Who pays airfare for your family to visit your parents for Christmas/holidays?

[Anonymous]

just curious.

DH, I and our 4 young kids go visit my parents every year around Christmas. The airfare costs around $1500. The rest of the siblings live close and drive there.
My parents only come visit us every 5 years or so, despite us giving an open invitation to the whole family. We wish the 2 of them would visit more, rather than us schlepping our family of 6 on a plane.
I also wish they would offer to pay for all/part of our airfare sometimes. (We both work, and my Dad still works, so we all have some disposable income)

So, when you visit your parents for the holidays or whenever, who pays for tickets? or do you alternate who visits whom?

[Anonymous]

Just say no. Next year stay home. No need to take all of your kids out there unless you want to.

If we go visit our families, we pay for the tickets.

[Anonymous]

We pay.

[Anonymous]

Can you drive instead?

[Anonymous]

Why don’t they visit you more?

[Anonymous]

Why do you care?

[Anonymous]

The cost is on you. Since the rest of your family is within driving distance, it sounds like you moved away. If you really want to have Christmas with your parents every year, then you pay the costs and go.

If I was in your shoes I would go only every other year or maybe once every three years. I think kids should be in their own house/beds on Christmas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:just curious.

DH, I and our 4 young kids go visit my parents every year around Christmas. The airfare costs around $1500. The rest of the siblings live close and drive there.
My parents only come visit us every 5 years or so, despite us giving an open invitation to the whole family. We wish the 2 of them would visit more, rather than us schlepping our family of 6 on a plane.
I also wish they would offer to pay for all/part of our airfare sometimes. (We both work, and my Dad still works, so we all have some disposable income)

So, when you visit your parents for the holidays or whenever, who pays for tickets? or do you alternate who visits whom?

You made the (probably wise) choice to move away, OP.

You pay.

Oh, and an "open invitation" doesn't mean much.

[Anonymous]

We pay and typically visit 1-2 times a year. But my parents also visited us a couple times a year until this past year when they have had health issues that made it not possible for them to travel.

[Anonymous]

You pay of course! Or you don’t go. If I were you, I wouldn’t go every year. My parents live in the northwest and We haven’t gone out there in 9 years. They live in a small town so plane tickets are easily $700/person. The come out to visit us about once a year, but it’s just the two of them compared to the four of us, and they tend to use miles for their tickets.

[Anonymous]

We pay and visit twice a year. My parents also visit twice a year. If I thought they would accept, I'd happily offer to pay their costs, as we have more money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The cost is on you. Since the rest of your family is within driving distance, it sounds like you moved away. If you really want to have Christmas with your parents every year, then you pay the costs and go.

If I was in your shoes I would go only every other year or maybe once every three years. I think kids should be in their own house/beds on Christmas.

+1

[Anonymous]

I never understand this. Adults pay for their own travel expenses. If you can’t afford it, you don’t go.

[Anonymous]

We pay, but we can drive most of the time. If we had to fly, we would not do so on Christmas every year.

[Anonymous]

Why would they pay?