Vacation expenses

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is eye opening considering how many people on DCUM act like it’s super pitiful if your annual vacations are to places like Rehoboth and Orlando. I also don’t understand how people are spending this little.

We are going to Key West for Spring Break and staying in 1 hotel room at a mid-level full service chain (Marriott, Hilton). Our flights and hotel alone are $6-7k once you factor in checking 1 big suitcase for all 4 of us, Uber to/from airport, resort fees and taxes, etc. It’s easily a $10k trip with a car rental, meals out, and excursions like renting kayaks and swimming with dolphins. And it seems like we always stay at really dumpy hotels compared to other families we know in a similar income bracket!

We’re traveling to a wedding on the West coast this summer and will tack on a national park trip afterwards. I’m sure the whole thing will cost $20k and we’ll be gone 2-2.5 weeks. A trip to Europe or South America would be equally costly.

We are just better shoppers than you? We are going to AZ for spring break. Flights were $400x4 ($1600) and hotel is averaging $400x7 ($2800). Rental car is $400. So together those three are $4800, not $6-7k.

Do you plan to eat or do anything there?

I was responding to PP who said “flights and hotel alone are $6-7k.” It doesn’t cost that to go to Key West if you are a smart shopper.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is eye opening considering how many people on DCUM act like it’s super pitiful if your annual vacations are to places like Rehoboth and Orlando. I also don’t understand how people are spending this little.

We are going to Key West for Spring Break and staying in 1 hotel room at a mid-level full service chain (Marriott, Hilton). Our flights and hotel alone are $6-7k once you factor in checking 1 big suitcase for all 4 of us, Uber to/from airport, resort fees and taxes, etc. It’s easily a $10k trip with a car rental, meals out, and excursions like renting kayaks and swimming with dolphins. And it seems like we always stay at really dumpy hotels compared to other families we know in a similar income bracket!

We’re traveling to a wedding on the West coast this summer and will tack on a national park trip afterwards. I’m sure the whole thing will cost $20k and we’ll be gone 2-2.5 weeks. A trip to Europe or South America would be equally costly.

I agree, I’m always suspicious of DCUM travel costs. I think one thing that might happen is that people just remember the flights and hotels, but don’t add in costs for meals and activities.

Also, for us, we end up with higher priced flights because we won’t do a connection to save money or take really early or late flights. We also have to take vacations according to the school calendar, which adds to costs.

We’re a family of four, 300k HHI, and our travel budget is generally between 10k-20k.

You have to bargain shop. You stay at an under $200 a night hotel. If you have younger kids, before 6th grade (or maybe 6th depending on what classes they are taking) you go during the school year, early fall is great. You fly into a nearby airport if it's cheaper and rent a car. You go to mostly fast casual vs. expensive dinners. You use an air miles credit card, like South West. You find any available discounts (for us, usually military). You consider what things cost.

$20K for a West Coast trip seems a bit crazy.

That’s the worst case scenario if we go to Alaska instead of Banff, but I don’t think it’s that crazy. I also think people who claim their 10 day Europe trip was $10k are the same people who claim their commute to DC from Leesburg is less than an hour.

Flights are $3200 before checking any bags - and bags will be checked considering it’s a formal wedding with 3 dress-up events followed by hiking/kayaking. Hotel for 14 nights is $7000 with taxes and fees - we don’t get to choose where we stay for the family wedding part of the trip.
That’s $10k before Uber to/fro the airport, renting a car and buying gas in 2 different cities, renting kayaks and bikes, paying for activities, and food. All the granola bar breakfasts in the world aren’t going to make it a cheaper trip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would love to merge this thread with one on the college forum about middle class (which the OP defines as $300k in DC) and the FAFSA. On that thread the $300k earners claim that there's no way they can afford to save for full pay college tuition. On this thread (and the ski trip one) $300k earners are setting aside $25k/year for vacations. I wonder if it's the same people?

I am not on the college board yet, but I also assume I'm not getting any financial aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would love to merge this thread with one on the college forum about middle class (which the OP defines as $300k in DC) and the FAFSA. On that thread the $300k earners claim that there's no way they can afford to save for full pay college tuition. On this thread (and the ski trip one) $300k earners are setting aside $25k/year for vacations. I wonder if it's the same people?

I am not on the college board yet, but I also assume I'm not getting any financial aid.

+1. We have no illusions of FA unless you manage to retire by then so we can generate “low income” that year.

[Anonymous]

I will admit, I am terribly cheap and since our kids are in middle and high school, we can NEVER travel non-peak. I absolutely refuse to fly us somewhere for thousands of dollars just to be stuck with thousands of other tourists doing the same thing. Made that mistake with Rome one year.

I dunno, maybe we soend 10K?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Those who mentioned Europe is cheaper than US, how well in advance do you book your flight tickets and do you go through travel agencies to find better deals?

I start looking when flights are released (about 11 months out) - I haven't found travel agencies to help me save money. I do the google flight explore feature a lot.

you must live in a time warp. 11 months out does not matter these days. you’re not gonna get affordable tickets unless you pull kids from school and go way off peak.

[Anonymous]

We are in this income range and spend 20-30K per year. Usually one big international trip and then some long weekends or a week or so in other US destinations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Those who mentioned Europe is cheaper than US, how well in advance do you book your flight tickets and do you go through travel agencies to find better deals?

I start looking when flights are released (about 11 months out) - I haven't found travel agencies to help me save money. I do the google flight explore feature a lot.

you must live in a time warp. 11 months out does not matter these days. you’re not gonna get affordable tickets unless you pull kids from school and go way off peak.

You get cheapest if you pull kids out of school. If you have a high schooler like me who doesn't want to miss school - the best I can do is look for the best deal as soon as flights are released.

[Anonymous]

We have a HHI of about $400k and we’re a family of 5. We spend about $30-40k on vacations per year, but travel is a priority for our family. We do Caribbean for 1-2 weeks and then another cultural trip (Europe, Asia, Latin America) for 1-2 weeks, plus some local weekend trips each year. I don’t see how a family of 5 can travel for much under $15k for any international trip. I set a Google flight alert and try to get the cheapest nonstop flights and it’s usually between $5-10k for flights alone for our family. We don’t stay in fancy hotels, but prioritize location over amenities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a HHI of about $400k and we’re a family of 5. We spend about $30-40k on vacations per year, but travel is a priority for our family. We do Caribbean for 1-2 weeks and then another cultural trip (Europe, Asia, Latin America) for 1-2 weeks, plus some local weekend trips each year. I don’t see how a family of 5 can travel for much under $15k for any international trip. I set a Google flight alert and try to get the cheapest nonstop flights and it’s usually between $5-10k for flights alone for our family. We don’t stay in fancy hotels, but prioritize location over amenities.

What is a cultural trip? You can do cultural trips in the US or non cultural ones abroad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a HHI of about $400k and we’re a family of 5. We spend about $30-40k on vacations per year, but travel is a priority for our family. We do Caribbean for 1-2 weeks and then another cultural trip (Europe, Asia, Latin America) for 1-2 weeks, plus some local weekend trips each year. I don’t see how a family of 5 can travel for much under $15k for any international trip. I set a Google flight alert and try to get the cheapest nonstop flights and it’s usually between $5-10k for flights alone for our family. We don’t stay in fancy hotels, but prioritize location over amenities.

What is a cultural trip? You can do cultural trips in the US or non cultural ones abroad.

We try and do a "cultural" trip in a different country, where we visit and explore a different place and try to have a different cultural experience each year, focused more on learning and exploration (museums, tours, etc), rather than a restorative/relaxing beach experience, which we get from our Caribbean trip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a HHI of about $400k and we’re a family of 5. We spend about $30-40k on vacations per year, but travel is a priority for our family. We do Caribbean for 1-2 weeks and then another cultural trip (Europe, Asia, Latin America) for 1-2 weeks, plus some local weekend trips each year. I don’t see how a family of 5 can travel for much under $15k for any international trip. I set a Google flight alert and try to get the cheapest nonstop flights and it’s usually between $5-10k for flights alone for our family. We don’t stay in fancy hotels, but prioritize location over amenities.

What is a cultural trip? You can do cultural trips in the US or non cultural ones abroad.

We try and do a "cultural" trip in a different country, where we visit and explore a different place and try to have a different cultural experience each year, focused more on learning and exploration (museums, tours, etc), rather than a restorative/relaxing beach experience, which we get from our Caribbean trip.

I wish international "cultural trips" weren't so expensive. I maybe need to find a way to make is less so. We did that for our family vacation last year, and it didn't feel like vacation. We're flipping back to a new part of the Caribbean this year...but it'd be great to do both if we could.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a HHI of about $400k and we’re a family of 5. We spend about $30-40k on vacations per year, but travel is a priority for our family. We do Caribbean for 1-2 weeks and then another cultural trip (Europe, Asia, Latin America) for 1-2 weeks, plus some local weekend trips each year. I don’t see how a family of 5 can travel for much under $15k for any international trip. I set a Google flight alert and try to get the cheapest nonstop flights and it’s usually between $5-10k for flights alone for our family. We don’t stay in fancy hotels, but prioritize location over amenities.

What is a cultural trip? You can do cultural trips in the US or non cultural ones abroad.

We try and do a "cultural" trip in a different country, where we visit and explore a different place and try to have a different cultural experience each year, focused more on learning and exploration (museums, tours, etc), rather than a restorative/relaxing beach experience, which we get from our Caribbean trip.

I wish international "cultural trips" weren't so expensive. I maybe need to find a way to make is less so. We did that for our family vacation last year, and it didn't feel like vacation. We're flipping back to a new part of the Caribbean this year...but it'd be great to do both if we could.

Agree! I have some sticker shock, this year in particular, on what we're spending to go to Italy for 2 weeks. However, I went entirely through a travel agency. I suspect if I booked everything separately on my own and did some price comparison shopping I could have saved some money, but not enough to justify the time that would have spent. And plane tickets are astronomical this year!! Maybe next year we'll do a "cultural" trip in the US to save some $$$.

[Anonymous]

We spend around $12k in vacations. Our spring break trip to Hawaii (2 weeks) will run us around $8k. We're burning a ton of points across hotels and flights, which is why it's so cheap. Then we'll have a family beach trip with extended family (yearly occurrence), and a smaller fall trip.

Family of 3. I love being thrifty and seeing how far I can stretch a buck, especially vacation wise. For Hawaii we're flying round trip from IAD to LAX, then LAX to HNL. To/From IAD is solely points. We booked to/from Hawaii a week after the flight opened for $1,500. We're staying overnight in the Hyatt attached to LAX on points (and hopefully that helps with the time changes).

We just booked our rental car ($500 for the entire 2 weeks thanks to some reward points there as well) which means we can grocery shop keeping our food total lower.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are 300-400 HHI, family of 3-5, how much do you spend on vacations every year?

35k last year