https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 30 Apr 2026 21:08:16 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-travelvacations-per-year/page/2#post-2197378 Wed, 03 Jun 2015 00:10:43 +0000 lamariniere 2197378@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@illumina: agree. Travel in Europe is definitely more expensive than in the U.S. We fly to France a few times a year and we can never find tickets under €200 and it's about a 2hr flight. Car rentals are much more expensive and I feel like booking a decent hotel (not even a nice hotel) is high compared to US prices, especially in major cities. Anytime we do a weekend getaway, I feel like we can't do it for under 1000 just for transpiration and hotels (family of 4 but with a lap infant). </p> <p>@yoursilverlining: @sunny: flights are definitely MUCH higher than they used to be! I remember the good old days of off season US-Europe tickets for $400 or less! Now you can't find them for under $700/800. I once bought a one way ticket from DC to Paris for like $245! But that was also in 2001. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-travelvacations-per-year/page/2#post-2197181 Tue, 02 Jun 2015 19:30:08 +0000 mrsrain 2197181@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I said more than $1500, but really it comes out to around $3000 a year. BUT, that's not really vacation... we live in New England and our families live in Texas and Tennessee. We try to travel to see both families once a year. The last true vacation we had was several years ago to Italy, and it was definitely more than that. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-travelvacations-per-year/page/2#post-2197167 Tue, 02 Jun 2015 19:19:04 +0000 sunny 2197167@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>For my family, travel is a priority so we budget for trips each year. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-travelvacations-per-year/page/2#post-2197159 Tue, 02 Jun 2015 19:13:12 +0000 sunny 2197159@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@yoursilverlining: Flights are absolutely WAY more expensive than they were 10 years ago. Back then, I could fly direct to Toronto from Seattle for $300-400 over Christmas. Now, tickets are $650 if they are cheap, $750+ otherwise. :shocked: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-travelvacations-per-year/page/2#post-2197153 Tue, 02 Jun 2015 19:05:09 +0000 californiadreams 2197153@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>we don't have an average per year. this year we splurged on a family vacation to Mexico (more than $3000). but it had been 2 years since we flew anywhere (where we did a cheaper trip to Cuba as we didn't have to pay for LO then, it was less than $2000). And in between those two bigger trips was a cheap weekend getaway (probably less than $500). We basically go on vacation once per year (we choose our anniversary week to go), but the where and cost vary significantly.</p> <p>I definitely don't count road trips to my home town as "vacation". and we don't spend much as it is just gas and some food along the way. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-travelvacations-per-year/page/2#post-2197128 Tue, 02 Jun 2015 18:46:28 +0000 youboots 2197128@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@lawbee11: good point. We spend a lot on travel but rarely exchange gifts- even for birthdays/Christmas. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-travelvacations-per-year/page/2#post-2197037 Tue, 02 Jun 2015 17:19:13 +0000 NorCalWayfarer 2197037@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Traveling, both domestically and internationally, is a priority for us, so we probably spend more than "average." </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-travelvacations-per-year/page/2#post-2197006 Tue, 02 Jun 2015 16:42:36 +0000 mrs.shinerbock 2197006@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@illumina: I'd say much more common, but not more expensive relative to distances traveled. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-travelvacations-per-year/page/2#post-2196947 Tue, 02 Jun 2015 15:39:29 +0000 illumina 2196947@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I skimmed through the other responses before answering and now I don't think I will, lol. Maybe travel is much more expensive in Europe, but we definitely spend way more. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-travelvacations-per-year/page/2#post-2196917 Tue, 02 Jun 2015 15:21:20 +0000 Truth Bombs 2196917@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We probably spend around $4K on real true vacation. But a few more thousand on trips to visit family. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-travelvacations-per-year/page/2#post-2196913 Tue, 02 Jun 2015 15:14:09 +0000 Mrs. High Heels 2196913@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@yoursilverlining: I agree, and the flights nickel and dime you for everything now too! I remember when JetBlue first launched years ago, and I was able to score a roundtrip ticket to NYC for only $99! Those were the days...</p> <p>@Freckles: Yikes!! I wonder if airlines are taxed higher there, and they're having to pass on some of those costs to the customer. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-travelvacations-per-year/page/2#post-2196852 Tue, 02 Jun 2015 14:13:16 +0000 Freckles 2196852@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. High Heels: a 1.5 hour flight is about $400 including taxes. Ridiculous! I have never been able to find a flight cheaper than $350. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-travelvacations-per-year/page/2#post-2196846 Tue, 02 Jun 2015 14:11:49 +0000 IRunForFun 2196846@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>On actual vacations, probably between $1,000 and $1,500, aside from our honeymoon last year, which was somewhere around $3,000ish. We usually just do a one-week vacation at a beach we can drive to, and rent a condo for roughly $500 per week, then spend a couple hundred on gas/food/activities. Then maybe one weekend at an inn for our anniversary for $200ish.</p> <p>That doesn't include obligatory travel (luckily our families both live relatively close-by so we don't incur expenses there) for things like weddings, etc. Last year DH's best friend had a destination wedding that had us paying to fly across the country, for example. We ended up not taking our typical beach vacation because of that, though, so I guess we still stayed in the same cost bracket of $1,000 to $1,500.</p> <p>Big splurge trips just aren't in the cards for us on a yearly basis.</p> <p>ETA: No real option for me in the poll since I'm not less than $1,000 but I'm not greater than $1,500, either. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-travelvacations-per-year/page/2#post-2196845 Tue, 02 Jun 2015 14:11:48 +0000 yoursilverlining 2196845@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Freckles: @Mrs. High Heels: this is timely as I'm booking our flight from New England to San Fran this week, which will cost right around $1650 total for 3 tickets, for a 10 day vacation. In the end, we will use airline miles to pay for part of it and DH's ticket will be reimbursed because he's going to a work conference there, but man. I feel like flights are really getting much more $$$ than they used to be. :meh: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-travelvacations-per-year/page/2#post-2196842 Tue, 02 Jun 2015 14:09:56 +0000 lamariniere 2196842@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Travel is where we spend a good chunk of our disposable income, so we are well above the highest choice in the poll. We also have family on 3 continents, so we generally combine family visits with vacation time. This summer we are going from Europe to the US and plane tickets alone cost over $4k because we have to fly into a somewhat remote airport. Then, we also have to factor in hotels, meals, car rentals and US domestic plane tickets. Today, we just booked another trip for next month and we will likely go on a few smaller trips before the end of the year. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-travelvacations-per-year/page/2#post-2196828 Tue, 02 Jun 2015 13:58:19 +0000 Adira 2196828@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ugh, we haven't had a "vacation" since 2011. :bummed: I'm going to say since TTC for #1, we've probably spent &lt;$100/year on "vacations." Although if you add in gas for traveling to visit family, it would be a little more. Hoping we can have an actual vacation in 2016! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-travelvacations-per-year/page/2#post-2196785 Tue, 02 Jun 2015 13:38:55 +0000 DillonLion 2196785@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@runnerd: We haven't done any serious traveling since we started Dave's program early in 2014. But we paid off all our debt! And now we have been able to do some cheapie trips (tagging onto DH's business trip, for example) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-travelvacations-per-year/page/2#post-2196779 Tue, 02 Jun 2015 13:36:43 +0000 Mrs. High Heels 2196779@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Anagram: Oh ok, yes lots of room for interpretation! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-travelvacations-per-year/page/2#post-2196771 Tue, 02 Jun 2015 13:33:14 +0000 Mrs. High Heels 2196771@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Freckles: That is definitely on the lower end! I was thinking about the recent flights we booked to Seattle... which were $226/pp including taxes &amp; fees. I'm sure if we were to travel to somewhere in the east coast or hawaii $300-500/pp would be more accurate. How much are average flight costs traveling domestically within Canada? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-travelvacations-per-year#post-2196767 Tue, 02 Jun 2015 13:31:04 +0000 Anagram 2196767@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. High Heels: I think the linked article was just talking about how much each family spends on "vacation" per year. But I think that term is so loose. Like, if I lived near WDW and went on tons of day trips, I think that money would be counted as "vacation".</p> <p>And in our case, I just count "Travel", because technically it's all unnecessary since we *could* say no to friends' OOT weddings and family trips OOT if we realllllly didn't have the money. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-travelvacations-per-year#post-2196766 Tue, 02 Jun 2015 13:30:40 +0000 erinpye 2196766@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We haven't gone anywhere in a few years due to having little babies and hospital bills from delivery, so we were far below the minimum option. This year, we are spending over the max option in the poll, because we're going to SF for WWDC next week, and then Disney World in July for a week. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-travelvacations-per-year#post-2196762 Tue, 02 Jun 2015 13:29:28 +0000 travelgirl1 2196762@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Before kids and before immigrating to Canada, I spent a fortune on travel. It was my main priority, all backpacking but lots of flights added up.</p> <p>Since being in Canada, all of our trips apart from one have been back to England/Spain for weddings or family emergencies. I don't count those as vacations, they're not at all restful. One year we went back four times in six months. Not including DH's lost wages (no vacation pay), that was about $20,000 but I resented paying it as it meant we could not afford a proper holiday. We haven't been back for nearly two years as we're trying to save.</p> <p>So travel isn't really in our budget right now. When that changes, we'll probably be back in England and focussing on cheaper Europe trips. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-travelvacations-per-year#post-2196753 Tue, 02 Jun 2015 13:25:49 +0000 Freckles 2196753@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Not including flights back home, definitely at least $5k. We try to do 2 vacations annually, and also visit home 2x a year. Flights within and from Canadian cities are pricey! Vacations and visiting family are important to us, so we are okay with it eating a chunk of our budget.</p> <p>@Mrs. High Heels: I wish domestic flights for 4 = $1k in Canada! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-travelvacations-per-year#post-2196736 Tue, 02 Jun 2015 13:18:53 +0000 plantains 2196736@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We used to spend way more than 5K per year on travel. My family lives in London so that is always a financial pita because I don' count it as vacation. For travel within the US, we always use airmiles and do quite well that way. We also use Starpoints cash + money to keep our hotel costs reasonable. </p> <p>For the next two years however we probably will not be able to go anywhere fun because 5K per month daycare is looming. Ugh. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-travelvacations-per-year#post-2196727 Tue, 02 Jun 2015 13:17:10 +0000 mrs.shinerbock 2196727@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Just tickets for 3 to go visit DH's family 1 time each year usually runs us about $4500 and we don't pay for anything else but occasional groceries when we are there. Add in a yearly girl's weekend for me and 1-2 other family/friend events and we are well over $5K each year. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-travelvacations-per-year#post-2196726 Tue, 02 Jun 2015 13:17:05 +0000 Mrs. High Heels 2196726@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>In the last few years we were probably in the $1k-$3k range bc the kids were so young, and we just kept things more local... and if we did fly we didn't have to pay for extra seats. </p> <p>Now that they're getting older, we plan to up our travel and make it more of a priority, so will probably start spending above the $3k range. Just airfare alone for our family of 4 to somewhere domestic will probably be $1k... then lodging for a 5 night stay somewhere will probably be another $1k. Then smaller trips here and there... it all adds up!</p> <p>Eta: The way I read the question was what we spend on family-related trips each year, so I didn't include in my vote the costs for DH &amp; Me-only trips, or our one off friend trips, etc. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-travelvacations-per-year#post-2196715 Tue, 02 Jun 2015 13:09:26 +0000 ValentineMommy 2196715@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This year and last we have gone on a 1 week vacation to the beach and it's a little over $1k. Previous to that, I hadn't been on vacation since I was living with my parents and they paid. I have no idea how anyone affords vacations.....it's so expensive! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-travelvacations-per-year#post-2196645 Tue, 02 Jun 2015 12:40:42 +0000 looch 2196645@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don't include travel to visit family, that's a "cost of doing business" expense for us.</p> <p>For vacations, we usually try to book an economy offering, but it's impossible to get away for less than $1500 if air travel is included. We fall in the range of more than $3000 but less than $5000 annually. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-travelvacations-per-year#post-2196636 Tue, 02 Jun 2015 12:38:38 +0000 Alivoo01 2196636@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We always take a week long vacation over Christmas so that one alone adds up quite a few dollar signs. But it's totally worth it. We also try to squeeze in small trips for some of the holidays in the year. Even if we drive, gas, plus food and lodging adds up quickly. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-travelvacations-per-year#post-2196600 Tue, 02 Jun 2015 12:21:46 +0000 MrsADS 2196600@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our "vacation" budget is not that much, but "travel" is quite high because we live a long way from our families and always spend a ton of $ each year on airfare. </p> <p>In 2014 I would guess we spent about $2,000 JUST in plane tickets for a few trips to our respective families, not counting anything else. </p> <p>We live in Florida so we do a lot of weekend driving trips that aren't that expensive but probably add up. We had Disney annual passes, so that's probably another ~550 or so for both of us. Plus gas and tolls... maybe another $250. Plus however much we spent for a night or two in a hotel, food, etc... hmm... well, now I think we probably spent more than I thought! </p>