Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

Do your uni student children travel/go on holiday?

46 replies

sadidas · 02/09/2019 23:10

DS lives a fairly frugal life at university, only ever buys second hand (good quality) clothing, often reduced food, walks everywhere etc. He works when he can during the holidays.

However, he seems to spend all his money on traveling. He’ll jet off whenever he can. This summer he spent a month in Europe.

At Christmas he’s going to Vietnam for 2 weeks, at Easter he’s going to Costa Rica.

When on hols he isn’t extravagant and stays in mediocre/cheap places most of the time. However, he’s known to get sick of bad standards and blow a few hundred on a 5* hotel. He doesn’t really
fly economy class either (he is 6ft 5 to be fair)

Just wondering if this much traveling is normal?

OP posts:
WingingWonder · 02/09/2019 23:17

A student who can fly business class anywhere is not normal, no

KennDodd · 02/09/2019 23:21

How does he pay for it?

BubblesBuddy · 02/09/2019 23:25

He must have a well paid job you don’t know about! Only the well off can afford what he’s doing! No, most don’t travel to that extent.

MarchingFrogs · 02/09/2019 23:28

How does he pay for it?

DS lives a fairly frugal life at university, only ever buys second hand (good quality) clothing, often reduced food, walks everywhere etc. He works when he can during the holidays.
May give some clue, possibly?

Unless all this is a blind and he's actually financing his pleasures through drug dealing pr robbing little old ladies outside Post Offices, I can't see a problem, personally.

YOLO, as they say.

ArtieFufkinPolymerRecords · 03/09/2019 00:27

May give some clue, possibly?

Yes, that would explain him having the opportunity to save money for travelling, but surely not enough to fly Business class.

TinklyLittleLaugh · 03/09/2019 00:35

Well my 3 do lots of self funded travelling in the hols; between them have done Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, USA, Mexico, Canada and pretty much all of Europe.

They are total cheapskates though, and reckon to need about a grand for 4/5 weeks in Asia in the summer.

littleorangecat22 · 03/09/2019 00:38

I'd rather he was exploring the world while not tied down by jobs & responsibility with his money than spending it on nights out and crap he doesn't need. He could save it instead, but travel is great for experiences and learning.

AmICrazyorWhat2 · 03/09/2019 01:02

I think he's seeing as much of the world as he can while he still has long university holidays and few responsibilities - I did the same (strictly economy travel and budget hotels though Grin).

I'd let him enjoy it while he can.

ShanghaiDiva · 03/09/2019 05:22

If he is funding it himself, then I don't see a problem.
Ds does not do a huge amount of travel, but as we live in China he does go on holiday with us when he is home - Malaysia at Easter and Vietnam for Christmas. He was working in Europe for two months and had a little time to explore/

MrKlaw · 03/09/2019 08:41

May give some clue

Well depends - best case he is getting the full maintenance loan with no parental contribution. If he is able to pay for accommodation, living expenses and still have enough spare to fly premium economy then more power to him. Seems tight though.

If he has a job in the summer that covers the costs, fair enough. Travel is great and helps expand horizons.

If he is getting parental contributions however, that changes the picture a little. How much are the parents effectively paying for his travel? Would it be reasonable that he works during eg Summer to pay for his travel with parents only covering living costs? That balance is what I'd be curious about. If I was paying towards his costs I would think that amount of travel is a little OTT.

ssd · 03/09/2019 08:55

How much do you give him op?

greentheme23 · 03/09/2019 09:06

Is he a drug dealer? No my daughter can't afford to jet off business class whilst she is at uni. If she was I would be asking if she was a drug dealer!

gameofscrabble · 03/09/2019 09:11

As I was reading your post I was thinking yes this is like DD. She lives very frugally and spends next to nothing when it comes to her student loan.

And then I got to the business class part! He must have another income to be affording that OP. DD spends her leftover student loan on a 4 night trip to Spain with Ryanair or something similar!!

cranstonmanor · 03/09/2019 10:07

It's really out of the ordinary for a student to be able to blow money on longhaul business flights. Either there's something going on or you're funding him way too much.

Original poster
sadidas · 03/09/2019 10:48

He gets £9,500 a year grant/ loan. He gets about £2,000 from his granny. He probably earns £2,000 a year through work.

We pay all food and rent, that's it.

OP posts:
ArtieFufkinPolymerRecords · 03/09/2019 11:05

We pay all food and rent, that's it.

Wow, no wonder he has plenty of spare cash. Most students would be paying for their accommodation out of their loan and then living off the rest/any earnings, including buying their own food, not having parents pay for that on top.

Are you not in England? Just that it seems surprising that if he has parents who can afford to pay his full rent and food (so I'm guessing at least £6000), he would qualify for the full maintenance loan.

It sounds like he actually has a net income of around £20,000, so I can see why he can afford all the holidays.

PostNotInHaste · 03/09/2019 11:10

He’s got loads of money then ! DD lives frugally so she can travel but has about half his income and does everything cheaply.

gameofscrabble · 03/09/2019 11:56

If he gets the maximum loan why are you paying his rent and food Confused

MrKlaw · 03/09/2019 12:00

If he is living on eg £6k accommodation he has £3k for living expenses - thats still more than we're giving ours. We're giving £300pm for living expenses or about £2,250 per year or £75 per week. From reading around that should be plenty to live on. And we are topping up accommodation as he gets minimum loan.

Depending on accommodation, his loan on its own should be enough to pay for accommodation and living expenses. He shouldn't need any extra money from you or Granny. He earns £2k so that can be used on hols no problem

Not saying you shouldn't help him out, but I think it reasonable you have an idea what your combined £4-5k per year from you and Granny is being spent on.

notso · 03/09/2019 12:08

Let me clarify, you pay his rent and buy his food, so he has £13,500 plus any wages purely to spend on second hand clothing and travelling.

pimbee · 03/09/2019 12:16

That's what student loans are for isn't it? :D

cardamoncoffee · 03/09/2019 12:23

This must be a joke? It all seemed fine until the business class flights.

EmrysAtticus · 03/09/2019 12:25

Well if he has no accommodation or food costs and lives frugally then of course he can afford that travel on a full loan plus money from family and a job.

EmrysAtticus · 03/09/2019 12:25

But no it isn't normal because most students don't have their rent and food paid for and a full loan

sue51 · 03/09/2019 12:34

Saving up for a trip to se asia is not unusual for a student, flying business or premium economy class most certainly is. He has more disposable income than many working people.

Swipe left for the next trending thread