Dear Guest,

The shifts in exchange rates affect you as a Doorways customer because you are traveling to Europe. It also can hit Doorways hard because we collect payment from you in dollars and in most cases pay owners in Euro. To protect our company from losses due to fluctuating currency, we set a range when establishing our prices for the year. If the dollar strengthens outside this range, we give money back to you, and if the dollar weakens, we have to collect additional funds.

According to Ruesch, International today:

$1.5797 = €1.0

$2.0084 = £1.0

US MARKET - 07/23/2008 08:04 AM

The U.S. dollar rose to a one-month peak against the Japanese yen and a two-week high against the euro, still benefiting from hawkish comments from U.S. officials and a sharp sell-off in crude oil futures. Yesterday, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson reassured investors that the government stands behind troubled mortgage firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and is primarily focused on seeing stability return to broader financial markets. The greenback, having firmed on Mr. Paulson’s supportive comments, rose further when Philadelphia Fed President Plosser said that U.S. borrowing costs would have to rise sooner rather than later, even if labor and financial markets had not fully recovered. Combined with the drop in oil prices to a six-week low, the generally hawkish comments yesterday’ pushed the U.S. currency broadly higher. Sterling bucked the trend against the stronger greenback after minutes from the Bank of England’s July policy meeting showed that one monetary official voted in favor of raising interest rates to combat soaring inflation (seven voted to stand pat and one voted for a rate cut). The news suggested that lower BOE lending rates in the wake of a housing-lead economic downturn was not a foregone conclusion. The Aussie was broadly weaker after in-line Q2 inflation figures weighed on expectations for a Reserve Bank interest rate hike in the coming months. While no U.S. data is due out today, the Fed’s Beige Book of economic conditions is to be released at 2:00pm ET and will be closely watched, as will developments on Wall Street and in the price of oil futures.

For people booking for 2008...

"Prices are subject to shifts in currency exchange rates and will be adjusted up or down at the time of payment only if the rate falls outside of the ranges: 1.1-1.4 dollar/Euro or 1.9-2.2 dollar/£. When adjustments are necessary, we will use the currency we use to pay the owner and calculate it from the exchange rate received on the actual transfer."

In 2000 and in 2001 Doorways actually gave a refund to guests after they paid their final bill. Everyone was very happy then! Now, unfortunately, customers renting properties for which the owners are paid in Euros may be charged a currency adjustment on the unpaid balance, according to the value of the dollar versus the Euro at the time of the final bill. On villas for which the owners are paid in US dollars (look for the "guaranteed US dollar rate" on our website), there will be no adjustment. Should you want to protect yourself against decline of the dollar, you can pay your final bill early or be sure to book a villa with a guaranteed US dollar rate.

We are infinitely grateful for your cooperation. And here's hoping that the dollar regains its strength.

Kit Burns, President
Doorways, Ltd.

IMPORTANT LINKS:

Click to view the 2008 Financial Agreement