Reply to Traveling internationally is cheaper than domestic travel

Forum Index » Travel Discussion

Reply to "Traveling internationally is cheaper than domestic travel "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I took my children to Spain last summer for 2 weeks and the whole trip cost less than a Bethany rental, flight included.[/quote]

This is not believable.

Well, I guess if you rent a massive house in Bethany and a tiny place in the middle of nowhere in Spain. And I agree that Spain is cheaper overall, but flights would basically make the costs break even.

There’s no need to exaggerate to prove your point. It just makes you look ridiculous. [/quote]

That probably isn't far off.

I just looked and the average weekly rental for a 3 bedroom Bethany house is 4300 per week.  Flights to Spain next summer are about $750.  Food is far cheaper as are accommodations (2 bedroom in central Madrid during the summer is 1500-2500 for 2 weeks).  I bet it would be cheaper to go to Spain for 2 weeks.[/quote]

Where are you seeing $750?  I just checked and iAd to mad for 6/25-7/5, the cheapest is $807 but requires an 18 hour flight in exonomy!  Reasonable flight times are $1051 for economy.  So I think if you are talking about a family of 4, you need at least 2 weeks vacation to make Europe more affordable plus need to be willing to fly economy red eye.

Also, I’m no longer psyched about renting apartments in anticipation in any place since I saw a new thing about the number of people who have secret cameras in those places and are uploading videos to the dark web.  Particularly with my teen girls…..I’m really creeped out by the idea that someone could be filming them.  We’ve also found that the mattresses in rental apartments are so cheap no one gets a decent nights sleep.  I’ll compromise on a lot when traveling but everyone is just so cranky after sleeping on bad mattresses plus my husbands back will actually go out — so that  is a priority for me.  
Obviously those are preferences for us but I feel like all the people who are saying Europe is so much cheaper are comparing apples and oranges, or ignoring some significant compromises you have to make in order for Europe to be cheaper.

I agree food, activities, train tickets are all way cheaper in Europe.  Hotel prices vary widely depending on where you are.  Like London is pretty comparable to DC prices, and I think Madrid was maybe more, at least in summer.  Small towns tend to be cheaper but that’s true here too.  I guess the difference is that small town Spain or Italy is more interesting than a random small town in most of America.  [/quote]

DP. Then don't go. But in case you do want to go, here are some tips:

- Checking flights on one day on a whim is not a good way to get a good, affordable flight to Europe. Also because Europe is insanely easy to get around, a common thing budget travelers do is travel to a less expensive destination for flights and then combine it with another city where flights can be pricier. Madrid is pricier destination. I'd likely fly into Lisbon or Barcelona and do a multi-city trip -- you'll get a much cheaper flight and train travel is very reasonable, plus you get to visit multiple cities.

- The hidden camera thing is psycho. Sorry, it is. A hotelier could also put hidden cameras in a hotel room, does that mean you won't stay in any hotel that wasn't a big chain? Even then, what's to stop a sketchy hotel manager from putting cameras in the bathroom of your Marriot? Like if you are going to be that distrusting because of some random rumor you heard online one time, you aren't going to be able to travel anywhere. I've stayed in dozens of different spots in Europe that were very affordably priced, including chain hotels, indie hotels, Air BnBs, private rentals, even nice hostels. I vet them by checking reviews extensively and try to get recommendations from friends whenever I can.

- But if you really don't want to stay in apartments, most European capitals have a lot more mid priced hotels than you find in the US. It's for the same reason you also find more low and mid-priced food there -- many Europeans don't have that much money. Their incomes are much lower than in the US and their taxes are higher, so when Europeans travel around, they have less money to spend on hotels and food. Thus, there is large demand for mid-price options and cities generally offer these (London is really the only city in Europe where I feel it is hard to find mid priced options or where the mid priced options are kind of trash).

When I travel in the US, I feel like I make a million compromises in order to make it more affordable. Staying a mile from the beach because we can't afford anything on the beach. Staying in hotels that are really substandard when traveling in very pricy places because all the nicer hotels are $600 a night. Skipping certain "must see" activities because they are insanely expensive. I love that Europe allows me to do things that I find out of reach in the US, like staying in a central, walkable neighborhood (yes in a lower priced, less fancy hotel, but still good enough and right where I want to be). I love that most of the "must-sees" in any European capital are usually pretty affordable or have an affordable option for seeing them. I don't feel constantly gouged when I'm traveling in Europe whereas in the US I often do.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics