How do people afford good holidays

[Penguinbiscuitsarenowtiny]

Just researching about a treat holiday/trip for my 50th in a few years time…Hawaii and California, obviously was expecting it to be several thousand as a special trip.
Chat gpt predicts between £15-26 K for two adults & one child

😳

How on earth do people do this?

Was it always this much?

Ive been to Australia, New York, India etc, none of them were anywhere near this price!

Another "how long is a piece of string" post. Surely you can look up the individual costs of the flights, and then the varying prices of the hotel options or other types of accomodation??? It all depends on 1) the level of luxury you want for said holiday (flying economy and staying in hostels is going to of course be cheaper than flying first class and staying at the Four Seasons!) and 2) what you plan on doing while you are there.

As for how people afford things: same way they afford anything else. They save up and pay for it, or they stick it on a credit card and accrue a load of debt.

As with all things if you can't afford it then don't go. Use the time between now and when you think you might like to go to figure out some money saving options if you are open to the idea: make use of credit card offers that give you frequent flyer miles - these can often reduce the cost of flights considerably. Same for hotels (though UK points offers are far less lucrative than USA credit cards). Research times of the year when costs may be less expensive (for example you don't want to be travelling when it's the US spring break time, or over christmas, or at peak travel time on Thanksgiving or various of their other big holidays!). Remember that different parts of California have different weather: If you want to drive up the parts of the Pacfic Coast Highway that are still open then do NOT go in the summer months, because the fog will block your view (same for summer in San Francisco). Go in Spring or Autumn.

Look into options like house swaps or AirBnB/house stays versus hotels.

Understand that Hawaii is always expensive: they rely heavily on imports, and have a love/hate relationship (more hate than love these days) with tourists. Particularly tourists who don't make the effort to learn about local history and culture and just want what they have at home (so if you are a Brit who expects a full english breakfast and a cup of tea versus embracing local cuisine and customs then it's not the place for you - though frankly those sorts of Brits shouldn't be leaving the UK anyway as they are just an embarrassment). Also understand that the price of food/groceries in the US has increased markedly over the past decade - and it's especially noticeable in California. The high costs of real estate are passed along to consumers.

Again, we have no idea what you want to do when you are visiting these places. If you just want to drive around and look at stuff then consider renting an SUV and buying a few tents/camping stuff when you get there and going camping - there are AMAZING campsites in the US national parks - many of which are very very affordable and lovely - though a good number require advance planning and advanced booking to get the best spots. Some camping facilities have cabins and other structures - it all depends on where you are going and when - so put some effort into doing your research and learning about where you are going and the various national and state parks, together with the options available for camping at each. Of course if you are the sort of person who only wants to stay at all-inclusive resorts and Marriott hotels then that advice won't help. But having stayed at everything from the Four Seasons to a tent in the Sierra Nevadas I'd say the tent in the Sierra Nevadas was by far the most delightful (if not necessarily the most comfy - but if you have your SUV nearby you can always take an airbed with you).

The facts that some people can afford it ,is neither here or there really.My own DS is 30 and his GF a few years younger. Been to US around 6 times now!.Earns well,saves hard has a good bonus.Also bought a house recently. This is in addition to trips to Thailand. Probably over the last 5 years. Not everyone is struggling

You’ve chosen an expensive combination of places- but you could get it in cheaper than that for sure.

Holidays have gone up loads, when I think of the places I went to in my 20s… this year I wanted to go to Italy or Greece, but ended up in Morocco as it was so much cheaper and I’m currently eyeing up Malta instead of Majorca as it’s more affordable. Trouble is the popular places can command the asking price.

Surely the budget varíes massively depending on type of hotel, where you eat etc?

We’re doing 2.5 weeks in USA this summer, 2 adults 2 kids. I got very cheap flights by booking almost a year in advance. Total costs including all food and activities is about 9k, staying in some nice hotels, some average hotels on the road and a week self catering for £1500.

Prices are nuts op. Completely!
credit card 0% interest and spread the cost.

Was just remembering paying less than £500 in my 20’s to fly to Australia / Indonesia for a year.

We go on a "big" holiday about once every 5 or 6 years, and go very cheap in between. One year we had 4 days in a Premier Inn by the sea!

I've known people who do credit cards / save up / inheritance.

I don't go on holidays these days. Before I had DC's I saved up for them.

A trip to the US only costs £15 -25k if you want it to. You can book flights and find yourself an Airbnb for less than that, though Hawaii or Florida are going to be expensive choices particularly in the school holidays.

We’re doing a big US trip later this year and have been paying for it in chunks - one month paid for the Airbnb, one month paid for the flights etc - it wasn’t just a big lump sum in one go. Some travel companies will
also let you set up a 0% agreement where you pay for it over 6 months.

Find yourself some flights on Skyscanner or one of the comparison sites and then try Airbnb for accommodation. We just booked a beautiful Airbnb (with brilliant reviews) in a very popular US city and paid $150 a night for a 3 bed.

I’m not sure Hawaii is all that to be honest. Friends has relatives there and goes frequently coz she has too, and says there are just as nice if not nicer islands and tropical islands in easier reach of UK that aren’t full of Americans.

Personally I would do anything then travel to America at the moment. Too many horror stories at the borders and potential of rioting/civil unrest is quite high. Also I would not want to support basically what is becoming a right wing dictator who is starting a potential war with Iran.

In terms of prices, the cost of flying has gone up hugely because of the price of fuel so Hawaii will be expensive because of that. Why not look at somewhere closer but still amazing like Canada? Or somewhere that is much much cheaper when you're there so you can afford to go a bit more luxury like Vietnam or Thailand?

Yellowstone was an amazing place to visit if you want a US trip. Think I ended up paying around £1,500 for flights and accommodation for two weeks (one person).

We're doing a last minute to Florida next month, it's costing around £400 pp for fights and a villa. I suggest shopping around, playing with dates, times etc ... Maybe fly to a different airport and book an internal flight? Have you looked into booking everything separately? What's the cost breakdown?

I'm wary of TF with a family.

For a 3 week South African holiday and safari they wanted £20k (2 adults, 2 kids). Hotel rooms which are impractical and lead to further spending on food whilst there.

We are doing with apartments, air B & B and booked direct with safari for £9k.

I don't think TF are as good or as helpful as they used to be.

I would save for a holiday like this over a long period of time. I’d plan it years in advance.

people without children are not relevant in a conversation about how people afford family holidays simple as that.

We have always lived frugally and saved for holidays. We look for flights deals, cheaper hotels & food, get around ourselves instead of tours & skip expensive tourist attractions (unless we want to go there desperately). We only book where & when we can afford to go.

Also skip agents and chatgpt. DH tried to use it to plan our Japan holiday earlier this year. Total rubbish. I did it for half the price & a much better, more flexible itinerary.

That is really impressive!

OP asked how people afford to go on hols. We are still people, you know.

And no kids really helps with finances, tho that will probs turn round in old age, as I pick up a lot of caring, that would otherwise cost a fortune.

My Bil had to cancel a holiday, I couldn't work out why he was so nervous, turns out it was in the region of £25k outlays. No kids, two professional jobs, now both retired.

Basically, it just depends what you want to spend your discretionary income on...kids (some people choose to have fewer children), cars, holidays, once all your basic needs are met, which for a lot of people now, isn't the case.

I think the average family with a mortgage and children would not consider th it a type of holiday in the first place. A nice child friendly week in Greece or anywhere Europe is mostly affordable and as long as you are having fun and with people you love it’s great. No need to ever spend £20000 on a holiday unless of course you have the means to do so, and it sounds as if you probably haven’t . Lower your expectations and you will be able to find somewhere really nice and celebrate your 50 th without having to be paying for it for years later. I personally only know one person who goes on expensive holidays and I don’t think it makes her particularly happy

I know someone who added it on when travelling round the states. It didn’t cost anywhere near that, including car hire. But they didn’t use a travel company at all and booked it independently.

Thread title is:
"How do people afford good holidays"

Yes the OP reveals they have a child but she doesn't specifically say how do families afford these sorts of holidays.

In fact, if one of the reasons people can afford luxury holidays is because the are not having to pay for children as well then I think that is a very relevant fact indeed. Simple as that.

Are you quite new here?

(Yes it probably is just you.)

I took my son to San Francisco two years ago. I had no idea it would cost so much.
I had obviously paid for the flights ahead, and I had also paid for the hotel.
The cost of food and entertainment for the time there cost at least three times more than I had expected.
California is so very expensive.
Im not sure about Hawaii but I have heard the same for that.

I also had a shock when looking into Japan a few years ago and how much that would cost.

I think tourists have a similar shock when they visit London.
These are simply expensive destinations.

I have spent a lot on holidays. It’s pretty much what I work for. But some destinations are way out of my scope.

I do agree that there are cheaper ways to do trips.

The people i know having expensive holidays in their 50s and 60s are doung so because of inheritances