Originally Posted by
San Gottardo
The ridiculous tipping practice - my favourite one is the self-service cash register in a self-service kiosk in some airport that suggests various tips: 20%, 25% or 30%, but no 0% - is one thing. Not clear whom I am tipping. The reason why I still believe in humanity is that even many Americans start finding the tipping practice obscene now.
The other thing that is just outrageous is how many European products are treated as luxury products and priced as such. A normal croissant? Between 5 and 6 USD (without tip!). But of course, if you're only other option is US-style bakery, then you pay 5.50 (+tip) for a croissant. And let's not even talk about the silly price level for wines, where you may end up paying 200 USD for a bottle that my local petrol station sells for 15 EUR.
Anyways, off topic. To the OP: buy your ticket now, it won't get less expensive, and you'll love paying 1.30 EUR for your croissant and getting wonderful wine for a fraction of what you'd pay in a restaurant in the US.
We could say the bottom line is that you do your due diligence and make sure to get stuff that's cheaper in US while there (electronics, smartphones, clothing) to offset higher costs for other stuff. Eating out in US is in general more expensive than in Europe, doesn't matter if is a croissant or hamburger. This by the way excludes fast food like McDonald's and it gives you new perspective why fast food was (or still is?) much more popular in US than Europe (and oftenly in worse quality) - it's cheap way to eat out.