After publishing my 2016 travel review, I received a number of DM’s and emails requesting me to put together a 2015 travel review as well! I apologize that it’s, well, you know… almost 2 years overdue! Better late than never!
This was the very first year where I took around 6 international trips, the precusor to the 2016 travels. I hope it is helpful for anyone looking to get an idea of how much money travelling costs!
Do take a moment to review my 2016 travels as I was able to make that trip so much cheaper despite travelling more days!
The 2015 Travel Review
- February: New York, Milan, Florence, Rome and Budapest for 11 days
- April: Punta Cana for 6 days
- May: New York, Cape Town, and Dubai for 7 days
- August: New York for 4 days
- November: Paris for 5 days
In total I spent about 33 days abroad, and this number includes weekends (as well as long weekends) which is why it seems skewed very high. I bought several error fare tickets which meant that I saved quite a bit of bucks on 2 of the trips mentioned.
The total sum of money I spent on my 2015 travels is around $5,728 for a total of 33 days. This means on a daily basis the total amount of money I spent is $174/day which is more expensive than my 2016 travels where I spent on an average, $128/day. This is due to the fact that I spent most of my trips in Europe and the US in 2015 and the exchange rate relative to Canadian dollars meant that I was spending significantly more throughout the trip.
February – New York, Milan, Florence, Rome and Budapest
I took a mini European trip as I managed to book an error fare courtesy of Delta / Alitalia / AF / KLM. They are all codeshare partners so I was able to take advantage of a pretty great series of flights to the destinations below.
Breakdown of Trip Cost:
- Transportation: $1,006 total for the following itinerary:
Toronto > NYC > Milan > Florence > Rome > Budapest > Toronto - Accommodation Costs: $472 total for stays in NYC, Budapest and Florence.
- Other Costs: $75 for things such as visiting the Schezenyi Bath in Budapest, train tickets (in the city) and Air Canada luggage fee
- Read More:
Total Spent for Mini European Trip: $1,553 for 11 days
April – Punta Cana
For our annual conference, we went to the Hard Rock Resort in the Dominican Republic. I loved this hotel so much – it was such an epic trip so much so that I decided to extend my stay by about 2 days! It allowed me to really spoil myself with the various spa treatments and and all the amenities that the resort had to offer.
Breakdown of Trip Cost:
- Transportation: FREE (paid by my company)
- Accommodation Costs: The first 4 days of stay at the Hard Rock Resort was paid for by my company. The remaining 2 days was paid out of pocket $495
- Other Costs: $210 for spa services taxes (The actual spa service was covered with room credit)
- Read More:
Total Spent for Punta Cana Trip: $705 for 6 days in the Dominican Republic
May – Cape Town, and Dubai
Like my February trip, I booked this trip strictly due to an error fare on Etihad’s website. I was able to snag a fare that’s regularly priced at $1500 for about 1/5 of the price! That was super epic and I don’t regret it one bit since I was able to stop by Abu Dhabi and Dubai en route (the Etihad hubs). Plus, Etihad is one of the world’s best airlines, so this was one epic deal!
Breakdown of Trip Cost:
- Transportation: $784 in total for the following itinerary: Toronto > NYC > Abu Dhabi > Johannesburg > Cape Town > Johannesburg > Dubai > NYC > Toronto
- Accommodation Costs: $198 for 4 nights in Cape Town (I stayed in the airport in New York and Dubai)
- Other Costs: $433 for misc costs such as airport transfer, visiting the At the Top Burj Khalifa Experience, taxi, and metro fares
- Read More:
Total Spent for South Africa and Dubai Trip: $1,415 for 7 days in South Africa
August – New York City
I decided to take my sister to New York as it was her first time. We got a pretty great fare considering it was during the Civic Holiday long weekend. Since the USD is already more expensive than the Canadian dollars, this resulted in quite a bit of an upward tick in spending.
Breakdown of Trip Cost:
- Transportation: $225 to go during the Civic Holiday Weekend
- Accommodation Costs: $641 for 4 days
- Other Costs: $100 cost of MTA, Uber and transfer
- Read More:
Total Spent for New York City Trip: $966 for 4 days in New York City
November – Paris
My parents have never been to Europe before and because I’ve been there multiple times, I took advantage of a fare sale to take them to Paris to break the ice!
Breakdown of Trip Cost:
- Transportation: $435 RT flights
- Accommodation Costs: $554 for 4 nights
- Other Costs: $100 for visiting the Eiffel Tower, and taking the metro in Paris
- Read More:
Total Spent for Paris Trip: $1,089 for 5 days in Paris