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Passports are easy, plane tickets are expensive. The average American does not have the resources to plan out a luxury, multi-continental vacation. I can only h

Passports are easy, plane tickets are expensive. The average American does not have the resources to plan out a luxury, multi-continental vacation. I can only hope my European friends don't take it personally.

barrkel 16y ago
Plane tickets aren't that expensive (I see about 550 USD New York / London round-trip on Virgin Atlantic, and that's just the first search I did). If your trip is city-focused, you'd probably save a substantial portion of that on car rental. And why does a cross-atlantic vacation have to be "luxury"? Most of the appeal of going such a long way is experiencing a different culture. Most of what you're buying with a luxury hotel is a more expensive lobby with more expensive services. (E.g. internet access cost is usually inversely correlated with room rate.) All you really need is somewhere safe, quiet and conveniently located to sleep, as you'll spend most of the day out of the room. EDIT: I did another search, except in March instead of May, and I was seeing round-trip prices of 377 USD.
- tenaciousJk 16y ago
  Maybe $400 or $600 isn't expensive to /you/, but it is to me.
  - barrkel 16y ago
    I don't think 400 USD is expensive to a majority of this non-passport-owning 70% of the US population. I mean, it's not something you spend just any day of the week, but to never in your lifetime visit Europe?
- Jach 16y ago
  When did tickets get cheaper all of a sudden... Last time I checked, Seattle to Lebanon was $2k round trip for the cheapest I could find. Now it's about $1k-$1300 (which is what I paid in taxes last year). (And Seattle to London right now is only $700-ish.) Both are too expensive for me right now, but you're right, they're not that expensive considering it's a trip rather than an ice cream cone. When I lived in Utah a few years ago, I drove up to Vancouver, Canada and spent 10 days in the cheapest Vancouver hotel I could find with wifi and between that and gas alone probably spent at least $700. If you stay in a Hostel they're about $20-$30 a night which can cut costs there, and it seems like anywhere big that's not-the-US has good public transportation.
corbet 16y ago
A plane ticket to Europe or Asia often costs less than what I've seen people set aside as their gambling budget in Las Vegas. It's a matter of what you think is important.

barrkel 16y ago

Plane tickets aren't that expensive (I see about 550 USD New York / London round-trip on Virgin Atlantic, and that's just the first search I did). If your trip is city-focused, you'd probably save a substantial portion of that on car rental. And why does a cross-atlantic vacation have to be "luxury"? Most of the appeal of going such a long way is experiencing a different culture. Most of what you're buying with a luxury hotel is a more expensive lobby with more expensive services. (E.g. internet access cost is usually inversely correlated with room rate.) All you really need is somewhere safe, quiet and conveniently located to sleep, as you'll spend most of the day out of the room. EDIT: I did another search, except in March instead of May, and I was seeing round-trip prices of 377 USD.

tenaciousJk 16y ago
Maybe $400 or $600 isn't expensive to /you/, but it is to me.
- barrkel 16y ago
  I don't think 400 USD is expensive to a majority of this non-passport-owning 70% of the US population. I mean, it's not something you spend just any day of the week, but to never in your lifetime visit Europe?
Jach 16y ago
When did tickets get cheaper all of a sudden... Last time I checked, Seattle to Lebanon was $2k round trip for the cheapest I could find. Now it's about $1k-$1300 (which is what I paid in taxes last year). (And Seattle to London right now is only $700-ish.) Both are too expensive for me right now, but you're right, they're not that expensive considering it's a trip rather than an ice cream cone. When I lived in Utah a few years ago, I drove up to Vancouver, Canada and spent 10 days in the cheapest Vancouver hotel I could find with wifi and between that and gas alone probably spent at least $700. If you stay in a Hostel they're about $20-$30 a night which can cut costs there, and it seems like anywhere big that's not-the-US has good public transportation.

corbet 16y ago

A plane ticket to Europe or Asia often costs less than what I've seen people set aside as their gambling budget in Las Vegas. It's a matter of what you think is important.