How much to spend on an AI holiday?

Paully232000

I am just curious really, after a discussion with my other half about the price of holidays.
If you were going to book an AI holiday how much would you pay in comparison to your monthly wages, if that is a consideration. One months take-home pay, more, or does it not come into it.

I thought about a months take-home was not too bad, but OH seemed to think this was a bit much? not sure.

MasterPoo

Depends what your take home is?

To answer your question, I don't consider my take home salary when booking any sort of holiday.

InsideInsurance

It'll vary depend on location, duration and the place you're going to.

Personally I wouldnt consider what I am booking as a ratio of my income. It also depends on how many holidays I plan to have in a year, we may have one big one in which case the cost will be higher and a higher proportion. In other years we have several long weekends or a week here and there in which case each ones individual cost is lower.

leespot

You should book what you can comfortably afford to be honest. There is no ratio system that I've ever heard of for making decisions about holidays.

meer53

I've spent 6 months income on a holiday in the past. It's about what you can afford really, not your income. This years holiday will be 2 months income. I take home about £1550 a month.

Paully232000

leespot wrote: »

You should book what you can comfortably afford to be honest. There is no ratio system that I've ever heard of for making decisions about holidays.

I didn't think there would be a ratio as such, or if there is it is something made up by the travel industry, like the one about how much to spend on an engagement ring.

We both agreed that we could comfortably afford the month or twos wages for a holiday but was more about we shouldn't be spending so much on a holiday, and my difference of opinion on that fact. It is the same conversation we have every year about now:). That and how much credence we should pay to tripadvisor....but that is another topic:)

It will be our main two week holiday for the year, even though we do go on other weeks here and there, weekends away and the like throughout the year.

EssexExile

In the early years of married life money was tight & holidays were rare & cheap. Now we're retired & we've decided it's time to stop saving & start spending, after all that's what we saved for wasn't it?
I've never really thought of it as a ratio to salary.

nic_santorini

i agree with the above comments, but note I booked my AI to Tenerife which we love in Jan and now the hotel has reduced the price by £200 because of the euro - bit annoyed as I can't get a refund and rebook and I could now have afforded the suite and not just a family room.

This discount is booking direct with the hotel, so don't know if the agencies are applying it - bet they are not.

InsideInsurance

Paully232000 wrote: »

We both agreed that we could comfortably afford the month or twos wages for a holiday but was more about we shouldn't be spending so much on a holiday, and my difference of opinion on that fact. It is the same conversation we have every year about now:). That and how much credence we should pay to tripadvisor....but that is another topic:)

We are fortunate in that our disposable income per month is probably higher than most peoples total income and so can comfortably afford most sensible holidays - did see a 5 months cruise which for the top tier suite was a little out of even our budget

To us its very much a case of value. We dont see the need for staying in the top hotels everywhere or for booking grand suites everytime. A bit of R&R to the med and it'll be a reasonable hotel in a nice area and Easyjet etc flights unless there are reward flights available. Going on our honeymoon to Dubai we pushed the boat out. Similarly with the Maldives where all there is is the hotel we booked a nice place and paid to upgrade to a water villa and had the seaplane transfers etc all of which considerably pushed the budget up but its a place we dont intend to go to often.

In fact in some countries staying in a beach hut for £3 a night and eating local food/ drinks for £5 per day is more fun than staying in a near by chain hotel for £300 a night and £40 a day food/drink

As to trip advisor? Personally take it with a big pinch of salt. Useful for finding out facts about the place (eg have to cross a road to get to the beach or car park is £10/day) but more subjective things I tend to give a lot less weight to. Ultimately we judge by our own experiences and preferences so one persons "most luxury hotel ever" could legitimately be fairly run of the mill to another person. Similarly people's opinion is almost always very extreme in nature, either its the best or worst thing ever and rarely are things fairly good, a bit below average etc.

mikeeboy

I can't say I have specifically compared my holiday cost to my monthly take home pay, but as the OP has brought it up, I think it's a fair comparison to make.

I know for a fact that if I was earning more, I would go on "better" holidays.

So based, on my last few annual family holidays which I have booked AI, I have spent between 75% and 85% of my monthly take home.

However, I have travelled in May and pinched a few school days before whitsun to keep costs down. If I was looking for 10 days in the summer holidays, I would certainly need to bust that monthly take home figure for the same quality

Paully232000

InsideInsurance wrote: »

We are fortunate in that our disposable income per month is probably higher than most peoples total income and so can comfortably afford most sensible holidays - did see a 5 months cruise which for the top tier suite was a little out of even our budget

To us its very much a case of value. We dont see the need for staying in the top hotels everywhere or for booking grand suites everytime. A bit of R&R to the med and it'll be a reasonable hotel in a nice area and Easyjet etc flights unless there are reward flights available. Going on our honeymoon to Dubai we pushed the boat out. Similarly with the Maldives where all there is is the hotel we booked a nice place and paid to upgrade to a water villa and had the seaplane transfers etc all of which considerably pushed the budget up but its a place we dont intend to go to often.

In fact in some countries staying in a beach hut for £3 a night and eating local food/ drinks for £5 per day is more fun than staying in a near by chain hotel for £300 a night and £40 a day food/drink

I agree, some of the best places I have stayed in have been quirky places like this, found on the day/day before arrived in city in local non-chain places. One in particular that i remember was a B&B in a place called Huacacina in Peru where it was a few £ per night with breakfast and we intended staying there a few days but were still there 2 weeks later as we couldnt leave.

As to trip advisor? Personally take it with a big pinch of salt. Useful for finding out facts about the place (eg have to cross a road to get to the beach or car park is £10/day) but more subjective things I tend to give a lot less weight to. Ultimately we judge by our own experiences and preferences so one persons "most luxury hotel ever" could legitimately be fairly run of the mill to another person. Similarly people's opinion is almost always very extreme in nature, either its the best or worst thing ever and rarely are things fairly good, a bit below average etc.

I see what you mean, and agree, but I use it to not look at individual reviews as much as looking for overall good reviews. Like the one that I looked at last had over 900 reviews where over 700 were 4 or 5 stars/points.