Are upper middle class family gatherings now just luxury travel pissing contests?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can't read all 27 pages but pretty sure others must have pointed out that travel is much cheaper now than it was in the 1980s and 1990s. I grew up solidly UMC, went to private schools, and in those days a trip to Europe every year was on the extravagant side. It was known, yes, but not common. Things were already starting to change in the 1990s as flights became cheaper and it also became much easier to plan a trip overseas yourself thanks to the internet age. Imagine booking a trip in the 1980s pre internet pre email?

Come to think of it, I remember a family trip to England in 1994 and it cost 10,000 for two weeks, including flights and accommodation and food and sightseeing. That same year 10,000 was the tuition at my private school. Today the same school charges 40,000 a year in tuition. The same family trip, traveling the same level we did in 1994, would cost probably around 16-18k.

That's how much cheaper travel has become.

1. Private school tuition has far exceeded inflation
2. 16-18k is still extravagant

Key components of traveling have become much cheaper relative to the 1980s/1990s, mainly flights. The 1990s saw the arrival of the discount domestic flights like Southwest and international flights also became cheaper. It's cheaper, even when factoring in inflation, to fly to Europe today than it was in 1990. I can buy a ticket to Switzerland for August for 700 today, which is less than what you'd have paid in 1995.

Traveling is never cheap-cheap, there's always a cost. But in the basket of eggs for an upper middle class family, traveling is the one egg that has become cheaper relative to the other eggs. That's why people travel more often.

[Anonymous]

A large market of boutique hotels, 3 and 4 star hotels, and airbnb options are available now too. It used to be high end luxury hotels or hostel or flea bag inn, not much between luxury and hostel. Now there is a reasonable hotel in more budgets.

[Anonymous]

Luxury travel is small beans in my circle. We are talking private boarding schools, finishing school, private colleges, elite sports (fencing), more than 2-3 private homes across various counties, private planes, drivers, nannies, house staff for the aforementioned houses, wives involved in various status "charities/non-profs/fundraisers", and vacations on top of all this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Luxury travel is small beans in my circle. We are talking private boarding schools, finishing school, private colleges, elite sports (fencing), more than 2-3 private homes across various counties, private planes, drivers, nannies, house staff for the aforementioned houses, wives involved in various status "charities/non-profs/fundraisers", and vacations on top of all this.

Really great perspective. Thanks for sharing.

A. No one cares
B. That’s not upper middle class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Luxury travel is small beans in my circle. We are talking private boarding schools, finishing school, private colleges, elite sports (fencing), more than 2-3 private homes across various counties, private planes, drivers, nannies, house staff for the aforementioned houses, wives involved in various status "charities/non-profs/fundraisers", and vacations on top of all this.

Yet here you are, slumming it digitally with us proles. Nothing fancier to do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No it didn’t use to be this way.

Is everyone too young to remember the 70s when everyone wanted you to sit in a dark room and watch slides of their vacation? Much as o hate social media, at least it’s not a forced slide show!

[Anonymous]

It may have always been a thing but traveling to more “exotic” things and social media are new. I think it used to just be skiing or beach or Caribbean but now exotic and more out of reach is in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It may have always been a thing but traveling to more “exotic” things and social media are new. I think it used to just be skiing or beach or Caribbean but now exotic and more out of reach is in.

Because it's a lot easier to travel to far destinations. A lot easier. Let me say this one more time: it's a lot easier to travel now, both due to logistics and affordability. That's the answer.

[Anonymous]

Maybe as kids have grown up people are traveling more and that is why they are talking about it more. Also, after Covid many people started to focus on experiences over stuff, so again more traveling and so more talking about it.

[Anonymous]

It’s just super easy to do and super easy to brag about. Google Maps and booking flights, hotels, dinner reservations, trains, and Ubers with a couple taps of your iPhone make even the most exotic locations easy to travel to. And then social media photos let you get bragging mileage out of it, so it feels like you got your money’s worth. I mean instagram and facebook photos are essentially never deleted. It’s a permanent record.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s just super easy to do and super easy to brag about. Google Maps and booking flights, hotels, dinner reservations, trains, and Ubers with a couple taps of your iPhone make even the most exotic locations easy to travel to. And then social media photos let you get bragging mileage out of it, so it feels like you got your money’s worth. I mean instagram and facebook photos are essentially never deleted. It’s a permanent record.

It used to be exponentially more daunting, most relying on close family and friends to guide them. Now anyone with an iPhone and credit card can go anywhere with some confidence. Plus millennials have no or maybe one or two kids much later in life. DINKS have a ton of cash to burn.

[Anonymous]

Just an fyi they people may not always be paying as much as you think for these “luxury vacations.” My family has lots of airline and hotel miles from work travel so it’s often cheaper for us to vacation in other countries where costs are much lower.

We also have lots of international friends so sometimes we stay at someone’s home (as they do with us when they come to the DC area.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Luxury travel is small beans in my circle. We are talking private boarding schools, finishing school, private colleges, elite sports (fencing), more than 2-3 private homes across various counties, private planes, drivers, nannies, house staff for the aforementioned houses, wives involved in various status "charities/non-profs/fundraisers", and vacations on top of all this.

Finishing school? Does this still exist? Like in Switzerland?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Keeping up with the Joneses" used to mean a new Lexus SUV and a country club membership, now it means seeing the Joneses on instagram hiking in Peru, using Epic Passes to ski all season in Vail, and sun bathing in Mykonos.

I mean ... it is the 21st century. People prefer to spend money on experiences over things. Not sure why you are so vexed by this. I would enjoy Mykonos. I have zero interest in driving a Lexus and I don't play golf. So.

It’s literally a scam. People are being duped into flushing large sums of money down the drain.

+100. Who even believes the “experiences over things” BS nowadays anyway? So cliché. I’ve traveled quite a bit and it’s just another form of consumption that gives you pleasure, like a luxury handbag or really nice sheets. Hell, at least the sheets are something you enjoy every single day.

+1000
I am well traveled. Instagram era is next level crazy. Most people are only traveling to post on social media and brag. Its 100% the case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Keeping up with the Joneses" used to mean a new Lexus SUV and a country club membership, now it means seeing the Joneses on instagram hiking in Peru, using Epic Passes to ski all season in Vail, and sun bathing in Mykonos.

I mean ... it is the 21st century. People prefer to spend money on experiences over things. Not sure why you are so vexed by this. I would enjoy Mykonos. I have zero interest in driving a Lexus and I don't play golf. So.

It’s literally a scam. People are being duped into flushing large sums of money down the drain.

+100. Who even believes the “experiences over things” BS nowadays anyway? So cliché. I’ve traveled quite a bit and it’s just another form of consumption that gives you pleasure, like a luxury handbag or really nice sheets. Hell, at least the sheets are something you enjoy every single day.

+1000
I am well traveled. Instagram era is next level crazy. Most people are only traveling to post on social media and brag. Its 100% the case.

You seem bitter.

I travel a lot. So do my friends…. Most people I know don’t post to social media at all. Maybe it’s you that’s the problem?