Anonymous
12/08/2025 10:47
Subject: Traveling internationally is cheaper than domestic travel
Anonymous wrote:US destinations with a lot of cheap flights can be less expensive, but otherwise I agree with OP. Like Florida is usually the cheapest vacation we can book (we don't go places like Disney or Universal Studios, we just do beach trips to FL) that involves a plane.
But flights to the Western US are often comparable to flights to Europe in cost. We've definitely booked flights to LA and SF that cost more than flights we've booked to Europe, where there are just more deals to be had on airlines like SAS or Iceland Air. Accommodations are cheaper in most European cities. It can depend on exchange rate (for instance Denmark is always pricier for this reason) but there just tend to be more mid price acceptable accommodations. Like I've stayed in so many hotels in Paris that were around $150/night including all taxes and fees and were perfectly lovely -- well located, often with complimentary breakfast. I haven't been in the last three years so I'm sure prices have gone up, but since it's now hard to find a hotel for less than $400 in even places like St. Louis or Charleston, I feel pretty confident Paris still wins on this front.
But one place Europe really beats out US cities is that it's often so much cheaper to eat and get around because of the way the cities are laid out and the public transit options. European cities are walkable with lots of parks and pretty vistas, and plenty of public transit. This means it's easy to have super cheap meals by doing things like getting pastries or sandwiches or even just buying charcuterie at a grocery store, and then going to one of the many public parks (which often have public art, fountains, views of monuments etc.) and eating there. When the weather is bad, there are still food halls and indoor public spaces that often have fun architecture, play spaces for kids, etc. In the US, this is harder to do and you wind up doing way more of your meals at restaurants.
Also, since the vast majority of US cities either require a car rental (and require you to pay for parking) or require cabs, you wind up spending tons on transit in US cities. Whereas in Europe you can often get a multi day transit pass for very little and get literally anywhere you want to go with it -- museums, shopping, the beach, hiking trails. You can save hundreds of dollars this way.
And then in addition, transit between European cities is usually so cheap, via trains or the little budget airlines (I vastly prefer the train). So you can do a trip where you visit multiple cities without adding hugely to your expenses, meaning you really get bang for your buck out of your flight. In the US, you can't do this unless you drive or pay for flights between cities. Well the cost of a rental car between LA and SF, or a flight between same, is going to be many multiples the cost of a train ride between Paris and Brussels, or Rome and Milan. Plus it will take longer since you either have to drive for hours or travel to and from airports outside each city, whereas the train stations in Europe are all centrally located.
When a flight to LA is $600 and a flight to Paris is $800, Paris more than makes up for the difference with all these other cost savings. So yes, in many instances, travel to Europe is cheaper than travel within the US.
Hawaii and Alaska are also way, way more expensive than Europe, the Caribbean, or most of Central America, because of airfare and accommodations. I have no idea why anyone on the Eastern side of the US ever goes to Hawaii unless they are wealthy. You could visit Jamaica or St. Thomas or Costa Rica or Panama or Belize for so much less.
Your post is ridiculous. "Europe" is closer to the East coast than Hawaii and Alaska. Comparing Jamaica to Hawaii and calling them equal? GTFO. There is nothing stopping you from going to a grocery store in a US city and eating in the park rather than going to a sit down restaurant. There are also plenty of out of the way places in "Europe" that are best accessed by car, which is a much more expensive way to travel than in the US.
Anonymous
12/08/2025 10:41
Subject: Traveling internationally is cheaper than domestic travel
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I took my children to Spain last summer for 2 weeks and the whole trip cost less than a Bethany rental, flight included.
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.
Agreed- on these types of posts, detail is needed to support these kinds of claims. We have had slightly cheaper trips to Europe than going to the western US, for example, because we use points for flights in both instances, and hotels/rentals and food is cheaper for similar places- meaning apples to apples comparison, a nice mountain spot in developed part of France is cheaper than a nice mountain spot in a developed part of say Montana (like the areas around Glacier National Park).
Anonymous
12/08/2025 10:41
Subject: Traveling internationally is cheaper than domestic travel
For skiing we’re definitely looking at Europe from here on out. It costs $1100 each for plane tickets to Steamboat Springs or other CO resorts and lodging is $700/night or more. Ski school costs are insane but I think our kids are finally ok on their own. We don’t vacation the rest of the year to afford this ski trip…it’s nuts. If anyone has suggestions for great skiing in Europe at much better prices we’re all ears.
Anonymous
12/08/2025 10:39
Subject: Re:Traveling internationally is cheaper than domestic travel
Hawaii and Alaska are also way, way more expensive than Europe, the Caribbean, or most of Central America, because of airfare and accommodations. I have no idea why anyone on the Eastern side of the US ever goes to Hawaii unless they are wealthy. You could visit Jamaica or St. Thomas or Costa Rica or Panama or Belize for so much less.
+1
And we love Hawaii, having on several occasions spent months remote working there and would repeat. That said, I would direct a mid-Atlantic family seeking beach/tropics to the Caribbean. You get way more if your time and money are limited. The only exception is if they really, really need state-similar infrastructure and state-like familiarity and feel. We personally dislike this about Hawaii, but I understand why people would want this.
Anonymous
12/08/2025 10:38
Subject: Traveling internationally is cheaper than domestic travel
Nobody here is comparing apples to apples.
Anonymous
12/08/2025 10:33
Subject: Traveling internationally is cheaper than domestic travel
Anonymous wrote:I took my children to Spain last summer for 2 weeks and the whole trip cost less than a Bethany rental, flight included.
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.
Anonymous
12/08/2025 10:32
Subject: Traveling internationally is cheaper than domestic travel
Anonymous wrote:Just did a long trip to France and I was shocked at how much cheaper food was. I think DC prices have just risen very fast. And hotels in the US are $$$. One night in NYC is like a week in Europe.
Another nice thing about longer trips to Europe is that you can often rent a condo or house for a lot less per night if you are renting for a month. So if you have the option (my work allows me to work remotely from anywhere for several weeks a year so we've done this every summer for the last few years), you can go rent an apartment in a place like Vienna for a month and then do some train trips to other cities with a handful of overnights, and just have an insanely economical, long vacation where you see multiple European cities, eat amazingly well, see tons of art, see both city and countryside, for about what you'd pay for half that time in Corolla. For us it's a no brainer.
Anonymous
12/08/2025 10:26
Subject: Traveling internationally is cheaper than domestic travel
US destinations with a lot of cheap flights can be less expensive, but otherwise I agree with OP. Like Florida is usually the cheapest vacation we can book (we don't go places like Disney or Universal Studios, we just do beach trips to FL) that involves a plane.
But flights to the Western US are often comparable to flights to Europe in cost. We've definitely booked flights to LA and SF that cost more than flights we've booked to Europe, where there are just more deals to be had on airlines like SAS or Iceland Air. Accommodations are cheaper in most European cities. It can depend on exchange rate (for instance Denmark is always pricier for this reason) but there just tend to be more mid price acceptable accommodations. Like I've stayed in so many hotels in Paris that were around $150/night including all taxes and fees and were perfectly lovely -- well located, often with complimentary breakfast. I haven't been in the last three years so I'm sure prices have gone up, but since it's now hard to find a hotel for less than $400 in even places like St. Louis or Charleston, I feel pretty confident Paris still wins on this front.
But one place Europe really beats out US cities is that it's often so much cheaper to eat and get around because of the way the cities are laid out and the public transit options. European cities are walkable with lots of parks and pretty vistas, and plenty of public transit. This means it's easy to have super cheap meals by doing things like getting pastries or sandwiches or even just buying charcuterie at a grocery store, and then going to one of the many public parks (which often have public art, fountains, views of monuments etc.) and eating there. When the weather is bad, there are still food halls and indoor public spaces that often have fun architecture, play spaces for kids, etc. In the US, this is harder to do and you wind up doing way more of your meals at restaurants.
Also, since the vast majority of US cities either require a car rental (and require you to pay for parking) or require cabs, you wind up spending tons on transit in US cities. Whereas in Europe you can often get a multi day transit pass for very little and get literally anywhere you want to go with it -- museums, shopping, the beach, hiking trails. You can save hundreds of dollars this way.
And then in addition, transit between European cities is usually so cheap, via trains or the little budget airlines (I vastly prefer the train). So you can do a trip where you visit multiple cities without adding hugely to your expenses, meaning you really get bang for your buck out of your flight. In the US, you can't do this unless you drive or pay for flights between cities. Well the cost of a rental car between LA and SF, or a flight between same, is going to be many multiples the cost of a train ride between Paris and Brussels, or Rome and Milan. Plus it will take longer since you either have to drive for hours or travel to and from airports outside each city, whereas the train stations in Europe are all centrally located.
When a flight to LA is $600 and a flight to Paris is $800, Paris more than makes up for the difference with all these other cost savings. So yes, in many instances, travel to Europe is cheaper than travel within the US.
Hawaii and Alaska are also way, way more expensive than Europe, the Caribbean, or most of Central America, because of airfare and accommodations. I have no idea why anyone on the Eastern side of the US ever goes to Hawaii unless they are wealthy. You could visit Jamaica or St. Thomas or Costa Rica or Panama or Belize for so much less.
But flights to the Western US are often comparable to flights to Europe in cost. We've definitely booked flights to LA and SF that cost more than flights we've booked to Europe, where there are just more deals to be had on airlines like SAS or Iceland Air. Accommodations are cheaper in most European cities. It can depend on exchange rate (for instance Denmark is always pricier for this reason) but there just tend to be more mid price acceptable accommodations. Like I've stayed in so many hotels in Paris that were around $150/night including all taxes and fees and were perfectly lovely -- well located, often with complimentary breakfast. I haven't been in the last three years so I'm sure prices have gone up, but since it's now hard to find a hotel for less than $400 in even places like St. Louis or Charleston, I feel pretty confident Paris still wins on this front.
But one place Europe really beats out US cities is that it's often so much cheaper to eat and get around because of the way the cities are laid out and the public transit options. European cities are walkable with lots of parks and pretty vistas, and plenty of public transit. This means it's easy to have super cheap meals by doing things like getting pastries or sandwiches or even just buying charcuterie at a grocery store, and then going to one of the many public parks (which often have public art, fountains, views of monuments etc.) and eating there. When the weather is bad, there are still food halls and indoor public spaces that often have fun architecture, play spaces for kids, etc. In the US, this is harder to do and you wind up doing way more of your meals at restaurants.
Also, since the vast majority of US cities either require a car rental (and require you to pay for parking) or require cabs, you wind up spending tons on transit in US cities. Whereas in Europe you can often get a multi day transit pass for very little and get literally anywhere you want to go with it -- museums, shopping, the beach, hiking trails. You can save hundreds of dollars this way.
And then in addition, transit between European cities is usually so cheap, via trains or the little budget airlines (I vastly prefer the train). So you can do a trip where you visit multiple cities without adding hugely to your expenses, meaning you really get bang for your buck out of your flight. In the US, you can't do this unless you drive or pay for flights between cities. Well the cost of a rental car between LA and SF, or a flight between same, is going to be many multiples the cost of a train ride between Paris and Brussels, or Rome and Milan. Plus it will take longer since you either have to drive for hours or travel to and from airports outside each city, whereas the train stations in Europe are all centrally located.
When a flight to LA is $600 and a flight to Paris is $800, Paris more than makes up for the difference with all these other cost savings. So yes, in many instances, travel to Europe is cheaper than travel within the US.
Hawaii and Alaska are also way, way more expensive than Europe, the Caribbean, or most of Central America, because of airfare and accommodations. I have no idea why anyone on the Eastern side of the US ever goes to Hawaii unless they are wealthy. You could visit Jamaica or St. Thomas or Costa Rica or Panama or Belize for so much less.
Anonymous
12/08/2025 09:59
Subject: Traveling internationally is cheaper than domestic travel
Just did a long trip to France and I was shocked at how much cheaper food was. I think DC prices have just risen very fast. And hotels in the US are $$$. One night in NYC is like a week in Europe.
Anonymous
12/08/2025 09:55
Subject: Traveling internationally is cheaper than domestic travel
Anonymous wrote:Yep, we alway travel overseas and I know we spend less than the neighbors who have never been anywhere but OBX.
I took my children to Spain last summer for 2 weeks and the whole trip cost less than a Bethany rental, flight included.
We never visited OBX or Bethany when we were living in DC for this reason. Sicily or North Carolina is not even a choice.
Anonymous
12/08/2025 09:20
Subject: Traveling internationally is cheaper than domestic travel
I am planning a trip with my sister to Sedona and it’s basically the same cost as a Caribbean trip.
Anonymous
12/08/2025 09:13
Subject: Traveling internationally is cheaper than domestic travel
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Just paid the same to fly to FL as it would cost to go to Spain.
How??? I'm looking at tickets to Florida and the cheap tickets are $64/pp. Even with two bags that's under $300.
I'd rather go to Spain, so do tell!
The TAP flights connecting thru Lisbon are usually cheap—I see under $400 in April. TAP isn’t necessarily my first choice airline but they are fine— unlike say, Spirit or even Frontier. Is that where you are seeing under $300 to Florida?
Anonymous
12/08/2025 09:05
Subject: Traveling internationally is cheaper than domestic travel
Anonymous wrote:Just paid the same to fly to FL as it would cost to go to Spain.
How??? I'm looking at tickets to Florida and the cheap tickets are $64/pp. Even with two bags that's under $300.
I'd rather go to Spain, so do tell!
Anonymous
12/08/2025 09:03
Subject: Traveling internationally is cheaper than domestic travel
The US is not the most expensive country. But it is up there. If you go for long enough, there are many countries that are much less money than being here. But staying at a marriott would be not so smart as you are paying for US corp overcharge. Go local and actually save.
Anonymous
12/08/2025 09:02
Subject: Traveling internationally is cheaper than domestic travel
Anonymous wrote:I took my children to Spain last summer for 2 weeks and the whole trip cost less than a Bethany rental, flight included.
I’d love to know more because I want to go there.
Did you travel around the country and stay in hotels? What cities did you visit?