What do you splurge on when you travel?
Nov 25, 2014, 1:09 pm
#107
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: in the vicinity of SFO
Programs: AA 2MM (LT-PLT, PPro for this year)
Posts: 19,781
I mainly splurge on the time off from work (unpaid time off, while a nice perk from my employer, still nets out as quite expensive!) and on the frequency of travel (even cheap international Y tickets add up quickly.)
I will splurge on meals both at home and when traveling, but since I tend to eat out a lot at home and a lot of the places I go internationally have relatively cheaper food than the US, I often end up spending no more on food when traveling than I do at home.
Hotels can be splurges, depending on where I go; tend to spend more in places I don't know, and then find cheaper local places if I go back once I get to know the place. On the one hand, it's just a place to sleep, but location makes a big difference -- a cheap place where I'm taking taxis both ways or walking my feet sore is not a bargain. I also want wifi if possible and I'm pretty picky about cleanliness and having a decent bed (plus, outside the US the cheapest places tend not to have non-smoking rooms, and being asthmatic that is a must.)
I tend not to rent cars, book tours, or use taxis much -- I tend to explore places on foot or via mass transit, and I prefer urban areas or compact beach towns where I can get around easily.
I will splurge on meals both at home and when traveling, but since I tend to eat out a lot at home and a lot of the places I go internationally have relatively cheaper food than the US, I often end up spending no more on food when traveling than I do at home.
Hotels can be splurges, depending on where I go; tend to spend more in places I don't know, and then find cheaper local places if I go back once I get to know the place. On the one hand, it's just a place to sleep, but location makes a big difference -- a cheap place where I'm taking taxis both ways or walking my feet sore is not a bargain. I also want wifi if possible and I'm pretty picky about cleanliness and having a decent bed (plus, outside the US the cheapest places tend not to have non-smoking rooms, and being asthmatic that is a must.)
I tend not to rent cars, book tours, or use taxis much -- I tend to explore places on foot or via mass transit, and I prefer urban areas or compact beach towns where I can get around easily.
Nov 25, 2014, 2:43 pm
#108
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Seattle, WA
Programs: DL Diamond 1.7MM, Starlux Insighter, Bonvoy Titanium, Hilton Gold, Hertz PC
Posts: 3,947
Perhaps most memorable for me was rolling up to the ultra-luxury 5* Oberoi Hotel on Nariman Point in Mumbai... in a clapped out non-air conditioned 1970s era Premier Padmini taxi. Hey, it only required one stop to refill the radiator between the airport and the hotel...