How Much Do You Need To Budget Besides Tour Package Price?

Hi Friends,

For those travelers who usually book their holidays through tour agencies, have you ever thought how much do you need to budget besides tour package price? Let see if I can get you some indication.

For first time travelers, we usually assume that tour package cover all these expenses. You can in for a big surprise that tour packages normally do not cover the following:-

1) Food expenses of approximately 30% to 40%

2) Transport cost for sightseeing if your tour package includes free and easy day

3) Optional tour such as experiencing helicopter ride at Grand Canyon

4) Shopping

5) tour guide and driver tips or fuel surcharges

So how much additional travel budget does one need to set aside besides tour package price?
In 2008 when I went Japan, the tour package inclusive of airport taxes was SGD  2870/pax.  We ended spending around SGD4170/pax, 45% higher.
Recently, I was checking on tour packages to USA and noted that the tour package is SGD4140/pax. However optional tours, food, transport, shopping will bring the total cost to SGD5333/pax, about 29% higher.

I gather that there is no fixed percentage that you should markup. Rather the experience I like to share is you cannot assume that tour package pricing is complete. To really enjoy your holiday, I do recommend that you need to set aside additional money to cater for the extra. This additional travel budget can be an average of 30%

You may also like to question yourself if the standard itinerary is really those places your family love to visit. The truth is you are paying the bulk of your travel budget to the tour agency which sells you the tour package. Therefore, it is not really worthwhile if you think that the standard itinerary does not cater to activities you and family want.

For example, a tour package to Western USA will include trips to theme parks like Disneyland and Universal Studios. We have visited both theme parks in Japan, and will like to visit other theme parks in USA. When we ask if the tour agencies can refund us the admission tickets to Disneyland and Universal Studios, but their answers are No.

In addition, a standard tour package usually includes visit to San Francisco. From San Francisco to Las Vegas, the coach ride is about 8 hours. Just by visiting San Francisco, we actually need to travel 1 day on the road. San Francisco is more suitable for travelers who love sightseeing, which may not be suitable for our little girl who loves theme parks and toys.

Having consider the itinerary and our family needs (mainly our little girl), we gather our travel budget will go extra mileage when we spend on activities which are more enjoyable to us. Thus, we are unlikely to take up a package tour to USA .

So the next time you check out a tour package, do ask the agency about the relevant “hidden” expenses and make sure you cater enough travel budget to enjoy your holiday! If not, consider saving for one more year before you go for the trip.
Cheers

Karen