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How expensive is too expensive depends not only on your salary, but most importantly on how much are you saving every month!
Having said that, we are a family that loves to travel... ...making at least 2 international trips a year and several domestic trips in between. Some countries such as Norway and Sweden have been very expensive, but other countries such as Croatia and Slovenia have been less expensive. So for a family of three, the average price is $750/day. This includes airfare and all travel during peak periods such as Christmas and Spring break (since our son is in elementatry school), staying in hotels (around $300/night), eating in nice restaurants, ticket prices for tours and activities, and souvenirs.
We, of course, could shave off that $750/day by a couple of hundred dollars I'm sure by doing what frugal travellers or travellers on shoestring budget recommend. But my idea of a vacation is not the same as theirs so I am comfortable with the $750/day tag. Next month we leave for Japan and China, and I'm sure staying in Tokyo is going to inch up my average/day!
Budget 2x your daily pay for each day of vacation (i.e. if you're paid $4000 a month with 20 working days), and you're planning a 10 day vacation, your MAX budget is $4000.
I would never pay that much for a flight within the US (unless I was getting reimbursed for it). And I suspect I have a bit more income to work with.
I've been to both Key West and Iceland. Key West is fun but Iceland is one of the weirdest and most beautiful places on earth. To me it's a no-brainer.
This.
I would caution however that the flight to Iceland might be affordable, but make sure you look at the other costs--hotel and food--before you commit. It's a very, very expensive place to visit.
My husband and I typically spend what works out to $1000 a day on vacations, however we're at the point in our careers where that isn't a hardship. When we were just starting out, we did mostly day trips and spent $50 including gas and tolls.
Domestically, $600/ day is high, but for international travel, I think $600/ day is pretty reasonable.
You'd also have to realize that the bulk of the cost is in the airline tickets and if you stretched the cost over say...a week, it's substantially less than $600/ day.
No wonder people think you have to be rich to travel.
I find $600/day regardless of where you're going to be outrageous. Even in all of my trips to the UK, and to Paris I never spent that much.
Yes, the bulk of your cost is your airfare, but after that, you shouldn't be spending that much. And, really, it's not that difficult to find affordable airline tickets. Especially for round trip! I've been to 7 different countries and never once have I spent more than $900 on a roundtrip ticket.
What are you guys doing when you travel that you're spending these exorbitant amounts? I am genuinely curious.
No wonder people think you have to be rich to travel.
I find $600/day regardless of where you're going to be outrageous. Even in all of my trips to the UK, and to Paris I never spent that much.
Yes, the bulk of your cost is your airfare, but after that, you shouldn't be spending that much. And, really, it's not that difficult to find affordable airline tickets. Especially for round trip! I've been to 7 different countries and never once have I spent more than $900 on a roundtrip ticket.
What are you guys doing when you travel that you're spending these exorbitant amounts? I am genuinely curious.
Here's how I usually go about planning my trips:
If the distance is less than 400 miles or 6 hours, I'll drive to my destination. This, for me, includes going to San Diego, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, or Sante Fe. I figure by the time I get to the airport, wait for my plane, board the plane and the flying time, then landing, getting a cab to my hotel, etc...the time passed will usually be over 4 hours. Generally if the trip is less than 6 hours and it's to one of the above destinations, I hop in my Corvette and enjoy the drive through the beautiful desert.
If my final destination is in the continental United States and the trip would require a drive of more than 6 hours, I fly coach on the cheapest fare I can find but try to always take a non-stop flight from Sky Harbor to my destination. I'd rather pay extra to get a non-stop flight than to have a layover and waste my time sitting at an airport. At most, a non-stop flight from Phoenix to New York or an east-coast destination is going to be a flying time of 4 1/2 hours or so. I can deal with 4 or 5 hours in a coach seat.
If my final destination is an international destination with an 8 hour+ flying time, I'll always book a business class or first-class seat. I'd rather pay $2500-$4000 for a business class/first class seat, enjoy my flight, get some rest, and not be crammed into my seat like a sardine. Delta is actually starting to roll out their new lie-flat seats in business class which I'm looking forward to trying out:
My favorite hotel chain is Starwood by far so I generally try to pick one of their properties in my travels. I love the St. Regis chain and their room prices aren't exactly cheap- anywhere from $300-$400+/ night depending on location.
By the time you add in food, attractions, shows, what-have-you, it's not difficult to exceed $600/ day. Of course you can be more frugal, but isn't the point of a vacation to get away and indulge?! I always figure that if I'm taking a vacation, I'm going to splurge and indulge a bit otherwise what's the point of going anywhere?!
Why is the cost of the airplane tickets so high? Didn't you shop around?
I guess there's always the Greyhound bus if it's not too far.
Those of us who fly a lot don't shop around, as we get perks worth more than the few dollars of savings we might find by remaining loyal to one carrier or consortium.
I was able to fly r/t to Europe in seats like Speedy posted for the cost of coach due to free upgrades last year due to my loyalty--and I didn't have to wait to see if they might come my way, they were immediate when I booked.
No wonder people think you have to be rich to travel.
I find $600/day regardless of where you're going to be outrageous. Even in all of my trips to the UK, and to Paris I never spent that much.
Yes, the bulk of your cost is your airfare, but after that, you shouldn't be spending that much. And, really, it's not that difficult to find affordable airline tickets. Especially for round trip! I've been to 7 different countries and never once have I spent more than $900 on a roundtrip ticket.
What are you guys doing when you travel that you're spending these exorbitant amounts? I am genuinely curious.
I take it you stay in hostels or low end tourist class hotels then, because there's no way you can go to Europe and stay in a nice hotel, eat, pay for bus/rail/subway, and have anything left to actually see the sights.
Coach air for two to Europe is around $2200, split over two weeks is ~$150 a day.
We plan on $400 a day for a hotel, $200 a day to eat/drink, $200 a day for local transit/museums/attractions/shopping/etc., split the airfare, and $50 a day in pet sitting, airport parking, etc.--$1000 a day.
In the US it's less expensive, and we often use points for hotel rooms.
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