If you fly to visit family

[mrsg123]

I am curious what others spend to fly to visit family. How many tickets do you buy? Is it a long trip? What about a rental car? How often do you go?

Southwest just canceled the direct flight route we take to visit my parents. I just can't see us taking 6 hours to fly a multiple leg route for just a long weekend when before it was a 2 hour direct flight:(

[arch01]

My dad is almost all the way across the country. We spent $1000 to fly there in March. We are only going every other year. We also spent $$ on a rental car and hotel to see FIL who is 4 hours away from my dad.

My mom is half way across the country. It's a 16 hour drive or 2.5-3h flight (total in-air time). Instead of us going up there, we pay for her to come here since it's cheaper-she stays with DS when we go on cruises, then we spend a couple days with her after. That flight is $300.

And for perspective-it would've never crossed my mind to fly for a 6 hour trip by car.

[mrsg123]

Sept 15, 2014 13:12:00 GMT -5 arch01 said:

My dad is almost all the way across the country. We spent $1000 to fly there in March. We are only going every other year. We also spent $$ on a rental car and hotel to see FIL who is 4 hours away from my dad.

My mom is half way across the country. It's a 16 hour drive or 2.5-3h flight (total in-air time). Instead of us going up there, we pay for her to come here since it's cheaper-she stays with DS when we go on cruises, then we spend a couple days with her after. That flight is $300.

And for perspective-it would've never crossed my mind to fly for a 6 hour trip by car.

It's a 12 hour car trip, but a 2 hour direct flight that is now 6 hours or more with multiple legs. Sorry for the confusion!

[mlt]

Once a year we fly to visit a branch of my in laws family. It is a trip I dread. But I'm trying to be a good wife. We spend total of $1200 usually on tickets. That's for 3 round trip direct flights. I've had another baby so soon we'll need 4 tix. Sometimes we get flights for less than $300 but that hasn't happened in a few years. We are always flying at peak times (Thanksgiving week or 4th of July) so it's hard to get deals.

[dulcemariamar]

We fly from Luxembourg to Florida to visit my family. We go 1-2 times a year. The flight from Germany is 10 hours plus 2 hour drive.

My in- laws are about two hours away by plane. We go more often but I know my DH would want to go once a month. I hate flying so we go every three months. Tickets are cheap, around 100 euro for one ticket

[Deleted]

We avoid traveling to see DHs family mostly. We did just go to AZ for a long weekend in May though. We usually need 5 tickets, but DH was already down there last time so we only had to buy 4 tickets. They were each about $200. We rent a minivan, which was like $250 for the 4 days. We don't go often because it's expensive, there's nothing to do in AZ and his family is all drama. I prefer to spend my vacations not there and DH agrees so we oh more fun places instead. He's not very close to his family which helps immensely.

[Deleted]

We fly from LAX to PHL at least once a year. I have to purchase 3 tickets on average I pay about $400.00 per ticket round trip. We are looking to go for a family wedding this year in December (the friday before Christmas, let me tell you how much that annoys me!!!) so far I've been averaging $650 per ticket.

I tend to fly direct flights (US air as they are the only direct to PHL from LAX). I don't have the patience for a lay over on a 5 plus hour flight, my DH is more willing them I am to do the 1 stop over. However; most of the time I'm not saving more then $50/75 a flight and it's not worth it for me.

I'm due to have a baby early next year and I'll end up purchasing 4 tickets soon afterwards. I'd rather on long flights have the seat for the baby so that will up our cost to closer to $1600 for tickets!

Oh and we do normally rent a car at about $200 a week. We stay with my in-laws so no hotel.

[arch01]

Sept 15, 2014 13:15:36 GMT -5 mrsg123 said:

Sept 15, 2014 13:12:00 GMT -5 arch01 said:

My dad is almost all the way across the country. We spent $1000 to fly there in March. We are only going every other year. We also spent $$ on a rental car and hotel to see FIL who is 4 hours away from my dad.

My mom is half way across the country. It's a 16 hour drive or 2.5-3h flight (total in-air time). Instead of us going up there, we pay for her to come here since it's cheaper-she stays with DS when we go on cruises, then we spend a couple days with her after. That flight is $300.

And for perspective-it would've never crossed my mind to fly for a 6 hour trip by car.

It's a 12 hour car trip, but a 2 hour direct flight that is now 6 hours or more with multiple legs. Sorry for the confusion!

Ah gotcha!

[dcn]

We live in Alaska right now and our fam is on the east coast. It is insanely expensive and a giant pita so we have only been once in the last two years. We aren't planning on going again until we move back to the lower 48.

We are meeting my sis and her fam and my parents in CA in January. Much shorter and easier trip.

We normally travel home 1-2 times per year.

[drloretta]

Sept 15, 2014 13:05:19 GMT -5 mrsg123 said:

I am curious what others spend to fly to visit family. How many tickets do you buy?
One for each of us, so 3

Is it a long trip?
Yes, cross country

What about a rental car?
Rarely

How often do you go?
Once a year all 3 of us, sometimes just DD and I go an additional time

[hermione]

My ILs live 9 hours away by car, 1 hour by plane. I hate the drive but once C turns 2 I doubt we'll pay $500 x 3 for plane tickets.

[teatimefor2]

We fly from NJ/NYC area to NC. Plan to do it about twice a year. Right now, we need three tickets. It's about 800 round trip, so about $1,600 per year.

[frlcb]

We fly Atlanta to UK to visit my inlaws, 2 times a year, 4 tickets, no rental car, no hotels. Average trip for just tickets is $5000-$6000. It sucks.

[Deleted]

4 tickets LAX to ATL is about $1200, plus about $250 for a rental car for a week.

[pinkdutchtulips]

Sept 15, 2014 13:05:19 GMT -5 mrsg123 said:

I am curious what others spend to fly to visit family. How many tickets do you buy? Is it a long trip? What about a rental car? How often do you go?

Southwest just canceled the direct flight route we take to visit my parents. I just can't see us taking 6 hours to fly a multiple leg route for just a long weekend when before it was a 2 hour direct flight:(

my dad is in OH. DD and I went out to visit for a week over easter .. cheapest tickets were via Spirit Airlines at nearly $300 each. We literally spent ALL DAY in the plane (left at 6a from Oakland, landed in DET at around 3-4p w/ a 2 hr stopover in Vegas). This was my 4th trip out to see my dad since he moved to MI/OH in 92 (99, 02 TWICE!, 14).

my mom is in WA state and I have yet to make the trek up there to see her. It's a basic 2hr flight from anywhere in the Bay Area to SeaTac.

I never rent a car .. if I need one, I can borrow one of my parents' !

[savan]

Both of our families live in different parts of the country so we have to fly to see anyone. 4 of us = 4 tickets plus we need a rental car at both locations. We probably average around $1600 for flights and $200 for rental car. Sometimes it's cheaper, sometimes it's a little more.

We don't fly for just weekends due to the cost. We only go once a year for a week at a time and we alternate whose family we see each year. So one year we see my family, the next his family, then my family again, etc.

It takes about 11 hours of travel time to see the ILs. 4 hour flight + 3.5 hour drive + any stops, getting the rental car, waiting for baggage at the airport, etc. It only takes about 6 hours of travel time for my family. 3 hour flight + 1 hour drive + miscellaneous wait times.

[toesie]

We just spent 3.5K for 2 tickets + DD to visit my family. I don't plan on doing it very often, maybe every 3 years or so. Next time, it'll be 3 tickets, so about 5k.

[Deleted]

Oh and as far as how often. When we first moved out here we thought we would go three times a year. However, flying with both kids is so exhausting and stressful that after our trip in July, we decided we don't want to go back till next summer. I might spend a month next summer with both kids, while H stays home to work.

As the kids get older and are easier to manage on flights, we may travel more frequently. Right now dd2 is a freaking nightmare on the 5 hour flight though.

[shelbyann]

Both of our families are far away so we deal with this several times a year.

I am at my mom's house (across the country, 5-6 hour flight) with DD right now. We're staying here for three weeks. My ticket was $500 plus we're renting a car (around $600). Cat sitter at home is $400. H will join us in a few days, he's traveling for work right now, fortunately he planned that so his airfare was picked up by work. And we don't buy DD a seat. So this trip is costing $1500 but when DD can no longer travel as a lap child it'll be closer to $2,000 or $2,500. This is why we are staying for so long! It sucks but it's important to me to have DD know her grandparents and extended family, so oh well. We'll probably make this trip twice a year.

H's family is a 2 hour plane ride away. We're a major hub airport and so are they, so it's easy to find cheap flights, often $200 or less. We go up there 2-3X a year. We also plan those trips around my H's work travel so he can tack a weekend on to a work trip which saves us a little hassle and $$.

[kershnic]

My kids are babies, so we're just getting this new reality figured out.

This year we're flying once to see my in-laws and once to see my family. We bought 2 plane tickets and took the babies as lap children for the first flight, and are planning to do the same for the second. A direct flight to my in-laws is about 2 hours (or 15 hour drive) and to my parents about 3 hours flying (19 driving). If we can't go direct it would probably be more like 5-6 hours. Our parents let us drive one car and use their other car.

We spent about $800 for Labor Day weekend and I'm planning about $1000 for Christmas. This will double when the babies need their own tickets. It makes me very unhappy to think about it, but I just have to remind myself that developing relationships with the grandparents is a big priority for me.

[smock]

We spent $1200 on airfare plus $400 for a rental car to visit family in August, and we're planning the same again to visit the ILs in December. I have no idea what we're going to do when our dd needs her own ticket, because it's already tough to swing the cost. I really just want to move closer to my family.

[heygrey]

h's family is 7 hours away by plane. always have to lay over so either a 1 hour + 6 hour flight, or a 4 hour + 3 hour flight. childless we had no preference so we'd take the cheaper of those two options. we'll see if we develop a preference with a kid; i can see positives and negatives for both scenarios. my family is some awful combination of multiple flights and then at least a 2 hour drive, which usually results in 12-16 hours of travel, depending on layovers. all of these flight scenarios are ~$800 per person. we've never rented a car or hotel. we will keep R as a lap infant as long as possible to save money.

i see my parents at least twice a year, h comes when he can. sometimes i go home twice, sometimes my parents come out here once and i go there once. we tend to see h's parents once a year. with one exception, we fly to them because it's "omg, too far!" to travel. my parents really want to see us so they chip in money as much and often as they can. h's family would love to see us more, but as they have never offered even a dollar to help we'll only see them as much as our budget allows.

[lolo]

Everyone is across the country. We spend about $400-500/ticket for 3 tickets. It takes about 12 hours of total travel time with about six hours in flight. There are no direct flights which does really suck.

We visit 2x/year right now. Before J it was usually 3-4x for me, but I traveled a lot for my job and could often swing by that way.

[schrodinger]

I aim to get tickets for less than $400/ticket when we travel to see my folks. We are in WA, they are in Detroit, so it's a ~4 hour flight. I try and fly my folks out to visit us once per year, since when we have SD's, five tickets gets to be prohibitive. I also travel to Chicago a few times per year on business, so I try and find a way to do both cities on one trip so that my airfare is covered. When we go to visit my parents I don't get a rental car, we just share one of theirs.

All this is likely to change when they retire and move. I'm hoping that more time off for them means more visits out here to see us.

[deo]

We go "home" about 2 or 3 times a year. Both our parents live in the same city. It's a 14 hour drive. We have 2 options for flying, either we drive 3 hours to the major airport then take a 1 hour direct flight or we fly directly from our local airport which involves a 45 min flight + a 3+ hour layover + a 1 hour flight ($$$). In the winter we fly because the roads can be awful but when we go the rest of the year we drive because it's cheaper.

We don't have to rent a car if we fly because between my parents and the ILs there is usually a car for us to use while we are there.

I wish we didn't have to go back so much but the Inlaws are adverse to traveling so if we ever want to see them then we have to go there. And usually there is something going on that adds in an extra trip back home (wedding, funeral, etc)

[carolinagirl831]

We live in NC and our Family lives in NC/MO. It is about a 15 car ride. We haven't driven since we had DD. We fly there usually 2x yr. Then family meets us other times of the year either at a vacation spot or at our home.
We don't have to rent a car, both can pick us up from the airport.
It's expensive sure, but it is important to us to see family. And luckily we have enough vacation time and money that we are able to do this and a "true" vacation as well.

[hillarywhitney]

We fly to visit DH's family (west coast to east coast). We buy 2 tickets and it's usually about $750-$1,000 (total). We don't have to rent a car, so that helps save some money. We fly there 1-2x a year. We stay for about 1-2 weeks. We are going this Christmas, and it will be the first time we fly with the baby. I'm not sure yet if we will buy him a seat.

[leonard131]

We fly from DC Metro area to FL 2x a year and tickets run $300-400 a piece.  Just had to buy 3 this time because M turns 2 on saturday.  We also fly to Utah 1x year and those tickets run $450.00 a piece. I think we are also going to need to start adding a trip to CA in there too about 1x a year.  So basically M's college education will be going to the airline industry.  Hope he can get some scholarships.....

[Mushe]

My ILs live (and H grew up) across the country. There's ONE direct flight there, but it's from an airport that is 2.5 hours away from us (vs .5 hours to our local), and there is literally the one flight each day, red eye there and before dawn on the way home. We just went for Labor Day weekend; I flew alone on the direct there, and we all came back on the direct home. A "good" price is $350, but it's been as high as $600.

A flight from our local airport with a connection can usually be had for about $350, or a little less on sale, but not often.

I am kind of a brat about it, TBH. I don't like flying across the country to hang out in their living room and wait around; we don't tend to do anything when we're there. We did more museums and stuff this last trip, so that's good.

It's just getting more expensive to go, though, now that DS needs a ticket, and the one guest bedroom/shared bathroom (share with SIL) is just not enough for us, so we'll need to tack on hotel & rental car next time.

ETA: I totally forgot the airport parking ($18/day), dogsitter ($35/day), and everything else. It really adds up! I feel like I get such a small amount of vacation these days that I don't want to spend it that way, and encourage either them to see us whenever they want, or to meet us somewhere mutually acceptable for vacation.

[Deleted]

Most of my immediate family is nearby, but I try to see my sister at least once a year if not more. We can drive, but I prefer flying.

I just wait until SW does a sale. It's only $100-$150 per person.

This year I combined with a work trip, me only. Then just went down last weekend. May drive at Thanksgiving depending on what's happening.