How much do you spend on vacation?
 

I'm just curious how much the average person/couple/family spends on their annual vacation. Our family usually spends anywhere from $3,000-$4,000 traveling to some U.S. destimation for a week. Includes airfaire, hotel, food and sightseeing. That seems outrageous!! A) Am I being unrealistic? B) Is this a sign of the times? or C) Should I go outside of U.S. for better value for the money?

If you check previous postings, you will see a long thread on this very topic. It should give you the information you are looking for.

Fascinates me too.<BR>We used to spend a few days to a week at not more than $1000 per week.<BR>Now we spend longer, 2-4 weeks, but still TRY to spend no more than $1000 per week. We prefer to stay longer vs. putting out for more luxuries.<BR>I think that we all differ in our expectations for travel. You and I have the same approx. budget, just proportioned differently. If you're enjoying yourself, don't feel guilty. <BR>Of course you could sometimes get better value for your dollar outside the states. SHOULD you go? Your call!

Curious:<BR>My budget matches yours. We manage a nice vacation for 1 week each year which runs us between 3 and 4 thousand.<BR>I would really love to know how any family of 4 does a week anywhere for $1,000. -- o.k. you can do Myrtle Beach in the Spring for $1,000. but there's no guarantee it will be warm & sunny. (Been there in April and for 2 days it was windy & 60 degrees).<BR>Anyway, I find myself having to save, save, save, just to go once a year!!

I should have mentioned that, with our child grown, there's just the two of us.<BR>"Middle", we did indeed find it difficult once our son became a teenager, to stay on budget. We were all happier with two seperate rooms, for one thing. I did say TRY!<BR>If we go somewhere that costs $3000-$4000 per week, we pare down our vacation time to meet our budget. We opt for budget-mid-priced,nice-but not fancy, lodging, not more than one meal out per day, lots of research on airfare,auto rental rates. Happily, the favorible Canadian exchange rate is allowing us a 4 week trip this year!<BR>Happy Traveling! M.<BR>

Wow! We went to Greece with two teenagers for 17 days and we spent $3200.00 for four of us, including ice cream, postcards, etc. but no airfares which cost us additional $2,157 (for all of us)on Air France from Newark via Paris where we changed planes

We're on a very tight budget, so our travel HAS to be cheap, or it doesn't happen. We save on lodging by staying with relatives, camping, or doing home/auto exchanges. Rarely rent cars. Usually we can use frequent flyer miles. <BR><BR>Our most recent vacation costs for a group of 3 or 4, including all meals, activities, transportation and lodging, have been 10 days in PA/Amish country ($1000), 10 days in Hawaii ($500), 7 days in Palm Beach ($1200), and 3 weeks in England and Wales ($2500).

Debra, the substantial cost of airfare should not be omitted when factoring vacation cost. I'd say $2,200 is a significant expenditure. Your vacation in Greece cost $5500, which still isn't too bad. I'm curious, when did you go?<BR><BR>Here's a few example of what our family of 4 has spent on some recent vacations. I'm including food. 1 week in Nantucket, no air, we drive and take the ferry and rent a house $ 3200. A week in Walt Disney World at a deluxe resort, with air & park tickets $ 3300. A caribbean cruise, with air, $ 3400. A week at an all-inclusive in the caribbean $ 2600. Just my husband and I for 4 nights, 5 days in Bermuda, $ 2200. If the kids came, it would have been considerably more.<BR><BR>On all of these I think I got great deals, I shop around a lot and still I can't get the cost under $ 3000 (well, except for the all-inclusive in Punta-cana, which we'll be leaving for in 3 weeks).<BR><BR>Europe is cheaper once you get there, but airfares for 4 people will run about $ 2000 and more if you go in summer. Plus car rental is very expensive, about $400/week. Lodging and dining out will be less expensive but all told, 10 days in Italy for a family of four can probably be done for $ 4000.<BR><BR>It's the airfare that's a killer. We even stay in the same room as the kids to save money unless we are renting a house. I also don't understand how a family of 4 can vacation for $ 1000. Unless they drive and camp.<BR><BR>Ellen, how on earth did you spend $ 500 for 10 days in Hawaii??? Care to share your secrets?

I just thought of something. One of our friends took his family of four to Atlantis in the Bahamas back in December, when prices were supposedly low. They only stayed 3 nights and got 2 rooms, flew from New York. He said the kids loved it and he got a great deal, it "only" cost him $ 3300 for the 3 days. He thought it was the greatest bargain in the world. I guess it's all relative.

Well, as an example, the three of us just spent a week in Charleston, S.C. (8 days and seven nights). We drove 300 miles each way.<BR><BR>Gas - about $40<BR>Hotel - about $550<BR>Sightseeing - about $150<BR>Food - the hotel included breakfast; about $500; we ate nice dinners most days<BR>Parking - about $50<BR>Souvenirs - about $120<BR><BR>Total - about $1,400<BR><BR>I would say I average around $1,200 for a week on a driving trip, whether it is driving around to historic sites, visiting a city, or going to the beach. That includes souvenirs. <BR><BR>For foreign travel, we spend between $3,000 and $3,500 for two weeks (2 people).<BR><BR>Travel certainly isn't cheap, but I never seem to miss the money because I enjoy it too much.<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>

Forgot to add: <BR><BR>Another $20 - $40 per day for photography - film and developing, but I do take more than the average number of photos.

nina, I have no secrets other than what I posted already. <BR><BR>For the $500 trip to Hawaii, I used FF miles for the tickets and stayed with a cousin who's in the Coast Guard. Our expenditures consisted of $300 for a trip to the Big Island to see the volcano (airfare, rental car, etc), $100 to take my cousins out to dinner, $75 to help with gas and groceries, the trolley at Hanauma Bay, and admission to the maze at the Dole pineapple plantation.

Oh. Well since we have no FF miles nor relatives who live in Hawaii, I'm out of luck!

Yeah, it helps to have military relatives! Got anybody available that you could encourage to join ROTC?<BR><BR>But if you've been to Disney and Caribbean, surely you have some FF miles somewhere? Get one of the credit cards that gives you FF miles on several airlines, so you can top off the miles you've earned by actually flying. I use my FF-miles card for EVERYTHING, groceries, gas, medical co-payments, etc. It really adds up!

There are SO many ways to earn FF miles other than flying! Not just credit cards, but long-distance bonuses, getting double mileage credit on the cards for certain purchases, answering surveys on AOL, etc. There are entire web sites dedicated to discussing how to get bonus ff miles deals.

Just as Dan mentioned the film and developing, which most people neglect because it is purchased before the vacation and developed after, dont forget:<BR><BR>Taxi, to and from home airport<BR><BR>Money spent at airport, food, reading materials, pharmacy, tips, etc.<BR><BR>Travel guides.<BR><BR>Special clothing that probably rarely gets used again (cruise wear).<BR><BR>Kennel charges for pets.<BR><BR>I'm sure I've left many other expenses out, but the above can add several hundred dollars to a trip. I know we spend $100 for a car service roundtrip to JFK.<BR><BR><BR><BR>

Ellen, we do have FF miles, but it never seems we have enough on one airline for a free ticket! We aren't loyal to any one airline, as I go for the cheapest fare. Although recently my husband has been taking the Delta shuttle every week from NY to Washington. It will still take a year before we get enough miles for free tickets! <BR><BR>I am going to look into those other ways to earn miles though. What are the site addresses for the sites that tell you all the ways to earn them? If I can earn them buying groceries I should accumulate enough in a few weeks! Thanks.

WOW!!! I am really in for it then! What do you guys who spend thousands for a close place buy?? I am thinking of taking 300 with me on my honeymoon not including airfare and hotel and car. Am i crazy ?? I gues i should add another zero!

Airfare, hotel and car are the major expenses, closely followed by meals. You might get by with $300, but why not just bring your ATM or credit card along just in case you need more. Since you haven't given us any idea where your honeymoon will be or how long it will be, it's impossible to guess at a budget.

curious haven't you already done this. I topped it so you can remember.

Sorry ! Forgot to tell you, we are going to popano beach fl in october.

We are lucky enough to be able to take two big (7-10 day) vacations a year, plus 2-3 long weekends away. We don't have children so it's just my husband and me. We average about $450 per day, except when we went to Hawaii this year. That vacation cost us about $700 per day. These averages include air, lodging, meals, rental car and/or gas & milage (if driving our car), activities & entertainment and buying souvenirs. However, there are other costs associated with vacations too. Like buying film and developing it, new clothes/shoes/items for the trip, tipping sky caps and bellmen etc, parking fees at the airport etc, etc. We live for our vacations, so we expense them into our annual budget.

geez...you guys are brave. I'm afraid to add it up! :-)

Well, thank you danna. I have read these posts for a couple of years now and truly I have no idea nor do I care, how much we spend. We go, we have a good time, we come back and somehow it all gets paid for. Too much micro managing to figure out how much or to keep track. It's not like we go hog wild and spend, spend, spend. We don't shop or buy souvenirs or anything. We just do what we want to while we are on vacation. Figure we don't pass this way again!

ttt: No. First time posting on this subject. <BR><BR>I feel "better" and "worse" hearing everyone's comments. We love to travel, but OUCH! Just wondered if anyone else shared my pain or had some good budget travel tips. <BR><BR>A FF program would definitely help. We live on the West Coast and want to see different parts of the U.S. So, we usually fly to some part of the country once a year and spend about a week exploring. Last year, we did a "trip within a trip" by flying into Texas and driving from San Antonio to Hill Country to Austin and the Gulf Coast. Then we jumped on a plane and headed to the French Quarter in LA and back through Texas. Airfare for 4 was $1,600, which I thought was pretty good.<BR>Altogether, the airfaire, hotels, rental car and meals sure did add up! <BR>

For easter last year my family of 6 went last minute to st john. We got delta airfare for $300.00 each. And rented a villa with pool for 1700/ week. The villa was discounted because it wasnt rented. This was by far our best vacation yet.

Another post from Curious George.

Susan, how did you find that great air fare, and which villa did you rent? I have looked into taking my family to St. John several times, but the air fare that I have seen for that time of year always comes up at approximately $600 to $700 per person. Please share any information that would make St. John more attainable for us. Thanks very much.

Every penny I can, more pennies than I should . . . but lovin' it!!