COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Following the decision by British voters to leave the European Union, the British pound has now weakened against the U.S. dollar, dropping to levels not seen in nearly 30 years.
Several travel agencies in Central Ohio told NBC4 it’s too soon to speculate on whether airline fares or tour packages to Europe will drop in price as a result of the weakened currency.
One traveler said he had already seen a benefit from the weakened currency. Joe Welsh is originally from Ohio but currently lives in Taiwan. This week, he had to pay the remainder of a payment for a trip to Scotland in August.
“With what happened with Brexit and the way that the pound dropped, I made sure that I got online, wire-transferred the money immediately,” Welsh said. “And I think it’s going to end up saving us $200 or $300 on the trip, just from the currency change in the last couple of days.”
Kay Mayer owns a franchise of Travel Leaders and said it’s too early to know what could happen a few months from now.
“Where you could maybe benefit is for Americans that are traveling over there [to Europe] on sightseeing or different sights to see there,” Mayer said. “They may be benefiting on the dollar.”
Crude oil prices dropped Friday, which means gas prices will also be dropping.
The news of Brexit also pushed mortgage rates near an all-time low.What others are clicking on: