The art of spending money

enthusiasticsaver

The article appears to be behind a paywall but fascinating subject. 

When it comes to travel we often stay in Premier  Inns although we can afford more expensive hotels.   However we are trying to  organise a family get together later on this year and the Premier Inns in certain popular areas come up as expensive if not more expensive than some nice 4 star family run hotels which have lounges etc which are handy for bigger get togethers rather than when we just travel as a couple. If we only intend sleeping in hotels and being out most of the day we will opt for Premier Inns further out of town to get the nightly rate down.  That is just common sense as far as I am concerned.  Why pay  more if you don't get a massive benefit from going more expensive? 

I don't have a fear of spending money but am heart I am a saver.  I just think we try and get value for money not because we cannot afford it though. 

trevjl

I sympathise as I get this all the time in real life. People assume because I don't waste money on the sort of trivial fluff they waste money on, that I'll also not want to pay for essentials like heating! That it's an aversion to spending money rather than not wanting to waste money on fluff that doesn't get you anything meaningful extra.

Generally the sort of people who'll use price as a benchmark for quality, who'll refuse to buy stuff that's "too cheap". Who use phrases like "you get what you pay for" and "buy cheap buy twice".

It blows their mind when I tell them stuff like I flew to Venice for a fiver on Ryanair, or had a better holiday staying in hostels than 4* hotels. It just does not compute with them. They think I must be lying, that I'd really have preferred paying BA £200 or staying in some boring posh hotel where everyone keep themselves to themselves rather than a friendly hostel where people are up for a chat and share travel advice etc, but I'm just too tight to pay for it. Because they think price always correlates with quality.

Thats me totally apart from that bit. I wouldn't fly Ryanair if it was free. Had the misfortune a couple of times and never again. Mostly because I can't stand Mr O'Leary and wouldn't give him a penny of my money.

All my leisure and work flying was done in cattle class all over the world. I don't envy the business class, but the one I struggle with big time is the premium economy. I have been upgraded a few times on BA and I just can not see the why anyone would pay the amount of extra that it is. If it was say £100 extra each way to US then fine, but it is very often about £500 more. All for a wider seat (I'm like a rake), a bit more leg room and a metal knife and fork. Oh and an orange juice when you get on. Now, to me that is a waste of money

diystarter7

We always go for the Fine Art route. By nice house, buy nice cars, but nice hols but for CASH

zagfles

trevjl said:

I sympathise as I get this all the time in real life. People assume because I don't waste money on the sort of trivial fluff they waste money on, that I'll also not want to pay for essentials like heating! That it's an aversion to spending money rather than not wanting to waste money on fluff that doesn't get you anything meaningful extra.

Generally the sort of people who'll use price as a benchmark for quality, who'll refuse to buy stuff that's "too cheap". Who use phrases like "you get what you pay for" and "buy cheap buy twice".

It blows their mind when I tell them stuff like I flew to Venice for a fiver on Ryanair, or had a better holiday staying in hostels than 4* hotels. It just does not compute with them. They think I must be lying, that I'd really have preferred paying BA £200 or staying in some boring posh hotel where everyone keep themselves to themselves rather than a friendly hostel where people are up for a chat and share travel advice etc, but I'm just too tight to pay for it. Because they think price always correlates with quality.

Thats me totally apart from that bit. I wouldn't fly Ryanair if it was free. Had the misfortune a couple of times and never again. Mostly because I can't stand Mr O'Leary and wouldn't give him a penny of my money.

I think when I paid 2p return Molly was paying me to fly But yes he is a bit marmite and you need to understand what you're doing with Ryanair as they do have various catches for the unwary, such as baggage pooling policy, high charges for stuff like airport checkin, cabin bag sizes, splitting groups up if they don't pay for seat selection etc.  The most annoying thing I find is no seat pockets, bit trivial but means stuff like water bottles rolling around the place.

But I do like the way he and Stelios and other budget airlines have given snotty airlines like BA a kick up the rear, they've taken the snobbery out of air travel, I remember when air travel was considered something posh and exclusive, if you flew regularly you moved in the higher echelons of society. Now it's just like getting a bus, just another form of public transport.

All my leisure and work flying was done in cattle class all over the world. I don't envy the business class, but the one I struggle with big time is the premium economy. I have been upgraded a few times on BA and I just can not see the why anyone would pay the amount of extra that it is. If it was say £100 extra each way to US then fine, but it is very often about £500 more. All for a wider seat (I'm like a rake), a bit more leg room and a metal knife and fork. Oh and an orange juice when you get on. Now, to me that is a waste of money

Indeed. Interestingly the premiums for flying higher classes seem to be much higher in the UK than they are in other countries, a common tactic for people who want to fly business class or probably PE is to fly from somewhere in mainland Europe, it's discussed a lot on the travel board. Tax may be an issue but probably a minor one.

I suspect foreigners are less inclined to blindly believe "you get what you pay for" and will want to see value from extra spending.

westv

diystarter7 said:

We always go for the Fine Art route. By nice house, buy nice cars, but nice hols but for CASH

Cash? Are you a drug dealer? Lol!

westv

Are people who are as thin as rakes good judges on whether seat upgrades are worth it? 

jimi_man

zagfles said:

trevjl said:

I sympathise as I get this all the time in real life. People assume because I don't waste money on the sort of trivial fluff they waste money on, that I'll also not want to pay for essentials like heating! That it's an aversion to spending money rather than not wanting to waste money on fluff that doesn't get you anything meaningful extra.

Generally the sort of people who'll use price as a benchmark for quality, who'll refuse to buy stuff that's "too cheap". Who use phrases like "you get what you pay for" and "buy cheap buy twice".

It blows their mind when I tell them stuff like I flew to Venice for a fiver on Ryanair, or had a better holiday staying in hostels than 4* hotels. It just does not compute with them. They think I must be lying, that I'd really have preferred paying BA £200 or staying in some boring posh hotel where everyone keep themselves to themselves rather than a friendly hostel where people are up for a chat and share travel advice etc, but I'm just too tight to pay for it. Because they think price always correlates with quality.

Thats me totally apart from that bit. I wouldn't fly Ryanair if it was free. Had the misfortune a couple of times and never again. Mostly because I can't stand Mr O'Leary and wouldn't give him a penny of my money.

I think when I paid 2p return Molly was paying me to fly But yes he is a bit marmite and you need to understand what you're doing with Ryanair as they do have various catches for the unwary, such as baggage pooling policy, high charges for stuff like airport checkin, cabin bag sizes, splitting groups up if they don't pay for seat selection etc.  The most annoying thing I find is no seat pockets, bit trivial but means stuff like water bottles rolling around the place.

But I do like the way he and Stelios and other budget airlines have given snotty airlines like BA a kick up the rear, they've taken the snobbery out of air travel, I remember when air travel was considered something posh and exclusive, if you flew regularly you moved in the higher echelons of society. Now it's just like getting a bus, just another form of public transport.

All my leisure and work flying was done in cattle class all over the world. I don't envy the business class, but the one I struggle with big time is the premium economy. I have been upgraded a few times on BA and I just can not see the why anyone would pay the amount of extra that it is. If it was say £100 extra each way to US then fine, but it is very often about £500 more. All for a wider seat (I'm like a rake), a bit more leg room and a metal knife and fork. Oh and an orange juice when you get on. Now, to me that is a waste of money

Indeed. Interestingly the premiums for flying higher classes seem to be much higher in the UK than they are in other countries, a common tactic for people who want to fly business class or probably PE is to fly from somewhere in mainland Europe, it's discussed a lot on the travel board. Tax may be an issue but probably a minor one.

I suspect foreigners are less inclined to blindly believe "you get what you pay for" and will want to see value from extra spending.

I don't have a huge problem with Ryanair other than they are mainly out of Stansted which is rather inconvenient when I live equidistant from Gatwick and Heathrow. They sometimes go to an airport which is way out of town rather than a little bit, which can also make a difference. But I've used them and they've been fine. Easyjet can also be good for not a huge amount more money. Having said all that, we use BA pretty exclusively, not least because my wife flies for them so we get cheap Business Class (and occasionally First) travel. But short haul stuff, their fares aren't vastly different from Easyjet any more and sometimes cheaper. I've just booked a couple for Sept to Greece and BA were far cheaper than EZY and they include luggage should you be inclined to take it (we never use hold luggage).

For two hour flights I'm not overly bothered who I fly with as long as it's cheap as it's just transport. Long haul then a flat bed is a game changer and especially on a long night flight. 

I agree with an above poster that PE is a waste of time. It's only worth doing if you can upgrade it to Business with Avios for example, otherwise it's an expensive economy seat with a glass of prosecco!

Ultimately it's whatever the person feels represents value. And that goes to hotels as well. We travel to the Far East a lot and a reasonable hotel there can be the price of a very mediocre (very poor basically) hotel in the Uk. £80 a night will get us a decent room with a decent breakfast and sometimes less depending where you go. 

zagfles

jimi_man said:

zagfles said:

trevjl said:

I sympathise as I get this all the time in real life. People assume because I don't waste money on the sort of trivial fluff they waste money on, that I'll also not want to pay for essentials like heating! That it's an aversion to spending money rather than not wanting to waste money on fluff that doesn't get you anything meaningful extra.

Generally the sort of people who'll use price as a benchmark for quality, who'll refuse to buy stuff that's "too cheap". Who use phrases like "you get what you pay for" and "buy cheap buy twice".

It blows their mind when I tell them stuff like I flew to Venice for a fiver on Ryanair, or had a better holiday staying in hostels than 4* hotels. It just does not compute with them. They think I must be lying, that I'd really have preferred paying BA £200 or staying in some boring posh hotel where everyone keep themselves to themselves rather than a friendly hostel where people are up for a chat and share travel advice etc, but I'm just too tight to pay for it. Because they think price always correlates with quality.

Thats me totally apart from that bit. I wouldn't fly Ryanair if it was free. Had the misfortune a couple of times and never again. Mostly because I can't stand Mr O'Leary and wouldn't give him a penny of my money.

I think when I paid 2p return Molly was paying me to fly But yes he is a bit marmite and you need to understand what you're doing with Ryanair as they do have various catches for the unwary, such as baggage pooling policy, high charges for stuff like airport checkin, cabin bag sizes, splitting groups up if they don't pay for seat selection etc.  The most annoying thing I find is no seat pockets, bit trivial but means stuff like water bottles rolling around the place.

But I do like the way he and Stelios and other budget airlines have given snotty airlines like BA a kick up the rear, they've taken the snobbery out of air travel, I remember when air travel was considered something posh and exclusive, if you flew regularly you moved in the higher echelons of society. Now it's just like getting a bus, just another form of public transport.

All my leisure and work flying was done in cattle class all over the world. I don't envy the business class, but the one I struggle with big time is the premium economy. I have been upgraded a few times on BA and I just can not see the why anyone would pay the amount of extra that it is. If it was say £100 extra each way to US then fine, but it is very often about £500 more. All for a wider seat (I'm like a rake), a bit more leg room and a metal knife and fork. Oh and an orange juice when you get on. Now, to me that is a waste of money

Indeed. Interestingly the premiums for flying higher classes seem to be much higher in the UK than they are in other countries, a common tactic for people who want to fly business class or probably PE is to fly from somewhere in mainland Europe, it's discussed a lot on the travel board. Tax may be an issue but probably a minor one.

I suspect foreigners are less inclined to blindly believe "you get what you pay for" and will want to see value from extra spending.

I don't have a huge problem with Ryanair other than they are mainly out of Stansted which is rather inconvenient when I live equidistant from Gatwick and Heathrow. They sometimes go to an airport which is way out of town rather than a little bit, which can also make a difference.

yes, definitely something to watch. Stockholm is the worst, airports like Nykoping and Vasteras pretend to be Stockholm but are 100km away and a taxi will cost you probably over 10 times the flight cost! And Girona is not Barcelona.

But other airports they use are sometimes closer to the city than the main airport used by BA etc, eg Ryanair use Ciampino in Rome which is much closer to the city centre than Fiumicino, and IIRC Kiev although won't be going there again for a bit!

Treviso for Venice was convenient, short bus/train ride away and quite a nice city to see on the way.

But I've used them and they've been fine. Easyjet can also be good for not a huge amount more money. Having said all that, we use BA pretty exclusively, not least because my wife flies for them so we get cheap Business Class (and occasionally First) travel. But short haul stuff, their fares aren't vastly different from Easyjet any more and sometimes cheaper. I've just booked a couple for Sept to Greece and BA were far cheaper than EZY and they include luggage should you be inclined to take it (we never use hold luggage).

Yes BA do sometimes have good deals if you want to fly from Heathrow/Gatwick, but they are generally useless if you want to go from anywhere other than London. They've been forced to enter the no-frills world for short haul, I remember when getting free food & drink was normal on BA even short haul, even on domestic flights eg London to Manchester!

For two hour flights I'm not overly bothered who I fly with as long as it's cheap as it's just transport. Long haul then a flat bed is a game changer and especially on a long night flight. 

Ah, a sky-hostel fan   I generally try to avoid the need to sleep on a plane whether in a seat or a sky-dorm. The transit hotel in Singapore is brilliant for a flight to Aus/NZ, if you time it right, get a long connection layover and have a proper kip in a quiet dark private en-suite hotel room, airside so no need to go through immigration, collect bags etc.

I agree with an above poster that PE is a waste of time. It's only worth doing if you can upgrade it to Business with Avios for example, otherwise it's an expensive economy seat with a glass of prosecco!

Ultimately it's whatever the person feels represents value. And that goes to hotels as well. We travel to the Far East a lot and a reasonable hotel there can be the price of a very mediocre (very poor basically) hotel in the Uk. £80 a night will get us a decent room with a decent breakfast and sometimes less depending where you go. 

I don't think I've ever paid over £30 a night in the far east, although last time was nearly 10 years ago and I've not been to Japan! Last time was on SIA and they still do free food and drink in bog standard economy, inc sparkling wine, cocktails etc. Or at least they did then.

jimi_man

zagfles said:

jimi_man said:

zagfles said:

trevjl said:

I sympathise as I get this all the time in real life. People assume because I don't waste money on the sort of trivial fluff they waste money on, that I'll also not want to pay for essentials like heating! That it's an aversion to spending money rather than not wanting to waste money on fluff that doesn't get you anything meaningful extra.

Generally the sort of people who'll use price as a benchmark for quality, who'll refuse to buy stuff that's "too cheap". Who use phrases like "you get what you pay for" and "buy cheap buy twice".

It blows their mind when I tell them stuff like I flew to Venice for a fiver on Ryanair, or had a better holiday staying in hostels than 4* hotels. It just does not compute with them. They think I must be lying, that I'd really have preferred paying BA £200 or staying in some boring posh hotel where everyone keep themselves to themselves rather than a friendly hostel where people are up for a chat and share travel advice etc, but I'm just too tight to pay for it. Because they think price always correlates with quality.

Thats me totally apart from that bit. I wouldn't fly Ryanair if it was free. Had the misfortune a couple of times and never again. Mostly because I can't stand Mr O'Leary and wouldn't give him a penny of my money.

I think when I paid 2p return Molly was paying me to fly But yes he is a bit marmite and you need to understand what you're doing with Ryanair as they do have various catches for the unwary, such as baggage pooling policy, high charges for stuff like airport checkin, cabin bag sizes, splitting groups up if they don't pay for seat selection etc.  The most annoying thing I find is no seat pockets, bit trivial but means stuff like water bottles rolling around the place.

But I do like the way he and Stelios and other budget airlines have given snotty airlines like BA a kick up the rear, they've taken the snobbery out of air travel, I remember when air travel was considered something posh and exclusive, if you flew regularly you moved in the higher echelons of society. Now it's just like getting a bus, just another form of public transport.

All my leisure and work flying was done in cattle class all over the world. I don't envy the business class, but the one I struggle with big time is the premium economy. I have been upgraded a few times on BA and I just can not see the why anyone would pay the amount of extra that it is. If it was say £100 extra each way to US then fine, but it is very often about £500 more. All for a wider seat (I'm like a rake), a bit more leg room and a metal knife and fork. Oh and an orange juice when you get on. Now, to me that is a waste of money

Indeed. Interestingly the premiums for flying higher classes seem to be much higher in the UK than they are in other countries, a common tactic for people who want to fly business class or probably PE is to fly from somewhere in mainland Europe, it's discussed a lot on the travel board. Tax may be an issue but probably a minor one.

I suspect foreigners are less inclined to blindly believe "you get what you pay for" and will want to see value from extra spending.

I don't have a huge problem with Ryanair other than they are mainly out of Stansted which is rather inconvenient when I live equidistant from Gatwick and Heathrow. They sometimes go to an airport which is way out of town rather than a little bit, which can also make a difference.

yes, definitely something to watch. Stockholm is the worst, airports like Nykoping and Vasteras pretend to be Stockholm but are 100km away and a taxi will cost you probably over 10 times the flight cost! And Girona is not Barcelona.

But other airports they use are sometimes closer to the city than the main airport used by BA etc, eg Ryanair use Ciampino in Rome which is much closer to the city centre than Fiumicino, and IIRC Kiev although won't be going there again for a bit!

Treviso for Venice was convenient, short bus/train ride away and quite a nice city to see on the way.

But I've used them and they've been fine. Easyjet can also be good for not a huge amount more money. Having said all that, we use BA pretty exclusively, not least because my wife flies for them so we get cheap Business Class (and occasionally First) travel. But short haul stuff, their fares aren't vastly different from Easyjet any more and sometimes cheaper. I've just booked a couple for Sept to Greece and BA were far cheaper than EZY and they include luggage should you be inclined to take it (we never use hold luggage).

Yes BA do sometimes have good deals if you want to fly from Heathrow/Gatwick, but they are generally useless if you want to go from anywhere other than London. They've been forced to enter the no-frills world for short haul, I remember when getting free food & drink was normal on BA even short haul, even on domestic flights eg London to Manchester!

For two hour flights I'm not overly bothered who I fly with as long as it's cheap as it's just transport. Long haul then a flat bed is a game changer and especially on a long night flight. 

Ah, a sky-hostel fan   I generally try to avoid the need to sleep on a plane whether in a seat or a sky-dorm. The transit hotel in Singapore is brilliant for a flight to Aus/NZ, if you time it right, get a long connection layover and have a proper kip in a quiet dark private en-suite hotel room, airside so no need to go through immigration, collect bags etc.

I agree with an above poster that PE is a waste of time. It's only worth doing if you can upgrade it to Business with Avios for example, otherwise it's an expensive economy seat with a glass of prosecco!

Ultimately it's whatever the person feels represents value. And that goes to hotels as well. We travel to the Far East a lot and a reasonable hotel there can be the price of a very mediocre (very poor basically) hotel in the Uk. £80 a night will get us a decent room with a decent breakfast and sometimes less depending where you go. 

I don't think I've ever paid over £30 a night in the far east, although last time was nearly 10 years ago and I've not been to Japan! Last time was on SIA and they still do free food and drink in bog standard economy, inc sparkling wine, cocktails etc. Or at least they did then.

I might feel differently about LH Business (Sky Hostel ) when we start having to pay real money for it!

We've just come back from a Far East trip (yesterday actually!) which included Japan, Australia, Singapore and Thailand and the first three of those places are very expensive - Japan especially. Things have gone up in 10 years and whilst you obviously stay in different stuff to us, you'd probably be looking at £50-60 a night now instead of £30. We managed to find a place in Japan for £72 but it was quite small. 

SIA were always very good, think they still are. I'd certainly never claim that BA are the best, but I obviously have a slightly vested interest in flying with them!

jim8888

I've been lucky to fly business class long haul with BA, Lufhansa and Virgin, using air miles to upgrade into them. I'm now running out of miles, but I'm not sure I'd personally pay for business class. I love the experience, but a round trip BA business class ticket to Los Angeles or Hong Kong would probably cost in excess of five grand. I know as soon as I stepped off the plane, holiday over, I'd berate myself for "wasting" that amount of cash on a flight. (Plus on at least three of the business class flights I took, I was seated next to, or near, crying babies and toddlers. I would not have been impressed with this if I'd been paying full whack for those tickets!)