3 ms·

Not where I’m from. No one has the money to fly to Japan for a shopping trip like this ad suggests. Where do these people exist outside the Bay Area?

by Jzush 5mo ago

parl_match 5mo ago
We were talking about the clothing mockup using AI: "The very first thing they show this new machine doing is helping people shop for clothes using AI." Also, Japan is a cheap travel destination right now. Two people can do a 14 day trip easily for $3000 total. That's not nothing but it's also in the realm of many middle class people regardless of where they live.
- 9dev 5mo ago
  You probably don't even realise how far you are from average Americans, who are currently struggling to pay for their groceries. Shelling out three grand for a two-week vacation is simply unattainable for the vast majority of the population.
  - jimbokun 5mo ago
    More people travel overseas than ever before. To the extent major tourist destinations are having to take measures to limit the number of tourists coming there.
  - matwood 5mo ago
    Families pay double that or more for a week at Disney.
    - com2kid 5mo ago
      > Families pay double that or more for a week at Disney. Not anymore. Disney now targets high income earners, not the average American.
  - parl_match 5mo ago
    > You probably don't even realise how far you are from average Americans I think this is more you than me. The middle class in America is still strong. Is it weakening and eroding? That is also true. > Shelling out three grand for a two-week vacation is simply unattainable for the vast majority of the population. Would you quote me where I said it was the majority, let alone vast? Well, actually, depending on the data and who you ask, 40-60% of Americans spend $3000 a year on travel. Is 60% the majority? I'm not good at math. https://www.ngpf.org/blog/question-of-the-day/question-of-the-day-on-average-how-much-do-americans-planning-a-summer-vacation-expect-to-spend-on-flights-and-lodging-this-year/ https://www.ngpf.org/blog/question-of-the-day/question-of-th... https://www.nerdwallet.com/travel/studies/summer-travel-report https://www.nerdwallet.com/travel/studies/summer-travel-repo... So really, you may be the one who's disconnected from reality. Not to say that things aren't getting better, I think they're getting worse. Just that you've got a bit of a doomer mindset.
    - cwillu 5mo ago
      No, 40-60% plan to travel, and the average amount of that travel is 3000. That is not at all the same thing as “40-60% of americans spend $3000 a year on travel”! The data provided simply isn't sufficient to support the claim.
      - nl 5mo ago
        I went down a whole rabbit hole trying to find the numbers for this. If you Google there are lots of different numbers reported. According to [1], the average American household spend $682 on airfares in 2024, plus an additional $199 on "Intercity bus, train, and ship fare" There is spending data on "out of town" trips in [2] but it is extremely hard to work with. If the average household spends $881 on these cost then it's probably at least reasonable to double that in total travel spend, so in round numbers at least $2000 is an estimate I'd believe. It also makes $3000/year within reasonable bounds of possibility. But in terms of measuring how households are doing I'd note this is down from the 2023 numbers. The normal issues with measuring average vs median apply etc. [1] https://data.bts.gov/stories/s/Transportation-Economic-Trends-Transportation-Spen/ida7-k95k/ https://data.bts.gov/stories/s/Transportation-Economic-Trend... [2] https://www.bls.gov/cex/tables/top-line-means.htm https://www.bls.gov/cex/tables/top-line-means.htm
  - nl 5mo ago
    I dug some numbers out on this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48116241 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48116241 $2000/year on average seems a good estimate, and $3000/year is something that could be possible. This is higher than I expected.
- prmoustache 5mo ago
  Not for a dedicated shopping trip.
  - vntok 5mo ago
    Or maybe you can buy some stuff while visiting on holidays?
- tayo42 5mo ago
  LAX to Tokyo is 1100 per person. I could do the rest of the trip on 60 dollars a day? That's like Thailand prices maybe.
  - parl_match 5mo ago
    I'm seeing LAX to NRT direct for <$900 Granted, I was thinking of my home airport, SFO. The tickets from there are <$800 a person round trip

Not where I’m from. No one has the money to fly to Japan for a shopping trip like this ad suggests. Where do these people exist outside the Bay Area?

by Jzush 5mo ago

Not where I’m from. No one has the money to fly to Japan for a shopping trip like this ad suggests. Where do these people exist outside the Bay Area?

parl_match 5mo ago

We were talking about the clothing mockup using AI: "The very first thing they show this new machine doing is helping people shop for clothes using AI." Also, Japan is a cheap travel destination right now. Two people can do a 14 day trip easily for $3000 total. That's not nothing but it's also in the realm of many middle class people regardless of where they live.

9dev 5mo ago
You probably don't even realise how far you are from average Americans, who are currently struggling to pay for their groceries. Shelling out three grand for a two-week vacation is simply unattainable for the vast majority of the population.
- jimbokun 5mo ago
  More people travel overseas than ever before. To the extent major tourist destinations are having to take measures to limit the number of tourists coming there.
- matwood 5mo ago
  Families pay double that or more for a week at Disney.
  - com2kid 5mo ago
    > Families pay double that or more for a week at Disney. Not anymore. Disney now targets high income earners, not the average American.
- parl_match 5mo ago
  > You probably don't even realise how far you are from average Americans I think this is more you than me. The middle class in America is still strong. Is it weakening and eroding? That is also true. > Shelling out three grand for a two-week vacation is simply unattainable for the vast majority of the population. Would you quote me where I said it was the majority, let alone vast? Well, actually, depending on the data and who you ask, 40-60% of Americans spend $3000 a year on travel. Is 60% the majority? I'm not good at math. https://www.ngpf.org/blog/question-of-the-day/question-of-the-day-on-average-how-much-do-americans-planning-a-summer-vacation-expect-to-spend-on-flights-and-lodging-this-year/ https://www.ngpf.org/blog/question-of-the-day/question-of-th... https://www.nerdwallet.com/travel/studies/summer-travel-report https://www.nerdwallet.com/travel/studies/summer-travel-repo... So really, you may be the one who's disconnected from reality. Not to say that things aren't getting better, I think they're getting worse. Just that you've got a bit of a doomer mindset.
  - cwillu 5mo ago
    No, 40-60% plan to travel, and the average amount of that travel is 3000. That is not at all the same thing as “40-60% of americans spend $3000 a year on travel”! The data provided simply isn't sufficient to support the claim.
    - nl 5mo ago
      I went down a whole rabbit hole trying to find the numbers for this. If you Google there are lots of different numbers reported. According to [1], the average American household spend $682 on airfares in 2024, plus an additional $199 on "Intercity bus, train, and ship fare" There is spending data on "out of town" trips in [2] but it is extremely hard to work with. If the average household spends $881 on these cost then it's probably at least reasonable to double that in total travel spend, so in round numbers at least $2000 is an estimate I'd believe. It also makes $3000/year within reasonable bounds of possibility. But in terms of measuring how households are doing I'd note this is down from the 2023 numbers. The normal issues with measuring average vs median apply etc. [1] https://data.bts.gov/stories/s/Transportation-Economic-Trends-Transportation-Spen/ida7-k95k/ https://data.bts.gov/stories/s/Transportation-Economic-Trend... [2] https://www.bls.gov/cex/tables/top-line-means.htm https://www.bls.gov/cex/tables/top-line-means.htm
- nl 5mo ago
  I dug some numbers out on this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48116241 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48116241 $2000/year on average seems a good estimate, and $3000/year is something that could be possible. This is higher than I expected.
prmoustache 5mo ago
Not for a dedicated shopping trip.
- vntok 5mo ago
  Or maybe you can buy some stuff while visiting on holidays?
tayo42 5mo ago
LAX to Tokyo is 1100 per person. I could do the rest of the trip on 60 dollars a day? That's like Thailand prices maybe.
- parl_match 5mo ago
  I'm seeing LAX to NRT direct for <$900 Granted, I was thinking of my home airport, SFO. The tickets from there are <$800 a person round trip