Personally? $0. I spend $98,000 on that college. They can work to afford a basic plane ticket. Our kid has only complained about the the cost of flights once, and it was because they didn’t plan early and learned a lesson. They live all the way out in Southern California and make it work

Also consider the cost between campus and airport. For some colleges, uber is the primary way, and it can get quite expensive if the distance is 30+ minutes away, so share if possible. Uber and Lyft sometimes price gouge at peak travel times. If there's reliable public transportation (bus or train), that's much more affordable.

Our students costs were the least of it. DC to CA.

We ended up traveling for Thanksgiving the whole family rather than her come home just for the break. Also, we travelled out there for family weekend and also in Spring to visit her.

For her just the four flights for fall, winter break and home at the end of the year.

Make your Thanksgiving plans early no matter what because those are the most expensive flights. The other flights were fine. Agree with accounting for the cost of baggage and flexibility. So annoyed at the new SWA baggage policy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:C’mon. You know this is going to vary wildly. A kid going to CA from DC is very different than a kid going to Maine.

Google flight prices. For kids, you’re going to have move in-Tday, Tday-Xmas, back from Xmas-maybe SB, SB-move-out. Move in & out will need parental round trips plus maybe parent weekends. So that’s, approximately, 2 kid trip & 2 parent/family trips. Multiply out costs adding more for holidays & if you need to end a car & hotel stays

This. Silly to ask…akin to:

I am worried about summer vacation flight costs! What are you paying for that?

DP. Home in May and back to school in August? That is likely to be less expensive than all the other times, which are peak travel times. Summer travel is much more spread out. Summer tickets are the least of your worries.

🤦‍♀️

Im from CA and went to school in TN. My parents would fly to me for fall break, and I would go to friends houses for thanksgiving/easter. I needed a car so would make the drive with a parent or friend at the beginning and end of school year. So that just left flight for winter break and spring break.

I would budget about $4000 a school year.

My DC is at an SEC school where you have to fly. He flies home, maybe three or four times a year, at $500/rt each

There’s also the beginning of the year drop off that I drive to and the end of the year pick up that I drive to just to move him in and out of his apartment or dorm. That involves hotel rooms usually.

Thank you all!

I had not considered things like the storage locker pricing as well! This is all good information for me to have!

Anonymous wrote:A little under $1300/year: NJ to U Mich

Similar price for my kid: DC to UChicago.

A little under $1300/year: NJ to U Mich

Colleges in the Northeast, you can take Amtrak. And you know dates way ahead of time, so you can get good prices.

My kid is lucky to have 2 airports relatively close, so we're able to compare ticket prices- but we usually spend $350-$400, 3-4 times per year. Before selecting a school, I'd recommend pricing out airline tix for your kid's top 3 schools and factor that into your decision making. Something else to consider is a storage unit for all the dorm stuff over the summer if it's too far to easily drive. That can run anywhere from $250+ each year.

CA school
$500-700 per RT

One way to start school year
RT Thanksgiving
RT Christmas
RT sometime in spring
One way back home unless they have an internship for the summer elsewhere in which case add like 2 more round trips to visit home during the summer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:C’mon. You know this is going to vary wildly. A kid going to CA from DC is very different than a kid going to Maine.

Google flight prices. For kids, you’re going to have move in-Tday, Tday-Xmas, back from Xmas-maybe SB, SB-move-out. Move in & out will need parental round trips plus maybe parent weekends. So that’s, approximately, 2 kid trip & 2 parent/family trips. Multiply out costs adding more for holidays & if you need to end a car & hotel stays

This. Silly to ask…akin to:

I am worried about summer vacation flight costs! What are you paying for that?

DP. Home in May and back to school in August? That is likely to be less expensive than all the other times, which are peak travel times. Summer travel is much more spread out. Summer tickets are the least of your worries.

Adding, generally we have not sent a parent to help with move out. We might this year, only because there are two kids at the same school. Usually, kid handles move out themselves.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:C’mon. You know this is going to vary wildly. A kid going to CA from DC is very different than a kid going to Maine.

Google flight prices. For kids, you’re going to have move in-Tday, Tday-Xmas, back from Xmas-maybe SB, SB-move-out. Move in & out will need parental round trips plus maybe parent weekends. So that’s, approximately, 2 kid trip & 2 parent/family trips. Multiply out costs adding more for holidays & if you need to end a car & hotel stays

This. Silly to ask…akin to:

I am worried about summer vacation flight costs! What are you paying for that?

DP. Home in May and back to school in August? That is likely to be less expensive than all the other times, which are peak travel times. Summer travel is much more spread out. Summer tickets are the least of your worries.

Anonymous wrote:C’mon. You know this is going to vary wildly. A kid going to CA from DC is very different than a kid going to Maine.

Google flight prices. For kids, you’re going to have move in-Tday, Tday-Xmas, back from Xmas-maybe SB, SB-move-out. Move in & out will need parental round trips plus maybe parent weekends. So that’s, approximately, 2 kid trip & 2 parent/family trips. Multiply out costs adding more for holidays & if you need to end a car & hotel stays

This. Silly to ask…akin to:

I am worried about summer vacation flight costs! What are you paying for that?