It's personal.

When we go places, for example, we go with cheap on hotels knowing we are spending 80% of the time sightseeing and really just need a place to sleep so an upgraded hotel room is not enticing for us.

For you Op - do you anticipate spending a lot of time in the room? There's a ton to do on a cruise so will you max out/care your room is bigger? Is there a balcony? Are kids involved?

How long is the cruise?

Is it a middle room? On a different floor (they usually have the deluxe suites at the top)?

This isn’t Sophie’s Choice, it’s a vacation.

We splurge on experiences ar our destination, not the flight (Economy is fine) and not where we only sleep (inexpensive hotels - Hampton Inn for example). But for others the flight or where they sleep is important

Direct flights or if necessary 1 layover that is short, 2 hours of less
Comfortable lodging and if not in a hotel, with full kitchen, dining area, etc…
Experiences and tours at our destination

Anonymous wrote:$200 upgrade for the suite - 1) are you spending enough time in the room to enjoy it? 2) if it were $200 more than the room when you booked, would you have selected it?

These are good questions. You didn't course the larger room in the first place. Why?

I spend almost no time in the hotel room so it likely wouldn't be worth it to me. Whereas $200 would allow me to go a little fancier than normal at a meal.

$200 upgrade for the suite - 1) are you spending enough time in the room to enjoy it? 2) if it were $200 more than the room when you booked, would you have selected it?

I spend on the things that make a trip more like a vacation— world class children’s programming, suites with rooms (or at least divisions) for children, good airplane seats where people get legitimate rest. I would spend the money for the suite if it meant two nights where I slept better or longer.

Some combination of will it improve our trip and can we afford it.

I will spend extra money for a room with 2 beds + a pullout sofa so that my kids don’t have to share a bed, but haven’t yet gotten 2 hotel rooms. I will spend a little extra for queen sized beds vs double beds. And we definitely splurged for a room at old faithful, which I would absolutely do again. It was delightful early in the morning and in the evening.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is personal preference. I will buy the cheapest seats on a flight, whereas others will splurge on first class. I splurge on location, but book moderate hotels in that location. I like to do one nice dinner on vacation, but otherwise look for affordable options. I look for free activities to balance the cost of entry fees. The best things I have splurged on (in my opinion) were private tours of busy museums- we did this at the Louvre and absolutely loved it. Hands down best money I spent the whole trip.

Ha! This is very individual. I get itchy on tours—absolutely hate them, private or otherwise.

Have you been to the Louvre without a private tour? Lately? DP

Doesn’t matter. I hate people talking at me.

I’m a frugal person who loves to travel. I try to maximize convenience/luxury while staying within an affordable range. This means economy class on short flights with at least 4 star hotel rooms. If a longer flight, I might try to upgrade to business class and look for a cheaper hotel.

Anonymous wrote:I splurge on comfort and convenience - pay more for flights out of DCA, nonstop flights, flights that depart between 9am and 5pm. Will upgrade to first/business class on flights that are 5 hours or more whenever possible - often with points or if a good price. Also more for nicer hotels with good locations.

If you can afford to do it, do it.

+1!

I ask myself "will this make me $200 worth of happy?" In your case, having extra space before the cruise would be worth it to me. $200 to just have a fancier room, but still only have two queen beds, wouldn't.

As everyone said, it's a personal decision. For me, the hotel is part of the vacation, so we always spend more for a nicer property in a better location. But I'd never pay for business class flights (instead I just look enviously at all those lucky people stretched out in their lie-flat seats).

We will splurge on comfort and convenience for things that matter to us or that we will use a lot.

We don't spent much time in hotel rooms so rarely upgrade those. Standard rooms are fine. If we are doing a tropical destination, we may pay more for a certain room or building if it's a large property.

We don't upgrade car rentals because we don't really care about cars.

If we are flying internationally, at minimum we will fly whatever the airlines version of premium is or above.

We rarely do tours, but if we do, we will pay for a private one. That way we can customize it to our needs and interests and don't get irritated with others.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is personal preference. I will buy the cheapest seats on a flight, whereas others will splurge on first class. I splurge on location, but book moderate hotels in that location. I like to do one nice dinner on vacation, but otherwise look for affordable options. I look for free activities to balance the cost of entry fees. The best things I have splurged on (in my opinion) were private tours of busy museums- we did this at the Louvre and absolutely loved it. Hands down best money I spent the whole trip.

Ha! This is very individual. I get itchy on tours—absolutely hate them, private or otherwise.

Have you been to the Louvre without a private tour? Lately? DP