Anyone here travel beyond their means? Like do you book a vacation, and then later say "wow what was I thinking?"

Just curious to see how people travel. Do you priceline a hotel to save cash, do you travel outside the popular season or do you just say "whatever this is my trip and I am going wild"

Thanks.


Andy
TravelByAndy.com

OF COURSE NOT !!!! But I am inclined to believe that people who do not show discipline with travel budgets probably do not have much discipline in the other aspects of their financial lives.

When someone travels they have priorities as to what is important to them. For us, rooms mean nothing as long as clean and dry. When we cruise it is always the cheapest inside cabin (but work to get an upgrade) but for someone else it is a balcony or nothing.

So not sure how anyone will answer your question.

We don't. We have a separate savings account for vacations and only take what we can afford. We do use an AA Visa to pay for our airfare to get the miles, but we pay it off immediately.

We love to travel, and travel overseas twice a year. Unfortunately, due to high airfare and the unfavorable exchange rate we already went on our one long vacation this year and will be booking a trip in the next couple of months for February, but only when DH and I both get our bonuses to cover the airfare.

We don't spend a lot on accommodations or food, because we don't spend a lot of time in the room and aren't foodies, so overall our travels aren't ridiculously expensive.

Tracy

Yes, of course! When someone else if footing the bill

I've been very lucky to go to very nice places that were award trips or part of business travel.

But, for myself? Hey, I've alternated nights and the Empress in Victoria and the Chateau Lake Louise with KOA Kamping Kabins

Yes, I priceline. Got a 4* hotel for $99 for tomorrow night on Hotwire. And, I do like to travel in May and Sept/October.

I'll splurge for a night or two, and then budget the rest of the trip. BUT, I'll spend most of my time AT that resort - not just use it for a place to sleep.

Never. We plan far enough in advance, buying plane tickets first, then saving to have plenty in the accounts that the ATM card will tap, and charging hotel expenses to pay in full after the trip. This way we've spread out the costs over six months or so.
But once we have found plane fares and hotels that are within our budget, we do whatever we want while on the trip -- no agonizing over whether the dinner or guided tour or souvenir is too expensive. It helps that we have similar, not lavish, tastes

OK, I'll bite.

The majority of the regular contributors on Fodors are avid travellers and come from all walks of life and income levels. What we have in common is we make travel our priority and we travel within our means. We do this by giving up on some "frills" of everyday life. For instance most of us don't have credit card debt, we don't spend our money on the latest flat screen TV's and home entertainment systems, we don't drive fancy new cars or live in big houses. In other words we don't spend money on "things" but rather we live well within our means and spend our descretionary money on travel. When we travel we set our sights realistically for our budget. By doing so we can travel often - we may not be able to stay at the Ritz but we don't stay in "fleabag hotels" either.

The worst thing you can do is over extend yourself on travel. After all travel is not an appreciating asset, it is a consumable.

I have never traveled beyond my means. When I was a young single mom, my son and I stayed in the family room at the hostel at Point Reyes for under $10, a llama ranch in Jamestown, cabins in Yosemite and Fish Camp, cheap beach rentals on Balboa Island, and in Laguna Beach.

The best meal ever is a $4 sandwich from the San Benito Deli in Half Moon Bay, CA, eaten at Fitzgerald's Marine Preserve.

I was lucky to come of age in the hippie era, when you wore your poverty like a badge of righteousness, and I went to college at the beach and entertained myself with sunsets.

I love all those funky B & B's and cottages that are in many tourist towns in California, like Guerneville, Calistoga, St. Helena, Boulder Creek.

Now I can afford more expensive places to stay. I used to feel too guilty to enjoy myself, but I can get used to the Mauna Lani lifestyle.

Well said, Roams. I love to travel but always travel cheaply. I am a master at getting bumped for free tickets. On a trip last year I didn't get bumped but due to a canceled flight, a flight that was late causing me to miss a connection and luggage temporarily lost, I was able to finagle 4 extra free trips (8 round trip tickets)for my son and myself.
I research expedia for cheap hotels. I shop around for the best rental car deal. Don't eat at fancy restaurants. Sometimes I get ready made sandwiches from a deli or grocery. Inside cabin on a cruise. Finding bargains is half the fun.

Probably yes.

No, I never pay interest on credit cards, but I could've saved the money for retirement, or to leave as inheritance to my children.

When on vacation, I try to spend as little as I can within reason. I don't need a penthouse for myself, but the area must be safe and convenient. And I am ready to pay a little more for a non-stop flight.

We have strict rules about traveling under our means.
Rooms need to be comfortable and clean, the decor doesn't matter b/c we aren't in there long enough to know. Fortunately, we aren't foodies. This is good, not only do we save money but often we get busy and forget to eat. So we've learned to keep a stash of fruit, bread and some type of protein in our rooms just in case we don't make it some where for a meal.

There are some things that we don't skimp on. For instance, while visiting NYC we didn't go to any of the art museums on the free days/ nights. It just seemed like it would be way to crowded and I wanted time and space to enjoy the museum.

Like others - we save for travel throughout the year and live a fairly frugal lifestyle so that we can put money toward nice trips. We plan based on the money available.

We are also careful with our money on our trips - we research to find nice lodging at a moderate price, only eat at one or two expensive restaurants on a trip and balance that with picnics Our sightseeing isn't particularly expensive and we do the research ahead of time to see what sorts of discounts we can find.

Last summer we went to New Orleans, I printed bunches of coupons off the visitors and convention web site, so between using miles for the airline tickets, going in the off-season so we scored on hotel rates, and those coupons, we had a very nice trip for a very nice price.

Yes - one and only one time and it was this June. We had planned a family trip to Alaska - likely last family trip as our kids are near-adults.

We carefully budgeted - doing what we sometimes do for expensive trips which is DH and/or I do some additional work or "side jobs" to help pay the difference (I am self-employed and can do that and DH does some independent consulting/speaking).

But Alaska turned out to be even more expensive than we thought and we got sucked into the "since we have come so far and are only doing this once". And the experiences with our kids was worth it.

But larger than expected credit card balance from June has already been paid off - by withdrawing more from savings than we had expected.

So special circumstances, and possibly not in the spirit of the answer OP was seeking - since it did not involve credit card debt or making choices involving food or heat when we returned.

I feel a foreign trip should be a special treat and like to stay in accomodation at least on a par with my own home comfort wise. Also willing to pay more for good location. If money was short I would probably go fewer trips in a year. Usually manage to go abroad about 4 times per year for trips varying in length from 3 nights to 2 weeks. I would often prefer to stay in 4 or 5 star hotel for 1 week rather than 2 star hotel for 2 weeks. When I was younger I had the attitude that hotel room was just for sleeping in and was willing to rough it but now i'm 51 appreciate my comfort more. On one recent trip to Paris we arrived at our 2 star hotel which was recommended in a newspaper article as good budget accomodation in Paris. Location was excellent but room was tiny dark and not particularly clean. It would have spoiled our entire trip to stay there and my wife said she would not sit on the bed never mind sleep in it. Fortunately they allowed us to cancel and pay nothing and we got a good 3 star hotel nearby. The thing that surprised me was that this hotel gets reasonably good reports on trip advisor . Maybe we were just unlucky and they were unable to offer us another room as they were fully booked. This has made us less inclined to go too down market for accomodation. I must add on 2 previous occasions we have had perfectly acceptable budget accomodation in Paris and tried to book one of these again but it was fully booked

On business I travel beyond my means.

Every once in a while for a special event we will splurge and go 5* - but not often. And what do you mean by beyond your means? Do we go into debt - absolutely not. Do we look a little more carefully at other discretionary spending for a month or so yes (go to less expensive restaurants etc).

Generally we travel at the 4* level - but looking to pay 3* prices whenever possible.

I can't ever say we have "gone wild" except for one meal or one night at a hotel. And never say "wow, what was I thinking" - it's always a conscious decision.

No, my family & I are frugal travellers.
Wherever I go, public transportation will be the first choice; and economy seats in planes. I prefer B & B than hotels.
Planning a trip is part of the fun!

Great replies...

I meant beyond your means simply as...well...something you can not afford, but you go for it anyways, and pay it off later.

This is a loose question...that anyone can answer in their own way. I personally am frugal. I try my best to get the most out of my dollar. Squeeze from it as much as I can.

Priceline for hotels has become a game for me. I have made out like a bandit sometimes, and paid for it on a few occasions. But never ripped off.

I always book out of season...I do not need 90 degree days in Italy or France to enjoy it. Call me crazy, but I find it romantic to walk the streets of Rome with a chill in the air.

I love a nice hotel, but never pay full price.

Also if anyone is looking to travel on the cheap, via bus, check out megabus.com and boltbus.com

You can get some dirt cheap fares...as low as $1 each way from places like NYC to Philly or NYC to Boston. Other cities include Toronto,Baltimore,Chicago,St Louis etc.

Andy

travelbyandy.com

I always travel within my means..if paying off the credit cards in full each month is the indicator of it being "within my means".

I travel when the time is right, and like good value for my money. Other than that, I rarely regret any travel expenses!

Is this thread an advertisement? I get the impression that it is.

for what? I just asked a general q? Why because I put my blog with my name at the end? Sorry, but it is not an advertisement for any particular airline, travel site or any other company. I am just a fan of travel and love ways to save cash when doing so.