What vacation $$ amount makes you squirm?

[Colleen27]

You have to budget every aspect of the trip to make it work.

low cost travel
low cost entertainment
low cost food
low cost lodging
and if necessary, reduced length to the trip

Most people (us included) would blow the budget somewhere if it were up to us, sometimes on every aspect of the trip

Yeah, that's me - I blow the budget all the way around. There are 5 of us so a lot of the cheaper lodging options are out. DH doesn't usually have enough time to drive unless we're staying in the Great Lakes area, so cheap transportation is often out. And we live in a town where you could make a case that the corner diner is the best restaurant in town, so I want nice meals out on vacation because I don't get them at home (though that lack of variety makes it VERY easy to keep a near-zero eating out budget for the 50 weeks a year we're not traveling ) I'd rather save a little longer and travel in style than economize beyond a certain point.

We do some cheap trips - every summer we drive "up north" somewhere, stay in a cabin, cook over an open fire some nights, and use state parks as our recreation ($11 for the annual pass as part of our license plate renewal). But our "real" vacations tend to be up and down the east coast and cost way more. I thought I had a budget trip going for DC - great rate on a suite that included breakfast, admission is free to the attractions we were interested in, and airfare under $150pp r/t. So what did we do? Had some of the best meals in recent memory in some very nice restaurants! $1600 for room, air, train into the city, one-day car rental, and Metro fares... and $1200 for meals/spending.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

DC is REAL easy to blow the budget. I had the smallest room I've ever been in for $238 a night, and this as when Clinton was still President. Every meal as overpriced, and most didnt have enough food to fill us up without a dessert

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

I didn't say there was anything wrong with it. Let's be honest... probably 75% of people spending a lot on vacations are putting it on their charge cards. I prefer to pay cash and spend less

I think 75% is quite high for the general population and extraordinarily high for this board. And I am being honest.

I prefer to pay with rewards cards and spend what I have budgeted and can afford. And just for clarification, we never carry a balance on our cards. We are not the exception on the budget board - I expect most people who hang out on the budget board do not have credit card debt.

 

[Colleen27]

DC is REAL easy to blow the budget. I had the smallest room I've ever been in for $238 a night, and this as when Clinton was still President. Every meal as overpriced, and most didnt have enough food to fill us up without a dessert

Well, you certainly made me feel better... We didn't spend that much for our room and it was a 1 bedroom suite. And while the meals we had weren't cheap they were quite wonderful with only one "miss". I am a bit of a foodie so when DH turns me loose to plan a trip to a major city I am all OVER dining review sites and local papers looking for the best of all those amazing ethic cuisines we just don't get in rural Michigan.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Well, you certainly made me feel better... We didn't spend that much for our room and it was a 1 bedroom suite. And while the meals we had weren't cheap they were quite wonderful with only one "miss". I am a bit of a foodie so when DH turns me loose to plan a trip to a major city I am all OVER dining review sites and local papers looking for the best of all those amazing ethic cuisines we just don't get in rural Michigan.

You should try St Louis sometime. Loads of free attractions and great food

 

[FlyWidget]

I am still getting used to higher numbers. I worked for an airline for 10 years up until 2006...every time I search for airfare I cry just a little. I have to keep reminding myself the free airfare was good, but the salary sucked!

DH and I spent about $6k on a 2+ week trip to the UK last summer and we've just decided on a last minute trip to Disney for next month. So far we're at about $3000 for 2 nights in West Palm Beach (for a wedding) and 5 nights at Disney (including airfare, car and hotel/POFQ). I think with food and spending money we'll come close to $4000.

It is scary to see the total number!

 

[sarah4770]

DC is REAL easy to blow the budget. I had the smallest room I've ever been in for $238 a night, and this as when Clinton was still President. Every meal as overpriced, and most didnt have enough food to fill us up without a dessert

I do not agree here. Have you looked at hotels near the Smithsonian on the weekends? very inexpensive. You can walk to the free museums. I thought dc was a great budget getaway.

 

[lt90]

Coming from the UK our 2012 trip to WDW cost us over £10000 for two weeks at pofq. We consider this fairly good value considering a week in spain or italy costs us about £4000. Even a weekend in london comes close to £1000!! Luckily we have a house in wales so we go there every summer. We are only like 30 mins from national park and 20 mins from stratford upon avon so we have a lot of stuff on our doorstep. We tend to take day trips or nights away but because we love america, we have to space the £££ trips.

 

[lurkernj]

It really depends where we are planning to go and whether or not airfare is a factor. Anything over 5k does make me think though. We also normally plan our trips when we can fly for free, so we've done Hawaii twice for under $5k and will do it again this summer. Last year we went to Costa Rica and that was around $7500 for 10 days, that was cringe-worthy, but it was a celebration trip for DS18 graduation(and we paid $2200 for airfare).

For our Disney trips, I plan for less than $3k, since we go during free dining and fly free. Free dining has always been the better deal for us since we've had 2 disney adults(and they eat A LOT) for a number of years, but now the kids aren't too keen on going back, so I am exploring other options for DH and I.

 

[Judique]

I do not agree here. Have you looked at hotels near the Smithsonian on the weekends? very inexpensive. You can walk to the free museums. I thought dc was a great budget getaway.

He/She mentioned that Clinton was still president - that's at least 13 years ago and options have improved quite a bit.

Come on back for another visit, Gumbo!

 

[wallawallakids]

It really depends where we are planning to go and whether or not airfare is a factor. Anything over 5k does make me think though. We also normally plan our trips when we can fly for free, so we've done Hawaii twice for under $5k and will do it again this summer. Last year we went to Costa Rica and that was around $7500 for 10 days, that was cringe-worthy, but it was a celebration trip for DS18 graduation(and we paid $2200 for airfare).

For our Disney trips, I plan for less than $3k, since we go during free dining and fly free. Free dining has always been the better deal for us since we've had 2 disney adults(and they eat A LOT) for a number of years, but now the kids aren't too keen on going back, so I am exploring other options for DH and I.

Do you work for an airline? Just wondering how you fly free? I would love that as flying with 4 kids tends to be a huge chunk of our vacation budget every year.

As much as I like to get my vacation for as low of a price I can, I agree with others on here who say it depends on priorities. We do choose to limit our spending in other areas in order to vacation more often and well. I have no desire to stay in a budget motel, even if that is perhaps the best use of my dollar. I certainly do not discourage others from doing that, but that isn't the best "value" for me.

We see vacations as precious family time that we will never get back. Our kids are growing up way too fast and my husband works many, many, long hours. There are days when he does not see the kids and days where he has missed birthdays/ Christmas/ various holidays. I am not complaining, he is dedicated to his job and I am proud of him for how hard he works for us and for them. However, our time with him off the "grid" is worth every penny we pay. Our only chance to get his undivided attention is when we are away.

I am not advocating one "blow" the budget on a trip or go into debt for a trip, but I do think that budgeting for a trip can depend a lot on these intangibles and what is "worth it" for one may very much not be for another. And that is ok.

 

[lurkernj]

Do you work for an airline? Just wondering how you fly free? I would love that as flying with 4 kids tends to be a huge chunk of our vacation budget every year.

No, I don't work for an airline. We have a United (formerly Continental) credit card for about 20 years. We charge everything on it and get one mile per $ spent. It has added up over the years. 4 of us have flown free to Hawaii going on 3 times this summer and we do have enough for a 4th trip when we are ready. We would probably not have gone even once if I had to pay the $4000 roundtrip airfare

We have also done the southwest 50,000 point promotion a few times and use that to fly free to Disney and Las Vegas (and key west last year).

We pay our cc bills off every month, so it only costs us the annual fees.

 

[wallawallakids]

No, I don't work for an airline. We have a United (formerly Continental) credit card for about 20 years. We charge everything on it and get one mile per $ spent. It has added up over the years. 4 of us have flown free to Hawaii going on 3 times this summer and we do have enough for a 4th trip when we are ready. We would probably not have gone even once if I had to pay the $4000 roundtrip airfare

We have also done the southwest 50,000 point promotion a few times and use that to fly free to Disney and Las Vegas (and key west last year).

We pay our cc bills off every month, so it only costs us the annual fees.

Wow! That is great. Thanks for the hint. I will have to look into that. I have a love affair with my Amex Blue card, but this may be better than the cash rewards I get from them. Thanks again for the tip.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

He/She mentioned that Clinton was still president - that's at least 13 years ago and options have improved quite a bit.

Come on back for another visit, Gumbo!

Good to know - I would have assumed it only got worse

Will definitely be back with the family sometime. Last time I was there was just business, but I spent a week there in '85 doing all the touristy stuff. Plus it was Roe V Wade week and Reagan's 2nd inauguration, so the city was HOPPING!!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Once I hit 6-7K I flinch a bit. Our Disney trips usually run 3-5K.

Next trip I'm hoping to stay at the BC for 11 nights with 8 day hoppers. Got that for around 3500. Great price!

Add in food, travel and spending money and I'm at 7K. It makes me take a lot of deep breaths but it's my dream resort and we haven't been since 2011.

 

[rockawaybeachgirl]

Wow! That is great. Thanks for the hint. I will have to look into that. I have a love affair with my Amex Blue card, but this may be better than the cash rewards I get from them. Thanks again for the tip.

I encourage anyone with a good credit score and financial self-control to investigate the points and miles game - you can get huge value out of it. There are a lot of great websites like the points guy, flyertalk, million miler secrets, etc. I am taking my mother to Ireland next year and our return flights (in business class) and half of the hotel nights are 'paid' with points or miles. Between the points game and having DVC ( which I paid for in cash many years ago), I never pay full price on vacations. Just a warning - it's addictive!

 

[ettinkerbell]

Another vote for anything over $5K - start to get palpitations

 

[MrEVILdrPorkchop2u]

My goal every trip is to come in under 5,000 for everything. We never fly. (DW no longer flies.) We just moved within 6 hours a few months ago so now we can do it on one tank of gas each way.

 

[Marionnette]

I encourage anyone with a good credit score and financial self-control to investigate the points and miles game - you can get huge value out of it. There are a lot of great websites like the points guy, flyertalk, million miler secrets, etc. I am taking my mother to Ireland next year and our return flights (in business class) and half of the hotel nights are 'paid' with points or miles. Between the points game and having DVC ( which I paid for in cash many years ago), I never pay full price on vacations. Just a warning - it's addictive!

I totally agree that rewards credit cards are a great way to reduce those vacation costs. We use a Diner's Club MasterCard to cover all of our overhead for the business. My husband says that we have enough points to "fly to the moon and back"! We never pay for airfare because we always have the points to cover it!

We also bought DVC, paying cash for resale contracts and paying our dues with GCs purchased at Target using the Target CC and Pharmacy Rewards to get close to a 10% discount off of the face value.

Or we travel to Disney when there is an onsite conference or meeting which has drastically reduced room rates at deluxe resorts. Last year's meeting was at the CR for $189/night + tax during a value season!

In the end, it's usually the price of tickets that can break the budget at Disney. There is almost no way of getting around the steep cost of even a few days on a MYW base ticket. Multiply that by the number of people in your family and you get more than many people spend on an entire vacation! Even with the best discounts that I can wrangle, this is the single biggest line item in our Disney vacation budget.

 

[mrsklamc]

Wow hats off to you guys that can figure out how to play the points/miles game. I just made a quick visit to one of the mentioned sites and my head is spinning already.