How much is your 2024 vacation going to cost you?

[PrincessNelly]

Somehow we keep adding trips LOL. With Tiana's opening & H2O Glow nights lining up, we decided to sneak down and go enjoy it! Plus our Sept trip seems so far away! We managed to snag the Boardwalk after stalking the DVC site! We're excited to see the new rooms.

July 6 - 9th (2 Adults)
3 nights Boardwalk Villas standard studio -$120.00 (we needed 6 one time use DVC points)
Southwest Flight (PHL to MCO) - $179.96
American Airlines Flight (MCO to PHL) - $178.96
Uber/Lyft to/from MCO - $70 (est)
H2O Glow Nights Tickets - $148.40
ADRs/Food - $400 (est)
Est. Total $1,097.32

Sept 25 - Oct 6th (2 Adults)
3 nights Copper Creek Villas (pre cruise) -$0.00 DVC points
7 night cruise Eastern Caribbean on Disney Fantasy (verandah room) - $3,883.08
1 night Yacht Club (post cruise) - $430.32
RT DCL Transfers - $180
Prepaid Gratuities - $203
Frontier Flights (PHL to MCO) - $226.58
Southwest Flights (MCO to PHL) - $281.96
Mears Connect to/from MCO - $67.20
Travel Insurance - $85 (est)
Passports - $330

Est. Total $5,687.14

Somehow, this trip manages to keep going up in price every time I check back in LOL

Sept 25 - Oct 6th (2 Adults)
3 nights Copper Creek Villas (pre cruise) -$0.00 DVC points
7 night cruise Eastern Caribbean on Disney Fantasy (verandah room) - $3,883.08
1 night Yacht Club (post cruise) - $430.32
RT DCL Transfers - $180
Prepaid Gratuities - $203
Frontier Flights (PHL to MCO) - $178.58
Southwest Flights (MCO to PHL) - $281.96
Mears Connect to/from MCO - $67.20
Travel Insurance - $200
Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party Tix - $296.08
Prepurchase Cruise Amenties (water, alcohol, & room decor) - $145.40

Est. Total $5,865.62

 

[MicheyMouse]

Two people in July
7 nights at FQ with 7 day park hopper plus HS after hours event = $3911
2 tickets Delta = $576

 

[halfpintpeggy]

Somehow, this trip manages to keep going up in price every time I check back in LOL

Sept 25 - Oct 6th (2 Adults)
3 nights Copper Creek Villas (pre cruise) -$0.00 DVC points
7 night cruise Eastern Caribbean on Disney Fantasy (verandah room) - $3,883.08
1 night Yacht Club (post cruise) - $430.32
RT DCL Transfers - $180
Prepaid Gratuities - $203
Frontier Flights (PHL to MCO) - $178.58
Southwest Flights (MCO to PHL) - $281.96
Mears Connect to/from MCO - $67.20
Travel Insurance - $200
Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party Tix - $296.08
Prepurchase Cruise Amenties (water, alcohol, & room decor) - $145.40

Est. Total $5,865.62

Yup, that’s pricey

 

[Belle1962]

then get home to credit card bill

 

[PrincessNelly]

Yup, that’s pricey

Its amazing how quickly it all adds up lol

 

[bbsearchlight]

First off, I want to say that I always disagree when people say they are using points so it didn't cost anything. Unless you won the points in a raffle, they aren't free.

For example, if I sign up for a Chase credit card and get a sign up bonus of 80,00 points you could get $800 in cash for those points or you could use them to transfer to a hotel. So if you use them on that hotel, to me I would say you paid $800 for that hotel, not that the hotel was free. Just like when I get a paycheck from work for $1,000 I can either put that $1,000 in the bank or buy a $1,000 hotel room. But no one would say the hotel room was free.

That being said, here was the cost of our trip to DisneyWorld for 4 people going to all 4 parks and staying for 5 nights.

Transportation to/from airport: $213.20
Transportation in Orlando: $64
airfare: 53,200 Chase Ultimate Rewards points + taxes = $576.80
4 park tickets: $1,687
Hyatt hotel: 65,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points = $650 (that $650 is for 2 hotel rooms so 2 x 5 = 10 nights which cost $650 total)
lightning lane at 2 parks: $180

Total Cost: $3,971


The main reason we were able to get it for so cheap was the hotel savings. The cheapest equivalent hotel on Disney property, the All Star Music, would be over $1000 more. Disney can be done for cheap (or at least reasonable) if you don't need to stay at the fanciest hotel and with proper advance planning.

 

[Magical2017]

First off, I want to say that I always disagree when people say they are using points so it didn't cost anything. Unless you won the points in a raffle, they aren't free.

For example, if I sign up for a Chase credit card and get a sign up bonus of 80,00 points you could get $800 in cash for those points or you could use them to transfer to a hotel. So if you use them on that hotel, to me I would say you paid $800 for that hotel, not that the hotel was free. Just like when I get a paycheck from work for $1,000 I can either put that $1,000 in the bank or buy a $1,000 hotel room. But no one would say the hotel room was free.

That being said, here was the cost of our trip to DisneyWorld for 4 people going to all 4 parks and staying for 5 nights.

Transportation to/from airport: $213.20
Transportation in Orlando: $64
airfare: 53,200 Chase Ultimate Rewards points + taxes = $576.80
4 park tickets: $1,687
Hyatt hotel: 65,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points = $650 (that $650 is for 2 hotel rooms so 2 x 5 = 10 nights which cost $650 total)
lightning lane at 2 parks: $180

Total Cost: $3,971


The main reason we were able to get it for so cheap was the hotel savings. The cheapest equivalent hotel on Disney property, the All Star Music, would be over $1000 more. Disney can be done for cheap (or at least reasonable) if you don't need to stay at the fanciest hotel and with proper advance planning.

Are you in 10x travel? I agree it isn't free. I actually should be looking at the cents per point a bit more. The free course discussed dividing the cash value of the reward by the number of miles redeemed.

Our main goal is to avoid paying cash, or at least to reduce the cost of air and hotels as much as possible. Our next trip is to Paris in in March of '25. I redeemed Chase points for air (transferred to Air France) and IHG and Marriott points for hotels in Paris and Strasbourg.

All said and done, the taxes for air and hotels will end up being about $800 total for 2. When I priced out the exact same trip paying cash, it would have been $6,100 total for 2 (economy), but an additional $20,000 for business class for that particular flight (I could not find the business class saver fares for our specific date and time we wanted). We are flying economy because we simply did not have enough points, and that is fine with us. I know the value of my points would increase so much if I had been able redeem for business or first class. I personally would not redeem the points for cash because I feel they could give me a better value, especially when I have more flexibility in dates and times.

 

[bbsearchlight]

Are you in 10x travel? I agree it isn't free. I actually should be looking at the cents per point a bit more. The free course discussed dividing the cash value of the reward by the number of miles redeemed.

Our main goal is to avoid paying cash, or at least to reduce the cost of air and hotels as much as possible. Our next trip is to Paris in in March of '25. I redeemed Chase points for air (transferred to Air France) and IHG and Marriott points for hotels in Paris and Strasbourg.

All said and done, the taxes for air and hotels will end up being about $800 total for 2. When I priced out the exact same trip paying cash, it would have been $6,100 total for 2 (economy), but an additional $20,000 for business class for that particular flight (I could not find the business class saver fares for our specific date and time we wanted). We are flying economy because we simply did not have enough points, and that is fine with us. I know the value of my points would increase so much if I had been able redeem for business or first class. I personally would not redeem the points for cash because I feel they could give me a better value, especially when I have more flexibility in dates and times.

And I agree with you. I have never taken cash for Chase Ultimate Rewards points. But I find the cash value is the fairest way to say how much they are worth. That is why in my example I used 53,200 points for airfare so I valued that at $532 and then added on the taxes (5.60 x 8) which is how I came out at $576.

I was mostly responding because the OP asked how much your vacation is going to cost and someone else responded by saying they paid for their airfare or hotel with points so it was free, but all that does is distort the real cost of the trip. It looks really good to say it only cost us $800 total but it isn't really true.

I have even seen some deal websites advertise how you could go to Disney world for free and then start writing how you take out a couple of different credit cards and use all the sign up bonuses to pay for everything so it is free. I just don't agree with that assessment.

 

[Laurieannc]

@Magical2017 we went to Paris this past July and flew AF. We paid cash for economy seats, but I monitored the miles/points fares for business class for weeks before our trip. The saver fares would pop up on various days/flights for multiple days in the weeks before we left. You might be able to find the saver fares that work for you f you keep checking. Good luck and have a great time in Paris.

 

[Magical2017]

@Magical2017 we went to Paris this past July and flew AF. We paid cash for economy seats, but I monitored the miles/points fares for business class for weeks before our trip. The saver fares would pop up on various days/flights for multiple days in the weeks before we left. You might be able to find the saver fares that work for you f you keep checking. Good luck and have a great time in Paris.

Thank you! We are going over spring break and have a specific flight we wanted but I will definitely lurk on the AF site.

 

[Magical2017]

I was mostly responding because the OP asked how much your vacation is going to cost and someone else responded by saying they paid for their airfare or hotel with points so it was free, but all that does is distort the real cost of the trip. It looks really good to say it only cost us $800 total but it isn't really true.

Agreed!

 

[Steffii]

Covering the trip for my hubs and sister since I got my first "real" job after 7 years of training. I wanted to give them a little gift for all their love and support thru the years! Hubs is a SW fan and sister is a Disney mega fan (loves pin trading) and when I asked her where she would want to go - she picked WDW over a trip to Europe or Asia.

Spent so far (approx) for 5 nights
Hotel: Grand Floridian x 5 nights (thank goodness for DVC websites): $4800
Hotel: Hard Rock Hotel Universal x1 night for the express passes $720
Tickets: 4 day park hopper and MNSSHP for 3 $2800
Memory Maker: I forgot what I paid. $100?
Airfare: $1600
Food budget: no hard limit, but expecting about $4000 as we have a few TS/signature dining booked and also working on V&A ressies
Shopping: Expecting about $500 as I know she will buy all the pins
Ubers and miscellaneous: $500

About $15k total. We considered a VIP tour, but that seemed expensive for 1 day. Maybe in the future.

 

[dunailie]

I've had a couple of long weekend trips this summer--one to Chicago and the other to Lake Michigan. I have one last trip for scheduled for this fall. I'm taking my mom to Pensacola/Panama City Beach for the Blue Angels' homecoming show. We are driving down and splitting the cost of gas.

Hotel (one night on Pensacola Beach) - Paid for with IHG points
Hotel (two nights on Panama City Beach) - Paid for with Hyatt points

So basically, we will just be paying out of pocket for gas, food, and incidentals. I'll probably work on a bank bonus to cover those items. My husband is on disability, and I prefer not to take money from our household budget to travel.

 

[China Expat]

Already did my 2024 vacation...three week safari in Kenya and Tanzania. $6500 per person plus air. WORTH EVERY PENNY.

 

[platamama]

I was mostly responding because the OP asked how much your vacation is going to cost and someone else responded by saying they paid for their airfare or hotel with points so it was free, but all that does is distort the real cost of the trip. It looks really good to say it only cost us $800 total but it isn't really true.

I suppose it depends on what you consider free. Those 80K UR points were free, weren't they?

 

[hsmamato2]

.

 

[hsmamato2]

and on that topic..... Yes, you can look at points= money, that's one way to see it (bc they can be turned into money) or You can look at it as free currency that you got bc you already spent your money elsewhere, and are now using that "free" currency to book trips etc. It's easy to see it both ways, the "value" of points is variable, and mostly they are a side result of already spending on something else. So yes, technically they're "free" thus they have no actual value. I tend to look at cash layout for a trip as actual cost,and points as free (bc they were free)
I find these threads interesting bc it seems like numbers are so different for different people/trips!

 

[kristenrice]

First trip of 2024...Me, DH and DD20 and DD18: HHI for 5 nights in April+ 2 nights on the road...
...I don't have the exact breakdown any more, but for 4 adults, we paid under $3500 for the whole thing. We had (2) hotel rooms on the road each night (one night to HHI and one night back) and used our DVC points for the 5 nights at HHI. We bought groceries and ate in the room, but we did eat out twice. We rented bikes, went mini-golfing and took a 6-hour private offshore fishing trip too.

Second trip of 2024...just me and DH in October for 3 nights at WDW....
The budgeted amount right now is about $2300.

• Airfare: Used SWA points (paid for some to "top off") and EBCI $265.00
• MNSSHP: Bought $400 in DGC's with a $60 rebate $340.00
• DVC Bass fishing trip, HDDR, and additional on-site dining covered (or will be) with discounted DGC's ($1075) $767.50
• Grocery stop: $75
• Transportation to/from MCO: $340* (As a treat, I booked a Mercedes S-Class to pick us up and we will do a "cheaper" service for the return)
• Miscellaneous budget: $500
• TOTAL: $2287.50* (Using our DVC points to stay in a studio at CCV for the 4 nights)

Third trip of 2024....me and BFF in December for 8 nights at WDW...the amounts shown are my costs.

• Rented (Transferred) 185 DVC points: $1850.00
• 6-day Park Hopper Ticket (military salute): $360* (was about $400, but I bought a $400 gift card at a 10% discount and gave it to my friend as payment)
• Flight: Used SWA points and (2) EBCI credits $11.20
• MVMCP/Jollywood Nights tickets: $380 (*paid for with GC/reward dollars so no actual "money" OOP)
• LL for 6 days: $240 (*will be paid for with GC's earned via rewards)
• Arrival night at off-site hotel: $65
• Dining Budget: $1200 (*ALL of this will be covered by GC/reward dollars that were acquired via rewards/rebates)
• Transportation: $50 (*Paid with an Uber gift card earned by taking surveys)
• Grocery order: $75 (*Paid with an Amazono gift card earned by taking surveys)
• Miscellaneous (fishing trip, back stage tour, etc): $500
• TOTAL: about $4700 (**Actual cash expenses are only about $2700 as the rest is/was covered by gift cards earned via rewards programs and not purchased)

 

[BaybeeYoda]

Somehow, this trip manages to keep going up in price every time I check back in LOL

Sept 25 - Oct 6th (2 Adults)
3 nights Copper Creek Villas (pre cruise) -$0.00 DVC points
7 night cruise Eastern Caribbean on Disney Fantasy (verandah room) - $3,883.08
1 night Yacht Club (post cruise) - $430.32
RT DCL Transfers - $180
Prepaid Gratuities - $203
Frontier Flights (PHL to MCO) - $178.58
Southwest Flights (MCO to PHL) - $281.96
Mears Connect to/from MCO - $67.20
Travel Insurance - $200
Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party Tix - $296.08
Prepurchase Cruise Amenties (water, alcohol, & room decor) - $145.40

Est. Total $5,865.62

You don’t consider the maintenance fee on Dvc points as part of the expense?

This is not bad at all for 9 nights!

 

[PrincessNelly]

You don’t consider the maintenance fee on Dvc points as part of the expense?

This is not bad at all for 9 nights!

These particular points were from the previous owners. (Resale contract)
And as part of the purchase we negotiated them paying the dues for these points because there was a chance we wouldn't get to use them. So that's the only reason why I listed a $0.00 cost.
But if I had, it would be about $310.
I'm not fancy enough to do the overall price per point over the life of the contract calculation

But I didn't think it was terrible for 11 nights total. Just more than we originally had in mind because the trip kept getting extended lol