USA holiday - how much money to take
Discussion
Off to the USA in July (2 adults & 2 16 yr olds), for previous trips to Florida and NY we budgeted $200 per day(Revolute card, cash and CC as a back up) obviously things have got more expensive so interested to know if this is still a decent budget or do we need to think about boosting the pot?
Itinerary looks something like this:
5 days in NY
Drive from Charlotte to Savannah for 1 night then onto Clearwater
5 days in Clearwater
3 days in Orlando
1.5 days in Chicago
We've been to NY in 2019 so won't be doing a lot of the usual stuff (Empire state, top of the Rock, etc), apart from the highline, MOMA, The Edge or Summit One it we won't be doing any of the usual big touristy things, we like to 'mooch' and people watch so apart from food (might do a doughnut based walking tour), drink and a little bit of shopping that about it, Clearwater will be a beach holiday, Orlando we are visiting Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure so tickets are pre purchased. No idea about Chicago, won't be there for long, just want to get a feel for the place before we head home.
Itinerary looks something like this:
5 days in NY
Drive from Charlotte to Savannah for 1 night then onto Clearwater
5 days in Clearwater
3 days in Orlando
1.5 days in Chicago
We've been to NY in 2019 so won't be doing a lot of the usual stuff (Empire state, top of the Rock, etc), apart from the highline, MOMA, The Edge or Summit One it we won't be doing any of the usual big touristy things, we like to 'mooch' and people watch so apart from food (might do a doughnut based walking tour), drink and a little bit of shopping that about it, Clearwater will be a beach holiday, Orlando we are visiting Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure so tickets are pre purchased. No idea about Chicago, won't be there for long, just want to get a feel for the place before we head home.
Assume the budget doesn't need to cover hotels, car rental, fuel, etc, ie its just food/spends?
If so, I'd say thats way too low. I was in NYC 18 mths ago and it was super expensive for a Brit...that was when FX rate was $1.15 to the £. I think the £ has strengthened a bit since (I used to live there 2003/07 and was way cheaper). A Starbucks coffee was $7/8, a very average Steak diner with my eldest was almost $200 with tips, a beer in a mid-town bar was about $10. Maybe the other locations are cheaper, but I'd be looking at closer to $500 pd in NYC
If so, I'd say thats way too low. I was in NYC 18 mths ago and it was super expensive for a Brit...that was when FX rate was $1.15 to the £. I think the £ has strengthened a bit since (I used to live there 2003/07 and was way cheaper). A Starbucks coffee was $7/8, a very average Steak diner with my eldest was almost $200 with tips, a beer in a mid-town bar was about $10. Maybe the other locations are cheaper, but I'd be looking at closer to $500 pd in NYC
I’ve just come back from the South West. Eating out is no longer cheap in the US.
Looking at my receipts, $50 between two people might get you to elevenses; even a modest breakfast in a bog standard diner was averaging $37.00 before tips. Add 20% to that and you’ll be lucky to have change for one, let alone two, cup(s) of cawfee.
Looking at my receipts, $50 between two people might get you to elevenses; even a modest breakfast in a bog standard diner was averaging $37.00 before tips. Add 20% to that and you’ll be lucky to have change for one, let alone two, cup(s) of cawfee.
psi310398 said:
I’ve just come back from the South West. Eating out is no longer cheap in the US.
Looking at my receipts, $50 between two people might get you to elevenses; even a modest breakfast in a bog standard diner was averaging $37.00 before tips. Add 20% to that and you’ll be lucky to have change for one, let alone two, cup(s) of cawfee.
Awful Cawfee no less.Looking at my receipts, $50 between two people might get you to elevenses; even a modest breakfast in a bog standard diner was averaging $37.00 before tips. Add 20% to that and you’ll be lucky to have change for one, let alone two, cup(s) of cawfee.
Just got back from a Miami - Philly - NYC trip. We were laughing by the end because every sit down meal seemed to be a minimum of $80 for two with the tip. We weren't counting the pennies and you can obviously eat a lot cheaper but certainly seemed a lot more expensive than even a couple of years ago. Cocktails $17-20, beer at $8/9+, tips expected on everything - even a can of beer from the fridge at the baseball! We were lucky that we had friends to stay with because hotels seemed to start at $350 a night for the basics.
Like I said though, there are plenty of options available. Just prepare yourself for a bit of a shock.
Like I said though, there are plenty of options available. Just prepare yourself for a bit of a shock.
SaulGoodman said:
Just got back from a Miami - Philly - NYC trip. We were laughing by the end because every sit down meal seemed to be a minimum of $80 for two with the tip.
And if you are there for any appreciable period of time and want to avoid constipation and eat proper high quality food (without GM or hormones or all the other s
t they add to their basic fare), factor in even more expenditure, assuming that you can find it outside the big cities. Just look in any of the drugstores like Walgreens or Duane Reade to see the number of linear yards of shelves loaded with over the counter laxatives if you don’t believe me!
Ezra said:
Assume the budget doesn't need to cover hotels, car rental, fuel, etc, ie its just food/spends?
If so, I'd say thats way too low. I was in NYC 18 mths ago and it was super expensive for a Brit...that was when FX rate was $1.15 to the £. I think the £ has strengthened a bit since (I used to live there 2003/07 and was way cheaper). A Starbucks coffee was $7/8, a very average Steak diner with my eldest was almost $200 with tips, a beer in a mid-town bar was about $10. Maybe the other locations are cheaper, but I'd be looking at closer to $500 pd in NYC
Yes, just food, drink, etc, everything is already paid for, $500 per day! Yeesh!If so, I'd say thats way too low. I was in NYC 18 mths ago and it was super expensive for a Brit...that was when FX rate was $1.15 to the £. I think the £ has strengthened a bit since (I used to live there 2003/07 and was way cheaper). A Starbucks coffee was $7/8, a very average Steak diner with my eldest was almost $200 with tips, a beer in a mid-town bar was about $10. Maybe the other locations are cheaper, but I'd be looking at closer to $500 pd in NYC
ecsrobin said:
Martyn76 said:
Yes, just food, drink, etc, everything is already paid for, $500 per day! Yeesh!
Are you looking at breakfast, lunch, dinner plus snacks or is breakfast included in your accommodation? 
ecsrobin said:
We were averaging $30 per person around Orlando for an evening meal including gratuity. From speaking to locals apparently Florida is cheaper than most places for eating out. As others have mentioned NY is eye watering.
Yeah Clearwater should be similar I'd hope to Orlando Must admit that the last time we did a road trip in the US we often bought our breakfast, lunch and dinner in Walmart.
The portions tend to be way too big and as others said, it gets expensive with tax and tip. We also stayed a few times at Drury Hotels and they had a free food event in the afternoon (kickback?) which kept us going. We did eat out occasionally, but usually are trying to cram in so much, that we don't want to spend 2-3 hours on a meal unless it is a special place.
I remember we did seek out a Chinese occasionally as we were really suffering from veg withdrawal, especially in Arizona. We did find a takeaway Chinese buffet just of Times Square which we took back to the hotel.
The portions tend to be way too big and as others said, it gets expensive with tax and tip. We also stayed a few times at Drury Hotels and they had a free food event in the afternoon (kickback?) which kept us going. We did eat out occasionally, but usually are trying to cram in so much, that we don't want to spend 2-3 hours on a meal unless it is a special place.
I remember we did seek out a Chinese occasionally as we were really suffering from veg withdrawal, especially in Arizona. We did find a takeaway Chinese buffet just of Times Square which we took back to the hotel.
I would probably say around $400. On my coast to coast trip in January my spend was around $100-120 per day average for food and a few beers. Some days I skipped lunch or it was fast food as I was covering big distances. Dinner was normally recommended places with a couple of decent restaurants mixed in. Breakfast often included in the room rate or diner style which seemed to be about $15 plus tip which isn’t much difference to home these days. If you’re looking to dine in really nice restaurants regularly then the sky really is the limit these days. We went to Nashville and NOLA as a group of 5 in September and several meals topped $1000
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