To think that a school trip to NYC is excessive? Aibu to say no?

[ENormaSnob]

Probably outing myself here as I have moaned rather a lot about this irl

Ds1(year 7) brought a letter home yesterday about a school trip to new York next year. There are 40 places for the whole school.

It is £800 for 3 days

They will see the empire state building, ground zero, the guggenheim museum, a broadway show and a drama workshop. Plus ice skating and lunch in planet Hollywood.

Aibu to think this is not an educational trip for a 12 year old?

We could stretch to finance it by doing overtime and saving but I am so reluctant to say yes.

Aibu? Wwyd?

Lunabelly- well said!

Flew BA. Stayed near Columbus circle. Did it through Expedia tweaking everything (flight times, hotels, dates ). Took vouchers/discount cards for everything. Prices have gone up in the last two years but I still think a group would get stuff cheaper than we did.

Excellent post Lunabelly!

Haven't read all the comments but YADNBU! DH and I went to New York for 2 WEEKS in 2009 and it cost roughly the same amount for the 2 of us. Whatever happened to camping trips with the school? Geez!

expensive! Shits on my school trip.... ireland for a walking holiday...

YANBU. That's a fair bit more than our yearly family holiday costs (cottage in the UK). What's wrong with visiting places closer to home?

Too expensive imo. £800 to do a bit ice-skating in another city?

With less money you can have 100s educational and fun activities in uk for the whole family for a year.
Or with a bit more a family hol in Europe.

I think the trips have gone out of hand and they play with some parents' own experiences, parents with low self-esteem who have been deprived and felt left out will feel very bad to say No so the school puts them in very difficult situation.

mjawch -- my year in school went on a walking holiday in Ireland too. We were already in Ireland.

I totally agree.

dd1 came home with a letter for a skiing trip and other to NY. Cost was £1600.

Luckily, dd can';t go anyway as she is having surgery this year, which will put her out of action for pyhsicaly activity for a year.

I think it is way to ott, especially given the current economic conditions

YABVVVU

I went to NYC with 6th form and it was the most amazing place I have ever been.

I know it's very expensive. I had a job so helped to pay for lots of the trip and got given dollars for birthday and Xmas presents from family.

If you can afford then yes let him go!! My trip was very educational.

I'd like to point out that it's a jokey YABVVU not a grumpy one.

Cripes alive ! £800 for 3 nights in NY for a 12 year old ???? DH and I didn't spend much more than that for 6 nights for 2 !

I would not do it. £800 would go a long way towards a family trip to NY (albeit on a tight budget)

I have a friend who is a teacher who organises the school trips. This one smacks of one that the teachers have picked because they want to go on it...

And I have to say, if it was a school trip I'd be wanting to see some more "educational" visits on the programme such as the Tenement Museum and Ellis Island.

They cannot seriously be suggesting that New York would cost £500 per night for a 12 year old ? Flights can be got for about £350, there is cheap, decent accomodation in NY and not all the attractions on the programme are fee-entry. Unless they are staying on 5th and eating at Jean-Georges every night I cannot see how they could possibly claim it would be £1500 if booked privately.

you're not being unreasonable they'll be plenty of other trips im sure.

i went for a exchange trip when i was 15 with school, to usa, its cost just over a grand per person for a week. but we students who were picked to go did local fundraising to cover trips and outings we wanted to do once we got there.

if yo want fun adventure trips i would recommend something more local that isnt an insane amount of money. maybe im overprotective but i wouldn't let my kids go abroad that young. most schools run the duke of edinburgh awards, if its adventure commitment, confidence you want then i highly rate it. the gold award holds an opportunity to go abroad sometimes, but thats optional. as for the rest a lot of people carry it out in north wales. the first few expeditions would be more local hiking areas for practise.

you

your child could also ask teachers about arranging weekend trips for canoeing, rock climbing, gauge walking etc these could be done in the uk easily, and he/ she would love it,

AFAIK my trip was about £500 for 4 nights. We had to pay for our own food but everything else was included.

We went to Ellis Island, Madison Square Garden, had a tour of Central Park and spent a morning in a conference type thing about Tourism in NYC.

We also went to Times Square, up the Empire State Building and to Ground Zero.

This was in 2003 and we left NYC just as they declared war on Iraq.

I can't help thinking the trip in the OP is some travel company giving a couple of teachers free tickets if they can book 40 places.

I also can't help thinking some children out there are spectacularly ignorant of the beauty and history of the UK.Not their fault, just some schools lacking imagination regarding what's under our very noses.

Instead of Ground Zero- how about the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffs?
Instead of a musical on Broadway- how about the West End or a Shakespeare play at The Globe?

Instead of the Guggenheim, how about the National Gallery in London?

Ice skating can be done in most major UK towns, and Planet Hollywood is hardly worth a 7 hour plane ride.

It's right under our nose and it won't cost £800.

The UK is magnificent, why ignore it for a 3 day whirlwind in NYC?

I wonder if sometimes these such trips are aimed at parents who cant / dont take their children abroad, and gives them a chance to go explore? My mum is terrified of heights and enclosed spaces so would never get on a plane, however the amount seems absud and much more than she could ever have afforded. She managed £160, in installements for me to go to france for 4 days.

YADNBU to say no though. Just put it gently. In year 7 when i started school there was a ski trip to italy (no idea of its educational value), but i told mum, and added staright away that i didnt want to go, because although desperately i wanted to, but i knew mum could never have afforded it. I think schools should provide funding for those on low incomes. My mum was a single parent and got no maintenance, to which a girl in my class told me my dad should get off his lazy fat arse and get a job, my response, looking back, not very dignified, was its hard to get a job when your dead innit?