Monday, June 25, 2012

Money Monday: Back from Vacation!...by Austin the Realtor


Hello my good people. The wife and I are fresh back from vacation, so I’m trying to get my brain to catch up. I figured since it’s taking a siesta, I thought I’d share some vacation highlights from a financial perspective. Everyone loves taking a break from reality, but sometimes our pockets do not offer this luxury. When it does, you always want to get the most for your money. This philosophy causes me to always look for all inclusive resorts. Unless I’m visiting the family (or the wife’s family in Puerto Rico), I prefer not to worry about coming out of pocket when I’m actually on vacation.

We went to the Bahamas and stayed at an all inclusive resort. We spent money when we went to the casino. I bought one drink when we visited another hotel’s bar and spent money when we bought souvenirs. This is my idea of money well spent on vacation. We visited Atlantis while we were there. I can honestly say I may never vacation at Atlantis. Why?

Reason #1 – It's not all inclusive - so after you spend a grip on your stay, you have to buy breakfast, lunch and dinner….every day! The wife wanted to treat me to dinner, so we priced one restaurant. Just by looking at the menu, the bill would have been over $200 easily just for the 2 of us. I like to eat, so the food bill would be costly for a 4 day visit.

Reason #2 – You are able to take part of all the amenities at a fraction of the cost by visiting and paying a la cart. Yes, you have access to the Aquarium every day but are you going to go….every day???? We saw it, loved it, and left!

Reason #3 – I vacation to relax. I like to hang by the pool. I can pay $2000 or $4000 to hang by a pool…hmmmm…decisions, decisions.

These are just my financial views on vacationing on a Caribbean island. What are your thoughts? Would you prefer to spend the money for the experience? Turks and Caicos maybe?

-Austin

10 comments:

Batman said...

First Bitch!!!

Stef said...

I always stay in all inclusive restaurants - I can't think about money while I'm there, I just want to relax.

Brooke said...

Here's a question for the group - Do you find better deals booking vacations yourself online, or going through a travel agent?

I find that booking thru a travel agent or thru a group has worked better for me because they know where to do and what to do. I'm always afraid to book online vacations by myself (unless it's domestic) because I feel like unless someone has already been there to tell me where to go and what to do, I'd be missing out on something.

However, am I spending MORE money going thru a travel agent? And if so, is the fact that I'm getting professional assistance make it worth spending more?

Maybe I'm just too lazy to do my own research :-)

Brooke said...

"where to GO".... :-)

Courtney said...

@Brooke

I just go through a travel agent - I don't have time to do all that mess online. I've booked plane tickets only, hotels only and cars only...but not full vacations. I'm always afraid that the picture online is not real and I'll end up in some dive hotel in the middle of nowhere on an island. When I'm paying my money, I want the best, so I trust the professionals.

Stef said...

I booked vacations online, but only in the states, like Vegas and Florida. But if I was going to the caribbean, I'd go through a travel agent unless a friend can tell me exactly what to do.

A-buzzz said...

We booked thru Jet Blue Vacations. ALthough I am going to put my foot up someone's ass cuz there were some things I didn't like. But I honestly think it wasn't Jet Blue's fault (although I will blame them) I just think it was the island of the Bahamas itself. I wasn't impressed.

But I got to be relaxing with my boo for a few days. No work, No kids so it was totally worth it.

Powerz said...

That's interesting, we usually book all our vacations ourselves online except for our wedding trip. A-Buzz is the google Queen. We have checked with travle agents but it doesn't seem we get any better deals.

Stef - where are these all inclusive "restaurants". Are these also known as "Buffets" lmao

Stef said...

@Powerz,

LOLOLOLOL!!! That was a typo! I meant to type hotels/resorts :) I was thinking about food at the time! LOL!

The Cable Guy said...

It's been so long since I've had a vacation I don't even remember what I do. I need one bad.

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