyed by Post Office Money each year, it is Cape Town that delivers the best value overall. You can typically find a three-course evening meal – including a bottle of wine – for £34.64 for two people. In Europe, Lisbon is reckoned to offer the most affordable dining, with a bells-and-whistles meal costing £36.60.” That’s $44 and $46.50 respectively (for two!). I’ve eaten plenty of great meals in both Cape Town and Lisbon, and can confirm there’s a ton of bang for the buck, but right now, even more.

The most obvious savings are on daily expenses such as food, drink, internal transportation (trains, taxis, etc.), attractions, entertainment and shopping. Lodging is also affected but sometimes not at the high end of luxury, especially Western chains that price in dollars, and many 4 and 5-star brands keep rates more in line with what you pay here rather than local economic realities. But there are still luxury lodging bargains, especially independent and locally owned brands.

There have been other recent list of great travel bargain spots, but they tend to focus on individual cities or resorts, not countries, some quite small and some not so popular—Kenya’s Mombasa is really cheap right now but I don’t know anyone who is headed there. If you want to really enjoy the savings and effect of the strong dollar, but do it with luxe flair in some of the most desirable vacation spots on the planet, here are the top places to go.

South Africa

While the currency has “only” lost about 2% this year, South Africa was already a great buy, and just getting better. I just went to Alto 234, a trendy 360-degree rooftop champagne bar overlooking Johannesburg, and a Macallan 12-year triple cask was $5.50. A Don Julio Repsoado tequila was less than $4.75. In New York you’d be lucky if you could find either of those for under twenty bucks. Wagyu Beef Slider—with fries? Six dollars. The Saxon is by far the top luxury hotel in the city, where Nelson Mandela stayed when he wrote his autobiography, along with a Who’s Who of other famous clientele, and it also has one of Africa’s top spas. A 60-minute massage, probably the priciest you’ll find in the city, is $90, strip mall pricing here. Booking.com has a King room at the Taj Cape Town—one of the world’s top luxury hotel brands—for $118. I mean come on!

Japan

No country as desirable for travel has had its currency drop as precipitously as Japan’s, and the last time the yen was this cheap was 1990. So, if you have not been to in three and a half decades, consider it. In addition, Americans have always misperceived Japan as an expensive place, which is somewhat (but still not entirely) true of Tokyo, its most visited city, but not of its countryside and many other charming places. Kyoto is high on every “over tourism” list and I’d avoid it, but otherwise the islands are your oyster, with some of the world’s most exceptional food. Plus, a cool part about any visit to Japan is staying in ryokans, the traditional Inns or B&Bs, and eating at local restaurants, and these are areas where you’ll save big. I’ve been skiing in Japan a few times, and even when the yen was strong, it was much cheaper than in the U.S. Now the yen is definitely not strong.

Argentina

Second in terms of recent change only to Japan, Argentinean pesos have lost nearly 8% of their values just this year—and that followed a big December plunge—but it was a bargain spot already. Despite rampant inflation eroding some of the savings, it has great deals, and the Telegraph reporter described a week there eating £5 steaks and attending performances in one of the world’s most beautiful opera houses for £3 a ticket! Buenso Aires is arguably the steakhouse capital of the world and has many famed venues that will run you about a third of what top steakhouse meals cost here, with even bigger savings on the excellent Argentinean wines that are dirt cheap. If you go to a not famous local’s steakhouse, you’ll save even more but still eat great food, as most of the beef in Argentina is grass-fed, drug free, pasture raised and of superior quality to the typical domestic version we eat. Lodging? I just pulled up today’s hotel pricing for the capital on Hotels.com, and the legendary award-winning Alvear Place, the city’s most iconic luxury hotel, was $400. In many cities it would be a thousand or more. The NH, a great upscale European brand where I would gladly stay, was less than $100 a night!

Portugal

While almost all of Western Europe has gotten cheaper, Portugal has been the region’s bargain spot since before the advent of the Euro, and this continues to be the case. In addition, it has recently become a travel hotspot, and is having none of those intangible “moments” as an in destination. It’s hardly surprising, given the great food, great wine, history, beaches, golf, wealth of attractions and amazing weather. It’s one of the closest European destinations, with shorter flights, and the national airline TAP, a member of the world’s largest consortium, Star Alliance, offers a great value and quality for price proposition (I just bought tickets on TAP and they were much cheaper than U.S. carriers for the same route). As the Telegraph noted, Lisbon is the least expensive dining out city in Western Europe, but the food is also better than some of the alternatives. They also singled out a popular vacation region here, the Algarve, as Europe’s top wine bargain, noting that “a glass of decent Portuguese red will cost you about £1.62.” That’s two bucks.

Others to Consider

Brazil: The 5% drop in 2024 is one of the biggest in the world.

Canada: It may not be as sexy as some international hotspots, but is close, easy to get to, has an amazing diversity of offerings, and has lost nearly 3.5% already this year.

The UK: Perennially one of the most popular international destinations for American travelers, the pound has lost more than 1.5% in the past few months.

Australia: Ever since the pandemic, those far off destinations travelers wanted to visit “someday” have become places to go now, thanks in part to the increased fatalism and realization that life is unpredictable. For many Australia is the “someday” Bucket List trip, and if you go now, not only will you have a great time, you’ll find it 4% cheaper than it was just several months ago.