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The true and total cost of a
vacation is almost certainly very much more than you think.
But the greater than expected
cost is not necessarily a reason to economize on the components
of your vacation. Rather, it provides a benchmark to
understand what you're paying, and to contrast that cost with
what you're getting in return.
Use the forms in this part of
our five part series to work out what your vacation will be
costing you.
Understanding the True Cost of
Your Vacation
The results of this concept might astonish
you, and perhaps because of the surprising nature of what
follows, it is a key issue to understand.
Let's say, as an example,
that the two of you are off to London for a week. Perhaps you
bought a couple of bargain airfares that encouraged you to go to
London for a week; but now let's consider what your actual total
cost of that one week vacation will be, and then express that in
terms of each hour of 'quality time' in London.
For this example, you travel
to London on a Friday evening after first working that day,
getting in to London on a Saturday mid morning, and you fly home
again on Saturday the next week early afternoon, getting home
also on Saturday (this means you have only five days off work,
but get to enjoy a week in London and still have Sunday at home
before returning to work again the next Monday). This is a
typical and sensible schedule that many people choose.
Let's first look at the
costs of your week away.
Here's a table that you can
write your own costs in and do your own calculation as well.
Table 1 : Total Cost of
a One Week London Vacation
|
Item |
Example |
Your Cost |
|
Air Fares
(bargain airfare at $300 roundtrip) |
600 |
|
|
Air Fare
Taxes |
400 |
|
|
Getting to
and from your home airport, and perhaps airport
parking as well |
100 |
|
|
House sitting, animal
sitting, any other extra costs incurred
at home while you're away |
100 |
|
|
Getting to and from
the airport and hotel in London |
120 |
|
|
Passenger 1 - cost of
one week off work
(sure, it might be paid vacation,
but it is also time you can't use
for anything else and which can only
be replaced by leave without pay) |
1500 |
|
|
Passenger 2 -
cost of one week off work |
1000 |
|
|
Six nights standard
quality hotel in London |
1000 |
|
|
Six days basic food
and drink |
500 |
|
|
Six days of
sightseeing |
500 |
|
|
Six days of
traveling around London |
250 |
|
|
Six days of miscellaneous
minor costs |
300 |
|
|
Souvenirs, gifts, etc |
300 |
|
|
Total
cost before additional expenditures
(note that this comprises $2500 in
'opportunity costs' and $4170 in real
cash costs) |
$6670 |
|
|
Those $300 airfares that encouraged you to go on this vacation ended up
with a vacation costing you, in total, $6670!
But that's not the real
shocker of the calculation. Let's look now at how this
$6670 translates into what you're paying per hour of vacation
time in London. This is the key measure of your vacation
time, and the key factor to consider in deciding what to do and
how much to spend on doing it - the value to you per hour of
quality vacation time.
Table 2 : Actual Quality
Time on a One Week London Vacation
|
Item |
Example |
Your Cost |
|
Actual time
in London in hours from when you arrive at the
hotel on Saturday afternoon until when you leave
for the airport on Saturday the next week) |
163 hrs |
|
|
Time spent
asleep (six nights) |
48 hrs |
|
|
7 days of time for essential
activities - eg showering, dressing,
basic meal time, etc |
21 hrs |
|
|
7 days of time wasted
on traveling to places, or just spent
in the hotel room, or otherwise nonproductive |
21 hrs |
|
|
Packing and
unpacking, getting ready to return home |
3 hrs |
|
|
Unproductive low quality
time due to jetlag |
10 hrs |
|
|
Miscellaneous low quality and wasted time |
7 hrs |
|
|
Net 'Quality
Time' on Vacation |
53 hrs |
|
|
And now for the shocker. Divide the total cost of your
vacation by the number of quality hours you have. What is
your answer?
Table 3 : Cost per
Quality Hour of Your Vacation
|
Item |
Example |
Your Cost |
|
Total
Vacation Cost from first table above |
$6670 |
$ |
|
Net Quality
Time from second table above |
53 hrs |
hrs |
|
Your cost
per quality hour
(total vacation cost divided
by net quality time) |
$125.85 |
$
/hr |
|
Wow! You're spending $126/hr in the example above for the
actual quality time on your vacation.
What does this mean, and how
can you use this information in planning and budgeting your
vacation? Read on!
Part two of a five part
series on how to budget and plan for a vacation. See
also the other articles in this series :
1.
An introduction to the philosophy of travel cost budgeting
2.
Understanding the true cost of your vacation and what this
means
3.
Using the true cost figure and knowing when you should spend
a little more on travel costs
4.
Balancing the time and cost of your vacation - how less can
be more
5.
What quality level to choose, and the importance of
including a special highlight in your vacation
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Originally published
14 Nov 2008, last update
21 Jul 2020
You may freely reproduce or distribute this article for noncommercial purposes as long as you give credit to me as original writer.
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