Poll: Average Daily Cost of Vacation

[NW-Bound]

I have been reluctant to do an Alaskan RV trek, because I do not know if the mosquitoes would not drive my wife insane. This summer 2017 is out because we already booked a European trip, so it will have to be summer 2018.

I need to shop better!

All the info here made me curious, so I looked up the cost of the cruise we took late last year. With airfare to Florida and cruisefare, the total came to a bit more than $2800, which works out to $400/day for 2 people. Shorter flights, and no land stay.

What did I do wrong? I thought I got pretty good deals. By the way, they gave me free drinks, but I did not drink that much to make it worthwhile.

PS. Oh, the land stay would be lower cost than the cruise, and that brings the average down. Oui?

PPS. And I remember that we had a balcony.

My wife reminded me that she paid a deposit for the cruise several months in advance. I missed that when I looked up the expenses in Quicken. And then, there were other prepaid incidental expenses like the hotel room the night before boarding, the sightseeing, etc... So that brought it up to closer to $500/day for 2 persons!

I will have to look for the superdeals that posters here talk about. Their price is so good, I can forgo the balcony. There's nothing to watch in a transatlantic crossing, and one should not be cooped up in the cabin anyway.

 

[Meadbh]

There's nothing to watch in a transatlantic crossing, and one should not be cooped up in the cabin anyway.

Exactly.

 

[NW-Bound]

Next time going to Europe, I will look into doing a repositioning cruise from Florida to Barcelona or to Rome. Just saw one departing in late April, which would get me there in early May. That's the same time frame as my upcoming 2017 trip (I want to avoid the summer crowd and the heat).

The problem is I do not know if I would get restless on a 2-week sailing voyage like that. Hopefully, the ship library has some decent books. Else, I would get bored, then drink or eat too much, either activity being highly undesirable.

PS. The transatlantic cruise, cheap as it is, still costs more than the airfare that I already bought. Then, I still have to pay for airfare to Florida. So, not sure if this works for me. Two weeks of unlimited food and drink can really mess up my health, and it's just too tempting when one is captive.

 

[ziggy29]

We usually seem to spend about $1000 a week, so I selected the $100-150 bucket -- but that's for two people, usually.

As an aside, when my mom passed in October I inherited a portion of her IRA which requires me to take RMDs based on my life expectancy, which will mean about $1,700 in 2017. DW is [-]agitating[/-] encouraging me to consider this our "annual vacation fund".

 

[DrRoy]

The previous year we had our "trip of a lifetime" - that included business class airfare to Europe (for 2 of us - kids were back of the bus) 9 weeks of travel... lodgings were vrbo/flipkey apartments - mostly 2 bedrooms. Train travel between cities and 1 week we rented a car (for Aix-en-Provence.) We stayed in some cheap cities (Prague) and some super pricey ones (London, Paris, Nice). $128/person/day It helps that the airfare was amortized over 9 weeks. I'd set aside $30k for this trip prior to retiring and we didn't go over by too much.

Rodi, my dream trip would be New Zealand. DW and I love that kind of scenery. It is so far though that we think we would only be able to make it if we went business class, but that makes the airfare around $10K instead of $3K and I have a hard time wrapping my head around that. We could have 2 weeks in Europe for the difference. I can't decide if it is worth it. How does one pull the trigger on the expense?

 

[Nemo2]

It is so far though that we think we would only be able to make it if we went business class, but that makes the airfare around $10K instead of $3K and I have a hard time wrapping my head around that

How about staggering the trip? Fly to Hawaii, take a day's break.....Hawaii to Fiji...couple days off....then on to NZ....something along those lines.

 

[audreyh1]

How about staggering the trip? Fly to Hawaii, take a day's break.....Hawaii to Fiji...couple days off....then on to NZ....something along those lines.

It may be easier to fly to Fiji from Auckland. 8.5 hrs Honolulu to Auckland - about the same as flying central US to Europe.

 

[Nemo2]

It may be easier to fly to Fiji from Auckland. 8.5 hrs Honolulu to Auckland - about the same as flying central US to Europe.

As Joseph Haydn might have said - "Variations on a Theme".....

 

[2017ish]

This past summer, we RV'd from Ohio to Alaska with stops at Theodore Roosevelt, Glacier, Banff and Jasper National Parks. The seven week trip was $4,000.09 including tours and souvenirs or $71.40 per day for two of us. It's 11,000 miles so gasoline was the biggest cost at $2,300 but we are thankful for the low gas prices and decent mileage on our Class B motorhome. Another huge cost savings was the low cost of camping fees. We are self contained so took advantage of boon-docking, BLM and National Forest campgrounds. Our total camping fees was $170. Considering the low gas prices and available free camp sites, I doubt if we will ever repeat this low cost for such a great trip.

This is reassuring. We are tentatively planning on Class B exploration of the US/Canada as, hopefully, a low cost off-set to our post-retirement international trips. Those numbers are very very attractive!

What type of Class B do you have?

 

[fh2000]

Voted $151-$200 per person.

This year, we did a various of road trips, bus tour, and a 3-week international trip (for family of 4). Total 37 days for DW and I this year. Last year (2015), we did 70 days. We are not retired yet. We simply burned most of our PTO hours that we saved up for few years.

DW's ideal travel days after retirement is 100 per year. So, our budget of travel is $30,000. We do not plan to pay for our 2 children in the future. This will be just the 2 of us so cost is slightly lower than right now.

 

[Johanson]

I'm not going to vote but I'll weigh in here. I'm still working and I travel for a living. I cover the western half of the US and stay in hotels between 120-140 nights/year. I also take between 3-5 international vacations each year on cheap Sky Team tickets. I always pay for those tickets with cash but I'll use the Pay With Miles option on Delta to lower my ticket costs. I still get the qualifying miles then. I'm Diamond Medallion with them and use my choice benefits to get the 4 Global Upgrade Certificates which I apply to some of these cheap international flights I take to put me into business class.

I then use my hotel points for my hotel stays on vacation as much as possible. I only collect Hilton, IHG, and Marriott points so I can't use them in Scandinavia and when in Cozumel, I always stay at a dive resort so that isn't an option. Having said that, I've stayed at a nice resort in Bali for 10,000 points/night with IHG, 10,000 points at a Holiday in in Milan, etc.

This year I have flights booked to ATH in March, FRA in May, and PRG in August. Each ticket was less than $450. I'll be using hotel points for every night I stay at each of them. So realistically, my average cost is probably between $51-100 each day.

My company just recently added another holiday day, another 16 hours of PTO, $30,000 more to my lump sum pension, and a 6th week of vacation for those with 30 years of service, which I'll hit in 2018. I'm beginning to rethink about just how early I want to retire. It's my job that allows me to travel the world on vacation right now and that will change when I retire for the worse.

 

[rodi]

Rodi, my dream trip would be New Zealand. DW and I love that kind of scenery. It is so far though that we think we would only be able to make it if we went business class, but that makes the airfare around $10K instead of $3K and I have a hard time wrapping my head around that. We could have 2 weeks in Europe for the difference. I can't decide if it is worth it. How does one pull the trigger on the expense?

In our case I'd been monitoring airfare multiple times a week - and I always "what-if" the business class prices. Economy class was running around $1200/ticket and business had a few hour dip to $2100 (vs the $3500 it had been running.). I jumped on it. That fare was gone in a few hours and involved booking through British Air for flights on US Air and United. Kids flew in coach. (I'm a mean parent.)

I'm hoping for a similar glitch for our upcoming Japan trip. Price is currently running $1k for the economy tickets and if business drops to $2k or less - I'll spring for business for DH and myself... if not, we'll be in the back with the kids.

 

[NW-Bound]

In our case I'd been monitoring airfare multiple times a week - and I always "what-if" the business class prices. Economy class was running around $1200/ticket and business had a few hour dip to $2100 (vs the $3500 it had been running.). I jumped on it. That fare was gone in a few hours and involved booking through British Air for flights on US Air and United. Kids flew in coach. (I'm a mean parent.)...

Reminded me of the time my brother flew to Asia on a business trip. His wife tagged along, and they did not want to spend the money to match the business-class seat that his company provided. So, they took turn sleeping in that near-flat comfy seat.

 

[Teacher Terry]

NWB: there is so much stuff to do on a cruise that you won't be bored. WE took a 13 day re-positioning cruise with 8 sea days. My Dh sang in their choir, took a acting class, etc. We exercised daily, swam, sat in hot tub and did other fun activities. Each day they give you a 4 page listings of that days events. No way could you even do them all. After dinner we went to the big show and then there were 11 lounges with entertainment to choose from. We took the stairs instead of the elevator, etc and never gained any weight at all. We were only in our cabin to shower or sleep.

 

[jim747]

This is reassuring. We are tentatively planning on Class B exploration of the US/Canada as, hopefully, a low cost off-set to our post-retirement international trips. Those numbers are very very attractive!

What type of Class B do you have?

We have a 2008 Roadtrek 190 Popular. if I can make the link work, here is a blog of our trip.
TREKING WITH CAROLYN & JIM: May 2016

NWB - the skeeters weren't bad but we ran into wicked gnats at the Arctic Circle. It was 86 degrees and sunny. We should have changed from shorts and tees when we noticed them but didn't. Lesson learned cause we itched for a few days.

 

[NW-Bound]

I have taken only 3 cruises in my life, and though I enjoyed them do not want too long a cruise. I am a loner, a recluse, and do not partake in public activities.

The last cruise I took was on a Celebrity ship, and the crowd was mostly 50s and up. And so, it was nothing wild like the Carnival ships that I have only heard about. One night, I walked a tour of the ship, and found the dance floor up at the top empty with only two couples dancing. The DJ had to be discouraged and bored out of his mind.

And then, one time at lunch, a woman sat down near us, and complained bitterly that there was nowhere on the ship that she could go to escape the live music. My, I did not think it was all that bad.

 

[Teacher Terry]

We find the crowd mostly between 50-70. We don't cruise when the kids are out of school. We have found people on cruises to be very outgoing, happy, etc. We always meet great people to hang out with on cruises. I find the live music to be one of the best things about a cruise although on RC there are always lounges where nothing is going on so you can go to one of those to read, etc. Plus they have libraries. We also like when they have contests such as naming the song when they play a few cords, etc. If not for the dogs I could stay for a month easily on a ship. Some older people sell their home, possessions and then just live on cruises. Cheaper then a retirement home and much nicer.

 

[NW-Bound]

We took a cruise on a Royal Caribbean ship many years ago when our kids were young. They were out of school, so it was in the summer. As I remember, there were not that many kids on the ship. Oh, it was 20-some years ago. However, there were more whippersnappers in our age group back then (40-ish).

The recent cruise, there weren't any kids as I recall. My daughter and her husband were also on the ship, and as 30-somethings, they were the youngsters on this ship. So, some cruise lines are family-oriented, and some are not. I should try Holland next, as the clientele there is even older.

Anyway, I can't figure a transatlantic or a world cruise would have too many non-retirees, let alone young kids.

 

[sengsational]

Here's another data point: $185/day for a 19-day rented RV trip (RV 14 + hotel 4 + plane 1).

Although I didn't get the non-American (i.e. good) RV rate, I did get it "on sale", so that was about $125/day, all-in, paid to Cruise America. I drove about 1800 miles, so add fuel to that. Boondocked, mostly, but didn't run the generator much with the propane fridge and small inverter for the laptop and phone. Generally simple meals in the galley and dinner in restaurants.

 

[NW-Bound]

I was the OP of this thread. Yes, I knew going in this was not an apples to apples comparison. But I was interested in a user's "typical" vacation style compared to mine. Sorry your head is shook.

Many people like myself take different styles of trips, which have different cost profiles. One way this could be handled is to allow multiple choices.

By the way, I have not voted.

 

[grasshopper]

3 weeks in S.A. Galapagos and Machu Picchu $1015 a day includes business class flying and 4 star lodging, $500 to grade the road so our $1000 house sitter could make in her car.

 

[Johanson]

3 weeks in S.A. Galapagos and Machu Picchu $1015 a day includes business class flying and 4 star lodging, $500 to grade the road so our $1000 house sitter could make in her car.

My first and only trip to Peru cost me less than $500 total. But, it was only for one day so I guess it cost me about $500/day. On the way back, I had to fly through STL and I was asked to help out in STL for work so I rebooked at the company's expense, worked for a day on overtime, then flew home the next day. This was during Delta's double MQM promotion back in 2010 or 2011 and I ended up with triple MQMs and a 50,000 mile bonus redeemable mile bonus (due to an email to Delta and a basically simutaneous email to FT's Delta rep). I went from Silver to Gold to Platinum in about 3 months!

 

[ItDontMeanAThing]

No poll response because I spend more each year. Part of that was letting go of LBYM travel habits and my taxable account lasting until 59 1/2. I now expect the account to last until the end of next year, at age 63 1/2.

Until I turned 60, travel was by buses and trains around SE Asia, staying in guesthouses and lowest end hotels. Spending down the taxable account meant trips became longer, with days, then more days in expensive countries. I flew business class for my 60th birthday. Yes, as I feared, a luxury once sampled becomes a necessity (but not KLM again). Planned for next year is 6 weeks on 2 trips to expensive countries (Australia, Portugal, France) via Emirates business class, followed by a TBD 4+ week fall trip to who knows where.

 

[check6]

Rodi, my dream trip would be New Zealand. DW and I love that kind of scenery. It is so far though that we think we would only be able to make it if we went business class...

DrRoy we went to NZ ten years ago from LAX. Flight over was wide open in coach so we could lift the arm rest and lay down. Flight was doable. We got the last two seats in coach on the return flight and it was the most miserable flight we have ever been on.

 

[NW-Bound]

About 20 years ago, we got free tickets to go non-stop LAX/Sydney on business-class seats, thanks to DW's megacorp. Then, we got upgraded to 1st-class on the leg of Sydney/Auckland. The non-stop Auckland/LAX was back to business class. The airline was Qantas.

I would have to say that 1st class did not get us much more than business class. There was a lot more room between seats, and perhaps the stewardess was a bit more attentive, but that was it. This was on a Qantas 747. The same aircraft may have different seat arrangements for different airlines.

I just checked out of curiosity. Non-stop RT LAX/SYD is around $6000 for business class, $13,000 for 1st class. SYD/AKL is relatively cheap at $1000 one way for 1st class.

This was the longest flight I ever took. The business seat made the 15-hour flight a non-ordeal. They served 3 meals, or was it 4 during the flight. I slept through much of it.