Avoid frills to offset the drooping dollar

The U.S. dollar continues to plunge in value against the euro, which cost $1.18 as of the Travel section’s deadline Tuesday. For Americans, life in Europe is now 18% more costly than it was six months ago. Some economists predict a euro value of as much as $1.40 in the months ahead.

How will this affect your vacation plans? If you skip first-class rooms and meals when you go to Europe, it doesn’t have to affect you at all. The person who travels on a budget spends less and enjoys more.

Conduct a survey among friends who recently visited Europe. How did they fare? They’ll furrow their brows, confess to some disappointment and cite examples of overcharges and rip-offs.

Then put the same question to cost-conscious people who traveled along the western coast of Ireland, staying in family- owned B&Bs; along the way. Or who went from one low-cost pensione to another on a trip to Italy. Their faces will light up; they’ll tell you anecdotes about how pleasurable their trip was and how little they spent.

By lowering the categories of your rooms and meals, you’ll save far more money than the stronger euro will cost you. You’ll spend half, sometimes a third, of what you otherwise would.

Throughout Europe, budget accommodations (one- and two-star properties) can be obtained for less than $80 a night for two persons, even given the euro’s increased value. Tourist-class accommodations are available for less than $150 a night. Compare those costs with the $250 and more charged for a double in cookie-cutter first-class hotels staffed by glowering concierges and arrogant porters.

If you continue to travel first class, at least obtain your accommodations at a discount. Go to the many European-operated Internet sites that offer hefty 40%-and-more discounts off standard published rates. Log on to www.wotif.com or www.laterooms.com; take a look at the reductions they offer. Tourist traffic to Europe this summer is slow, and hotels and other European suppliers are eager for business and therefore open to discounting.

For transportation within Europe, make use of more than a dozen large, new, cut-rate airlines that whisk you from place to place at rates that undercut the fabled bargains of our own Southwest Airlines. Go to www.flybudget.com, which lists the upstart carriers and the cities from and to which they fly.

To travel in Europe by train, consider purchasing a Eurailpass or Eurail Selectpass at discounted rates. Rail Europe, (888) 382-7245, www.raileurope.com, is now offering discounts on passes costing more than $401, if purchased by June 15.

Examples: A 21-day Eurailpass costs $632 (normally $762); a one-month Eurailpass Saver for two or more travelers is $674 per person (normally $804). A Eurailpass Flexipass for 10 days in two months is $614 (normally $694). A Eurailpass Youth Flexipass for 15 days in two months is $562 (normally $642).

Finally, a decision to eat healthily in Europe will also overcome the lessened strength of the U.S. dollar. Americans should split courses, ordering one plate for two. They’ll dine better and more cheaply. Having a picnic meal once a day, from ingredients bought in a grocery, helps, as does the decision not to have two daily four-course meals (as you are tempted to do in Europe).

Think better health and a fatter wallet.

By adopting the psychological outlook of a budget traveler, you can thumb your nose at fluctuations in currency markets. In these days of a weak dollar, traveling on a budget becomes the right -- and the more satisfying -- thing to do.