Last week, I shared 5 Travel Experiences Worth the Splurge. Today, I’m sharing the things I refuse to spend money on.
Hotel Lounge Access
Don’t get me wrong, I like hotel lounges. Going to the lounge for breakfast, drinks throughout the day and a snacks at night is very convenient. My family has enjoyed hotel lounges at several Hyatt and Hilton hotels for free because of credit cards we own and/or elite status.
But, I won’t pay extra for lounge access. Usually, the price for the lounge isn’t worth it. For example, at Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando, the cost to upgrade to the club lounge is $150 per night.
I’d rather grab a few pastries at the Starbucks in the lobby or eat food we’ve brought with us. I’ve been known to pack an entire suitcase of breakfast items and snacks if our luggage flies free.
Business/First Class Seats
Whether using cash or miles to book flights, we don’t splurge on business or first-class seats. Even with miles and points, the cost is too great for my family of five. I realize this makes me the oddball of this miles and points blogging world.
We flew 17 hours from DFW to Sydney this summer in coach with no issues. Sure, we would have been more comfortable in business, but the cost in miles would have been astronomical for five people. Not to mention, business-class award availability is scarce for that route.
If my husband and I ever get to fly overseas just the two of us and we have the miles, I may reconsider my position on this. But for now, I skip this splurge.
Concierge Level on a Cruise
If you think the price of a Disney Cruise is high, wait until you see the price of cruising in concierge. This is a 4-night cruise next summer on the Disney Dream. The price for a family of five from a regular verandah room to a concierge room is a jump of over $5500:
Sure, concierge guests get to board first. They have their own lounge, nicer rooms and get first dibs on a cabana at Castaway Cay.
But honestly, the price is a deal breaker. I know that concierge level isn’t as expensive on other cruise lines. However, I still feel it’s unnecessary. Plus, it would be difficult to go back to being a “regular” cruiser.
Disney World VIP Tours and Early Morning Magic
Disney World tickets are expensive at over $100 per person per day. However, Disney has figured out a way to add a lot of “extra” experiences for a significant upcharge. Many of these experiences involve extra time in the parks and expedited access to attractions.
I can’t get on board with paying extra for more time in the park and skipping the lines. The VIP Tours at Disney World are guided tours that get you special access to the rides without waiting. The shortest tour, which is four hours, is $249 per person on top of the park ticket price. Summer at TPG did a VIP tour a few years ago as well as a recent Early Morning Magic, which gets you into the park 1 hour and 15 minutes prior to opening.
I won’t splurge on these extras because you can get similar benefits for free by using FastPass+ and staying at a Disney Resort (or even a Disney Springs resort—see this post). Ever since FastPass+ has been around, I’ve never had a problem fitting in all the rides at Disney World. We arrive at rope drop (or earlier with the free Extra Magic Hour), hit a bunch of rides first thing, ride our pre-reserved rides in the late morning/early afternoon and then add on FastPass+ as the day goes on. That strategy has worked for us, and it’s free!
Breakfast Buffets
Unless breakfast is included at the hotel, we skip the hotel restaurant and the breakfast buffet. Hotel breakfast buffets normally run at least $20 a person, so for my family we’re talking $100 just for breakfast. At the Andaz Papagayo in Costa Rica where we’re staying next year, the buffet will run us almost $40 a person. My kids aren’t big eaters early in the morning, so it’s a waste.
As I mentioned above, we will bring some pre-packaged food or hit a nearby Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts.
Bottom Line
I can’t say that my family will never splurge on these things. Never say never, right? But for now, I’d rather spend my cash on other things. If you splurge on one of these things, no judgement from me. Not everybody agrees with the things I choose to splurge on.
What do you refuse to splurge on when you’re on vacation?
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Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
I had a longstanding “rule” that I refused to splurge on staged photo-ops. You know, the “professional” pictures that sometimes get taken when you enter an amusement park, zoo, museum, or other tourist attraction. I’ve lightened up in that area, particularly when we are traveling overseas. I will give them the opportunity to take the photo and if it is a good picture – everybody smiling, posed normally and nothing weird, there is probably a good chance I will buy it. Why? I’m the trip photographer and we typically don’t come home with a lot of classical pictures containing the whole family (selfies don’t count). For me, it’s usually worth the nominal fee to have a momento that I can look back upon in 20 years and go, wow, that was a cool experience.
Bonus tip: one benefit of hiring a tour guide, besides getting interpretation, is that you can get a bunch of family pictures taken with your own phone or camera. Especially in developing countries where the cost is inexpensive and an overall better experience than you might get trying to tour something on your own. We hired several different guides during a vacation to SE Asia a few years back and probably have more family pictures from that trip than any other. It was great.
@Erik OH yeah, I usually skip the staged photo-ops but in the last few year’s I’ve purchased a few. My kids always seem to smile better when the photographer isn’t me!
It sounds like you’re talking at least somewhat about value rather than cost. I do sometimes splurge since I don’t think I have any kids, but my normal yardstick is what value I can get form something for the price.
@Christian That’s a good point, it’s more about perceived value than the actual cost.
uh..thats “real” food? no thanks
The business class vs. economy using miles is something that definitely changes over time. When we were flying as a family of four, business class was out of the question. That was also 15 years ago when miles were a little harder to get. I, too, have survived Australia to US in economy But now, while I have plenty of miles, I’m definitely splurging on business.
Interesting- why do you think it’s easier now to collect miles? For me, over the years, especially the last few years, it’s been difficult to collect miles. I do fly business class at times, but will probably be back to economy with the state of miles now.
$2000/night for the (regular) Disney cruise!!!??? Holy Cow! Talk about splurges I would never go for. I can come up with about a thousand places I’d rather spend $2000/night than a cruise ship.
@flyernick Yes, the summer and holiday prices on DCL are outrageous, in my opinion. Fortunately, we’ve sailed in the off-season and pulled our kids out of school for cheaper prices. We even sailed on a “Kids Sail Free” promo back in 2013 that was a total steal of a deal. Now that the economy is in better shape, those deals are no longer around. 🙁
I agree with most of this however sailing with Disney instead of many other cruise lines is much more expensive.A type of splurge. Sure it might be nicer than some other cruise lines or offer certain perks for kids into Disney but the value is in the eye of the beholder. Good post btw.
Thanks DaninMCI. All of our cruises on DCL except one have been when school is in session, which has cut down on the price considerably (about half off summer sailings). However, now that my oldest is in high school, it’s not a good option for my family. We went on a Royal Caribbean cruise this past summer and enjoyed most of it, and we have plans to sail on Royal again in 2021.
I agree – we normally skip the breakfast buffet if it’s not included. But the one at the Andaz Papagayo we splurged on and were not disappointed, mostly because of the interaction with the monkeys which was fantastic. They would come so close to us trying to steal our food and swinging from the lights. The kids loved it. They do have a la carte options as well at that restaurant. Highly recommend!
Totally agree! I just ordered the continental, which included plenty, plus it includes orders from the extensive barista bar menu that includes smoothies, many different coffees and the best frappes! I’d usually order the frappe near end of breakfast and they’d just put it in a to go cup. So I got my monies worth with just the barista menu! We didn’t see the monkeys at breakfast, but saw them around the pool and from our balcony. They even came on our balcony one time as we were about to go out. I had already warned my hubby to not leave anything out there!
Or do you know a globalist to book for you?
@Lynn I’ll have to see what the price is on the continental. I couldn’t book through a Globalist because of the time crunch of getting it booked before the points price went up.
@Wendy I’ve thought about having just my husband and I try the buffet at the Andaz Papagayo one day. If we brought the kids it would be over $200 and that blows my mind.
I agree with you all the way! Coach for five is fantastic when it’s free. I’d rather take another trip than waste points on first class/business. I feel like an oddball too when I see all the posts about reclining flat seats etc..
@Michelle I’d rather take another trip as well. 🙂