Vacation Costs

[SJ.]

I am just curious what vacations cost when flying and using a hotel. We haven't had a vacation as a family where we had to do this and I am curious how much people tend to spend. I understand that the costs are dependent on where you are going (location) and what you are doing.

 

We are going to Norfolk and DC in October for BIL's wedding. I have to say I was shocked at the cost of everything so far, not including food and activities. Since we have not vacationed I was definitely unsure what to expect.

 

ETA: I don't mean how much is your airfare and hotel, I mean about how much do you spend total when you fly and stay at a hotel.

Edited September 1, 2012 by SJ.

[garddwr]

This would depend significantly on the number of people--and where you are flying from/to.

[Mergath]

The last vacation I went on was nearly ten years ago, so take this with a grain of salt, but for me and my younger brother to fly to Mexico City from Minnesota and stay for around a week, including everything, it was a little over three grand.

[Jennifer in MI]

I said $5000 plus because we have a large family. Flying costs times six are expensive! Then, we need two hotel rooms. It's why we usually drive and rent a house or condo. Saves money on accommodations as well as food!

[elegantlion]

We haven't vacationed for the last few years, but we used to travel on a regular basis. We usually tried to spend about 350.00 each on plane tickets, so that's 1000.00 easy. We'd stay at mid-range hotels which were at that time about 70-100/night We'd pay 125-150 a night if we traveled to the beach in the summer. I'd look for deals and belonged to lot of frequent stay programs.

 

We generally factored 100.00/day for food and snacks, that would include lunch and dinner, breakfast was at the hotel. Depending upon where we were going about another 100.00 for activities per day. We usually did one big meal a day, then a cheaper lunch. We usually had some food money left. We took most of our vacations on a cash basis, so I planned high.

 

Our last vacation included a shopping trip at the outlet mall. That took a little more of the budget than we had planned, but we're still using some of those purchases and we went in 2009.

 

So we planned about 350 per day, not counting gas or rental car. Then add airline tickets on top of that. Which explains why we haven't taken a real vacation since 2009.

[sparrow]

I probably should have voted 'Other'. Oops. We haven't flown in years due to the cost. We typically drive somewhere and rent a condo for a week or two. Much, much, much cheaper than flying and staying in a hotel.

[Angel]

I didn't vote because we don't fly and we normally don't stay at a hotel (Dh's dad lives 15min from the Gulf). Our big vacation last year, and we usually take vacation every other year or so, was 12 days total. Four days at Universal Orlando staying at the onsite hotel, gas money to drive from Ohio to Florida, a hotel on the way down, then driving to the Gulf Coast to stay with dh's dad for 6 more days was around $2,200. We didn't skimp at Universal, plenty of souvenirs and good food.

 

Normally we do the Florida trip for less than $1,000 because we don't fly and we don't need a hotel.

[Ailaena]

For just two of us on a 3-night "working" vacation (gym meets, climbing events, colleges, etc), it has been between $800-1000, all inclusive, depending on where we go and what attractions we hit while we are there.

 

This is consistent whether we drive or fly, which I find really helpful because I HATE driving long distances!

[DianeW88]

Flying for us is expensive. We are a family of five, and so, for most vacations, our airfare is at least $2000.

 

We regularly vacation in Disney, and for two weeks there (we also need a larger room or two rooms) it costs around $10,000.

 

When I visit my family, the airfare is generally around $2,000 (Salt Lake to the east coast) and then we rent a car (my kids and I will stay for 3 weeks) and that's about $600. Then, if you want to do anything else, that will cost you, too. Amusement parks, museums, even a day at the beach is pricey.

 

We save by using frequent flier miles and our airline rewards credit cards. Right now, Southwest is offering 50,000 frequent flier miles for signing up for their card. That's two free round trip tickets. My dh and I each got a card from them last year and it paid for four of our tickets to Disney World. We use the card for EVERYTHING...even paying our bills, then pay it off at the end of each month. We're racking up the points super quickly and will definitely have at least two free round trip tickets for this year's trip.