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:

$1.5171= €1.0

$1.9318 = £1.0

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

The resurgent U.S. dollar soared across the board after yesterday’s dovish comments from the European Central Bank shifted some of the worries that have long weighed on the greenback on to its rivals. The ECB left interest rates unchanged at 4.25% yesterday, but tempered its now familiar hawkish rhetoric with warnings about increasing risks to growth. The commentary was consistent with a stream of dismal economic reports from the 15-member bloc that has painted a picture of a rapidly decelerating economy. Similarly disappointing economic news out of the U.K., Japan, Australia and Canada has suggested that the U.S. economy, which initially bore the brunt of the collapse of America’s subprime mortgage market and subsequent seizure in global credit markets, is likely to emerge from the current slowing cycle before its major counterparts. Moreover, because U.S. monetary officials have aggressively slashed lending rates by 325 basis points since last September while other central banks largely resisted easing policy, the Fed is now seen as being ahead of the curve in addressing the fallout from months of financial market disarray. Consequently, the dollar is now trading at a fresh five-month high against the euro, a 17-month peak versus sterling, an eight-month high against the yen and a one-year high versus the Canadian dollar. Falling oil prices have also eased some pressure off of struggling U.S. consumers and at the same time, put downward pressure on global headline inflation. Cooling prices abroad would remove the key obstacle which has kept the Fed’s counterparts from following it down the path to easier monetary policy. Second quarter U.S. productivity and unit labor cost data are due out this morning.

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