How does anyone afford to travel now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a nurse, so very much true middle class. I live in a VHCOL city. I take 2-3 int’l trips a year by keeping them to a week or less, buying very cheap airfare and going off season/ shoulder season. Once there, I stay in the cheapest hotel I can find that is safe.

Of note, i literally never, ever order DoorDash. Anyone who has ever paid $29 all-in for a single hamburger is not allowed to whine about the costs associated with taking a trip— you are pissing away your money

I don’t pay the premium for Instacart. I don’t have regularly scheduled housecleaners. I go out to eat with friends sparingly, not just because it’s 7 pm and I don’t feel like cooking.

Oh ! And I don’t have a $800-$1000 monthly car pay like a few of my coworkers who wanted the brand new bronco instead of the 18 month old used Corolla.

We have a HHI around 160K with one kid and this is how we manage to travel

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Growing up, it blows my mind when I had peers that have been to places like Japan or Italy. I know plenty of people who make six figures who can’t even afford to travel to Las Vegas. Most companies have cut funding for business travel because it’s expensive to pay for flights and hotels. If you have a family in any major city, I don’t know how on earth you can afford a house and kids and still be able to travel on top of that.

It's points. Airline and credit card points. Here's what they got me over the last 12 months and onward:

- T'giving 2024: London (tickets and all hotels on points)

- Spring break 2025: Morocco (tickets and hotel in Casa on points)

- Summer 2025: Scandinavia (tickets on points, cash for hotels)

- T'giving 2026: Colombia (tickets on points, hotel for 2 days on points)

- Spring break 2026 (upcoming): Italy (tickets on points, hotels in two cities on points)

- Summer 2026 (upcoming): Peru (tickets on points, hotel in Lima on points)

All travel economy for me + two kids.

There is definitely some cash outlay as well but free tickets and some free hotels help enormously. You have to plan way ahead and be flexible with both dates and destinations - if you're committed to finding something, you will.

The elephant in the room is that this level of points is not possible without a) a lot of money for “minimum spends” on the credit cards to get the bonuses and b)willingness to apply for business cards because there simply aren’t enough personal cards to accumulate all these points without hitting bank limits.

Right ,getting these points is not free. You have to spend tons of money to get points high enough to use on even ONE hotel night stay. And some of these travel influencers who hawk these cards are getting more points from their referral links.

That's just...not true.

Chase Ink cards give a 75K-100K point bonus for spending 6k to 8K over a three-months period. This number of points will buy three nights at a Hyatt in Paris or up to ten months at a Hyatt in a less central city (ex. Cape Town, Lima, Casablanca).

But you have to be willing to open a business credit card for a business you don’t have in order to do this.

No you do not. You apply as a sole proprietor and just say you’re doing some consulting.

Thai requires a willingness to lie for most people.

These financial institutions lie, cheat, and deceive their customers. Why should anyone have the slightest hesitation to lie to them?

Wow...

[Anonymous]

Lifestyle choices. Some people prioritize and save for travel. Others prioritize other things (homes, cars, some other material thing).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The thing I don't understand are the people who fly business class all the time when they go on vacation. And pay for it with cash, not points.

Just for fun, I've looked at business class seats on some of the recent flights I've taken and they are THOUSANDS of dollars more. Like some of them were in excess of $10k. For one business class ticket.

These must be some rich mo-fos!

Economy seats aren’t cheap either

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s definitely points. My husband travels for work and it really adds up. Our flights are free for the 4 us to travel to Europe and Iceland this summer round trip. I booked a couple of cheap air bnbs as well. It’s definitely doable.

Many, many people do not travel extensively for work to get these kinds of benefits. Consider yourself very lucky, moreso than it being "doable." It's only doable if you have a job where you travel a great deal AND are able to keep the points for personal use.

Exactly. Most companies these days are cutting business travel as a whole

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s definitely points. My husband travels for work and it really adds up. Our flights are free for the 4 us to travel to Europe and Iceland this summer round trip. I booked a couple of cheap air bnbs as well. It’s definitely doable.

Many, many people do not travel extensively for work to get these kinds of benefits. Consider yourself very lucky, moreso than it being "doable." It's only doable if you have a job where you travel a great deal AND are able to keep the points for personal use.

Exactly. Most companies these days are cutting business travel as a whole

I hate when DH travels for work and I’m so glad it isn’t that often. I would not consider that lucky at all. We travel for pleasure but we either use CC points or just pay cash.

[Anonymous]

I travel business class. Not because I can afford to; rather because I can’t afford not to.

[Anonymous]

I travel for work and the the family on 1-2 vacations a year using points/miles

[Anonymous]

Like others said, we prioritize travel over other things, but we don't deprive ourself of everything.

- small house
- one car (a Subaru, we bought new because it was a better deal than a recent-year used but again it's our only car)
- eat out 1-2 times per month, otherwise cook at home
- rarely go to movies, concerts, sports games, etc., they're so expensive
- no travel sports or other expensive activities
- we save, but don't max out IRA/401k most years. ILs worked and worked and never spent money and now that they are retired they are too feeble/tired to travel. I'd rather travel now while we can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like others said, we prioritize travel over other things, but we don't deprive ourself of everything.

- small house
- one car (a Subaru, we bought new because it was a better deal than a recent-year used but again it's our only car)
- eat out 1-2 times per month, otherwise cook at home
- rarely go to movies, concerts, sports games, etc., they're so expensive
- no travel sports or other expensive activities
- we save, but don't max out IRA/401k most years. ILs worked and worked and never spent money and now that they are retired they are too feeble/tired to travel. I'd rather travel now while we can.

That’s great that you travel, but why do you skip culture at home to go do it somewhere else?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like others said, we prioritize travel over other things, but we don't deprive ourself of everything.

- small house
- one car (a Subaru, we bought new because it was a better deal than a recent-year used but again it's our only car)
- eat out 1-2 times per month, otherwise cook at home
- rarely go to movies, concerts, sports games, etc., they're so expensive
- no travel sports or other expensive activities
- we save, but don't max out IRA/401k most years. ILs worked and worked and never spent money and now that they are retired they are too feeble/tired to travel. I'd rather travel now while we can.

That’s great that you travel, but why do you skip culture at home to go do it somewhere else?

NP- Concerts, musicals and ballet are not affordable anymore or justifiable for most people unless you get discounted tickets through work or similar. Just one outing can cost 1k for a family. That's several plane tickets to another location, where this poster is likely going to museums and not concerts either.

[Anonymous]

Personally, I don't see the value in most travel. With 3 teens, the cost is prohibitive and the ratio of cost:value just isn't there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like others said, we prioritize travel over other things, but we don't deprive ourself of everything.

- small house
- one car (a Subaru, we bought new because it was a better deal than a recent-year used but again it's our only car)
- eat out 1-2 times per month, otherwise cook at home
- rarely go to movies, concerts, sports games, etc., they're so expensive
- no travel sports or other expensive activities
- we save, but don't max out IRA/401k most years. ILs worked and worked and never spent money and now that they are retired they are too feeble/tired to travel. I'd rather travel now while we can.

That’s great that you travel, but why do you skip culture at home to go do it somewhere else?

NP- Concerts, musicals and ballet are not affordable anymore or justifiable for most people unless you get discounted tickets through work or similar. Just one outing can cost 1k for a family. That's several plane tickets to another location, where this poster is likely going to museums and not concerts either.

This. It’s so expensive!

We buy maybe one set of “commercial” tickets (4 of us) a year and I watch prices closely. It can be a Broadway type show or a concert. But we do go to community theater and even the high school shows on occasion. High school theater/choir is unbelievable these days. We also do lawn seats at amphitheater concerts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like others said, we prioritize travel over other things, but we don't deprive ourself of everything.

- small house
- one car (a Subaru, we bought new because it was a better deal than a recent-year used but again it's our only car)
- eat out 1-2 times per month, otherwise cook at home
- rarely go to movies, concerts, sports games, etc., they're so expensive
- no travel sports or other expensive activities
- we save, but don't max out IRA/401k most years. ILs worked and worked and never spent money and now that they are retired they are too feeble/tired to travel. I'd rather travel now while we can.

That’s great that you travel, but why do you skip culture at home to go do it somewhere else?

Because our money isn't endless and I have to prioritize- I value travel over these other things. It adds up. There are free museums, etc. here for culture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like others said, we prioritize travel over other things, but we don't deprive ourself of everything.

- small house
- one car (a Subaru, we bought new because it was a better deal than a recent-year used but again it's our only car)
- eat out 1-2 times per month, otherwise cook at home
- rarely go to movies, concerts, sports games, etc., they're so expensive
- no travel sports or other expensive activities
- we save, but don't max out IRA/401k most years. ILs worked and worked and never spent money and now that they are retired they are too feeble/tired to travel. I'd rather travel now while we can.

That’s great that you travel, but why do you skip culture at home to go do it somewhere else?

NP- Concerts, musicals and ballet are not affordable anymore or justifiable for most people unless you get discounted tickets through work or similar. Just one outing can cost 1k for a family. That's several plane tickets to another location, where this poster is likely going to museums and not concerts either.

This. I wanted to take my kids to Les Mis and it was going to be close to 600 dollars (minus dinner out, since we live up in Baltimore) for the 3 of us. That’s insane. I’m not saying the actors don’t deserve it but just that for us, a middleclsss family , it’s not an affordable activity for a weekend, which makes me sad.