An analysis of more than a million credit card transactions by the financial news and research service CreditCards.com determined what people spend money on when flying:
The number one spending category was hotels — 26% of all transactions. Airfare came in second, with 19% of trips, then food. But food also accounted for 16% of credit card transactions — far more than I anticipated.
The most surprising aspect of the data is that people spend such a high percentage of their money on lodging. It’s almost as if staying at a nice hotel in an unfamiliar city is a high-stakes gamble. In an era when people have begun paying monthly mortgage payments and student loans and are eager to pay down debt, people can’t wait to spend money on luxury travel. Associated expenses include searching for and playing on the best USA high roller casinos, no matter where the travelers may find themselves.
CreditCards.com defines luxury travel as trips to international destinations and transportation to and from those destinations. But the phenomenon is so prevalent that the analysis covered flights to Boston, Boston to Toronto, Los Angeles to San Francisco, Seattle to Las Vegas, and even Minneapolis to Milwaukee.
Compare a nice hotel with your traditional mortgage payment. What is it that’s so compelling about fancy hotel rooms that people are willing to pay hefty sums to travel to them?
The Hidden Costs of Luxury Travel
The trip to a luxury hotel should be enjoyable and cost-effective, but it’s more complicated than that.
The problem is that people are not spending money on other things that they could pay for with travel money. The average hotel room in the top ten most expensive cities was charged at a rate of $303 per night, and $350 per night in New York. The least expensive room in those cities was charged at a rate of $133 per night. If you’re flying, that means you’re spending about 50% of your money on hotels.
Flying means spending an enormous amount of money on transportation, getting through security lines, buying food, and checking luggage. Airline ticket prices are rising at an unprecedented rate, and the price of flying has grown by 86% since 2002. That means that you’re paying even more than if you were flying in the past.
Of course, a big hotel room comes with hotel fees that can be enormous. You’re paying hotel taxes, cleaning fees, wear and tear fees, cleaning fees, reservation cancellation fees, and the added cost of paying a guard to come into your room. Plus, when you stay in a high-end hotel, you’re paying for the view that comes with the convenience of an air-conditioned room.
A search of meilleur machine a sous en ligne from your Paris hotel room might have you saving a little bit on the money you would have otherwise spent on flying to the physical location of that casino you were looking to enjoy some fun in/on…
The Hidden Costs of Luxury Travel
The most extreme example is that a stay at the Ace Hotel in New York City costs $2,500 per night. That’s nearly three times the cost of staying at a hotel by the harbor in Boston, where the average rate is just $450 per night.
It’s not just hotel costs that are high. Travelers paid $117,852 per hour for a flight to Los Angeles. That’s more than seven times what travelers spent per hour on a flight from Boston to Las Vegas.
