Stretching your vacation budget by finding cheap places to travel is great, but if you have a particular spot in mind, this index shows you how to figure out when’s the right time to visit to get the most for your dollars.
While this index is most helpful the sooner you use it (since the rates considered will likely change over time,) you can still use these two factors to figure out when your destination will be more affordable. Here’s what Vox used to calculate this index, and you can, too.
To answer this question, we combine two different pieces of data: the change in the exchange rate and the local inflation rate. For example, right now, one US dollar will buy about 14.2 South African rand — 18 per cent more than the 12 rand you could get in April 2015. But the inflation rate in South Africa has been about 6.6 per cent, so today’s rand won’t go quite as far as it would have a year ago. But even adjusting for inflation, a dollar will buy 10.7 per cent more goods in South African than it would have a year ago.
Your goal is to use this index to find out if the country you want to visit is a good deal now, not to choose a destination. If you don’t have a particular country in mind though, it might help you pick one. Hit the link below for the full list.
The Vox Vacation Index: Let Economics Help Plan Your Summer Vacation [Vox]
Comments
2 responses to “The Countries Where Your Vacation Dollars Will Go Farthest”
Surely, there is more to Africa than South Africa. Why weren’t more African countries included?
So, we in Australia now use US dollars? Okay.
Also, It’s now better value going to the Uk, than Indonesia? Okay.
Yeah, It’s an index of which countries charge less now than they used to last year.
In other words, you save more going to NZ this year instead of last, than you would save by going to Vietnam this year instead of Vietnam last.
But given that this means you can still take five Australians out to a fine restaurant in Vietnam and get three courses of food and drinks for a grand total of about $25 – $50AUD, and the same would cost you $250 – $600 in NZ – This index might “figure out when’s the right time to visit” (or, more specifically, tell you if it’s cheaper for US citizens to visit now, compared with last year) – but it sure as hell doesn’t tell you where the best place to go is to get the most value for money.