Do you ever think that you are doing a great job keeping costs down on an upcoming trip, but once you’ve added up everything, you think – wow that’s a lot of money! CB and I are planning a trip to Boston area for me to interview at a business school and then to spend a few days playing tourist. We first went to Boston almost exactly a year ago to visit CB’s prospective graduate program, so I am really excited to come back to the city.
Here is our budget for Boston:
- 2 round-trip direct flights to Boston-Logan on Virgin America cost $630
- 1 night on the outskirts of Boston took 30,000 HHonors points plus $15 for the tax & fees
- 2 nights in Boston proper at a small B&B – with shared baths – cost $300 including tax & fees (it’s the same place we stayed at last time)
- 2 days car rental – haven’t booked yet – estimating at $150
- Food & drinks for Thursday, Friday, Saturday is budgeted at $350. We are definitely big eaters on vacations – and we’re stopping by Stephanie’s on Newberry for its crabcake benedict!
- Subway tickets, estimated at $25
Total estimated cost of trip: ~$1,500
*Eye pop*
When I look at the elements of the trip individually, they don’t look unreasonable. In fact, I was almost patting myself on the shoulder for managing to (a) find a red-eye from the West Coast to Boston so that we wouldn’t have to pay for a hotel Thursday night, (b) buy tickets that were less than $350 per person, (c) use points to get a free night at a hotel, (4) resist the nice $200+ hotels and instead stay in a small guest house with shared baths.
I love to visit different places, but no matter how carefully I budget individual pieces, somehow the sum of trip just seem so much higher than the costs of its parts. Do you ever get sticker shock once you get to the total cost of a trip?
photo credit: rachel titiriga via Flickr
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I totally hate when that happens, when you add up the costs and it's actually more than you had anticipated. But on another note, yay for Boston! I'm totally biased, but Boston is an awesome place to go to school. I came here for my undergrad 10 years ago, never left, and now I'm in a grad program at yet another school. The only downside is the winters.
First time commenter here. Love your blog and had to chime in about my beloved city of Boston!
I'm sure you already have a list of places to try, but some local favorites are Neptune Oyster in the North End for delicious seafood, Gaslight Brasserie in the South End for a great Prix Fixe brunch (http://www.gaslight560.com/menus.php?menu=prixfixe), and (my favorite, albeit pricey) the Beehive for fabulous drinks and atmosphere, especially if you go on a jazz night.
Some less expensive food options –
Happy hour at McCormick & Schmicks (http://www.mccormickandschmicks.com/menus/0060-McCormick-Schmicks-Seafood-Boston-MA-Faneuil-Hall/Happy.pdf)
Yankee Lobster – for the food, not the atmosphere, a bit more of a trek, but one of my foodie friend's favorites for seafood, at a more affordable price than most others.
I wish I had some advice on places to stay, but $150/night in Boston proper is about as cheap as it gets… Are you planning day trips out of the city, or do you need the rental car to get to your interview? If not, then I'd say skip the rental car. Driving, and especially parking, in Boston is frustrating at best, and be sure to include parking expenses in your budget too.
Also, Boston just launched a bike share program that could be another transportation option for you (as long as its not a winter trip). Biking is such a great way to see the city, and they have 1 and 3 day guest passes/rates available. Details here: http://www.thehubway.com.
Hope you have a great trip!
Thanks for the recommendations. I am really interested in the Gaslight Brasserie… looks great. We are definintely relying on the T in the city, we just need the rental car for the day we're going to a few towns outside of Boston.
Driving can be really tough in Boston – the drivers are ruthless and the streets can be really windy and crazy, and parking isn't cheap downtown. If you have a map or a smartphone and if the first hotel is near some sort of public transportation, I might suggest that you may be better off using public transportation for most of your trips and not bother renting a car. Your T-fare (buses and subway) might go up ($9 for an unlimited day/$15 for unlimited week) slightly, but you could save a lot and it might be less hassle. Either way, it's worth looking into. It takes a bit longer, but the silver line and the blue line go straight to the airport terminals.
Good luck with the search! The only issue I have with Boston (aside from those brutal winters) is how difficult it is to find parking. If you do ultimately go to school in Beantown, be prepared for onerously high parking pass prices! Thats the case with schools in any big city which is why I rely (probably over rely) on public transportation.
I've driven in Boston before (right into Brookline!)… took a wrong turn and it cost me 30 minutes to go around 3 blocks because there was construction going on. It was pretty bad.
I agree! I'm off to Paris next month for a training with work (la chance!) and my Eye Candy and I are going to spend the week that follows in London & Liverpool to visit with my family. I'm pleased to have the air fare covered by work, but the cost of train tickets, dinners, and miscellaneous will certainly add up. I contribute bi-weekly to my Vacation Fund and I know I can afford the get-away, but I still get sticker shock when the figures begin to add up in my Excel sheet.
*Rosie*
You're off to Paris for work… can I have your job please?
I'm planning a trip to your neck of the woods and yes, the parts don't seem so bad, but once all of those charges start showing up on your credit card–yikes! Hotel, rental car, and plane tickets are already at 2K. And that's before we even start shopping (which we LOVE to do in California) or eating (which we also LOVE to do there).
As always, though, I think travel is worth the expense, at least once a year (with smaller trips sprinkled throughout the year).
Where are you going to be in California? Let me know if you'd like any recommendations. I hope you have a great trip. The weather here's lovely.
I think air fair alone is the biggest eye pop. We spent $1200 to fly to Philadelphia during thanksgiving. Obviously the lesson there is don't travel during the holidays. Thinking about traveling overseas and it is simply $1000 to $2000 just to get there and back and that can be overwhelming in itself.
Vacations do add up quickly even when you feel like you've scored a good deal on the individual costs. I actually recently blogged about our 2012 vacation ideas. Seems I can't stay below $2500.
Wow, that seems almost as much as what I spent to go to Italy for 1.5 weeks a couple of years ago… (Although my plane ticket was only $750, and now… well, I have to buy a ticket for Spain soon that's going to cost me $1700
).
It's tought to see that total number, but good to add it all up and ask yourself the tough questions like, do you really need to spend so much eating out? (answer YES! Boston has some good food;) )
Hahahah. I like your answer… and I concur whole-heartedly.
Oh, always! We just did a ridiculously expensive overnight weekend trip, actually. It was like $450. And now that I'm looking toward planning trips abroad, it just gets pricier…
Driving can extremely be really tough in Boston – the drivers are brutal and the streets can be actually windy and crazy, and parking isn't cheap downtown.
I find that I can't leave the state without spending $1,000. It doesn't matter where I go or what I do, it always taps out right about there. It generally falls into my entertainment budget though and that's ok because traveling is a priority for me. For you and CB, if you break it up, it's $750/person and that doesn't seem so bad for a cross-country trip.
I'm in business school in Boston now, and its a great place. You can usually find pretty cheap hotels if you go about 20-30 minutes outside the city (although $150/night is definitely not expensive). If you only need a rental car for a day maybe you should just rent it for a day. Or you could even consider using zipcar instead – it may/may not be cheaper. Last, instead of a hotel you could try something like airbnb. Good luck with your interview, and have fun in Boston!