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I'd love to take my family on a vacation this year, but in order to make this work, it would have to be on a shoe string budget as I'll be working a second job to save up They've expressed interest in Norway, Peru or Thailand. I've heard a lot about Thailand being inexpensive is probably the most realistic option, but that was a number of years ago. I'm thinking that December would be a good time to visit and 10 days around Christmas would be great.
So, on to my question...I've heard the best time to book airfare is 6 weeks before the time of travel. Right now the lowest fare I can find is 1280.00 - 1800 per person round trip for 24-26 hour flight from PDX to Bangkok. Is this a good deal? Are there better rates from the the west coast?
Or is there another, cheaper alternative destination we should consider? Scandinavia/Germany or warm Asian and South American beaches are preferred.
That price for airfare and then adding the hotels, food, souveniers, etc, doesn't sound like a shoestring budget to me... Not sure how many p[eople in your family, BUT even if it is 3 that is a lot for just the airfare...
For 10 days that is probably going to cost more than you could earn with a part time job between now and then....
I'd like to keep it as frugal as possible and spend $4500- 6500k or less (would love to spend less). I'm a web developer and that amounts to about 2-3 small websites on the side over the next 6 months which seems feasible.
We are a family of 3.
I was calculating:
$100 in meals per day, if we eat at food stalls
$800 in lodging (60-80 per day)
$200 in bus fare / transportation
$500 in incidentals (tips, souvenirs, guides, activities)
$4200 in airfare (yeowch!) - this is killing me. Is $1400 per person a good deal? Is anything under $1000 likely?
I'd like to keep it as frugal as possible and spend $4500- 6500k or less (would love to spend less). I'm a web developer and that amounts to about 2-3 small websites on the side over the next 6 months which seems feasible.
I would say that when choosing from your list, Thailand would be one of the cheaper and more enjoyable destinations
Quote:
We are a family of 3.
I was calculating:
$100 in meals per day, if we eat at food stalls
You could even eat one meal at good local restaurant plus improvise for other meals and meet that budget.
Quote:
$800 in lodging (60-80 per day)
You can sometimes get 5-star hotels in Bangkok for $40-50 a night. You might be going in peak season (December). But do your research. This goal should be easy to meet.
Quote:
$200 in bus fare / transportation
$500 in incidentals (tips, souvenirs, guides, activities)
This might end up being a bit more. Did you mention how long you were going to stay there? Are you going to visit other cities or just stay in Bangkok?
Quote:
$4200 in airfare (yeowch!) - this is killing me. Is $1400 per person a good deal? Is anything under $1000 likely?
This is expensive. Look around for cheaper fares. Try changing the days of departure and arrival. Wednesdays are usually cheapest.
Quote:
Am I forgetting anything?
Maybe local travel? You may want to fly within Thailand. Say Bangkok to Pattaya. Depends on the length of your trip.
You could even eat one meal at good local restaurant plus improvise for other meals and meet that budget.
You can sometimes get 5-star hotels in Bangkok for $40-50 a night. You might be going in peak season (December). But do your research. This goal should be easy to meet.
This might end up being a bit more. Did you mention how long you were going to stay there? Are you going to visit other cities or just stay in Bangkok?
This is expensive. Look around for cheaper fares. Try changing the days of departure and arrival. Wednesdays are usually cheapest.
Maybe local travel? You may want to fly within Thailand. Say Bangkok to Pattaya. Depends on the length of your trip.
Thanks so much for the feedback!
We'd like to spend 7-9 days in Thailand and hop around. Visit the beaches (swim with the luminescent plankton), hit Bangkok as well as Chiang Mai. Although we are open to all suggestions.
Bangkok seems to be the cheapest city but we'd probably only spend 2 days there, the others look considerably more expensive. I'll have to research the transportation more and also keep and eye out for better fares (I'll try Wednesdays). Thanks for the tips!
Maybe look for a package on some island and then do an independent trip up to Bangkok or something? That should give you some variety and save you a bit. The airfare is more to Thailand, but it's cheaper than any of your other options in the end. It would be similarly priced if you went to Peru, for example, even though the airfare would be less.
Still, I think you should be able to find cheaper flights. I live near the east coast and have seen 1200$ r/t recently enough throughout different times of the year.
In short, use things like Kayak or Skyscanner and play around with dates as much as you are flexible. If you go a few months before or after Christmas, it's shoulder season I believe. Everything should be cheaper, especially airfare and anything on a Thai coastline. I just paid like $770 CAD to fly from Toronto to Delhi then Delhi to Frankfurt. So cheap flights aren't necessarily extinct.
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I'll have to research the transportation more and also keep and eye out for better fares (I'll try Wednesdays). Thanks for the tips!
