Budgeting worries/questions

[Bluechigger]

Greetings,

This is the first time I have posted on the site, though I've been browsing quite a bit lately.

I'm entirely concerned with the budget of my backpacking trip. Basically, I am studying in London in Spring of '06 and am planning to stay about 3-4weeks after the semester ends at the end of April. I'm a college student who is on a fairly tight budget; I am wondering what everyone's experiences have been with budgeting. How much will I pay to sleep on average? What does food from the supermarket cost? Do the museums and attractions typically have entrance fees?How much will I spend per day? Do you include beer in your budget? I would like to have a couple in Berlin. I'm really hoping to see several cities and countries in my trip, but am worried I will not be able to afford to stay.

This is also important because I need to make a return flight reservation to the United States. Open ended tickets from here seem to be abotu $1,200 US, something I cannot afford.

Thanks so much for all of your input and help! ;D

[LHR02]

bluechipper,
re: your flight. Estimate as best you can when you think you will be returning and book a return flight based on that. You will pay a bit more...maybe $100...over the lowest priced flight you can find to have one that is 'changeable' but will still come out way ahead of an open ended flight. For the flight I just booked I did exactly that...paid $578 instead of lowest $468 because the low one allows no changes and the 578 does. It will cost me $75 to change my flight....still way way less than an open ticket would have cost me! Also, if you know you want to visit Berlin, and anticipate that this is the furthest east you will be going, think about an open jaw ticket...flying into London and home from Berlin. Will save you the cost of backtracking back to London to fly home....and they really aren't that much more. Check travelAxe and/or sidestep for a good side by side comparison of costs.

hope this helps,
ging

[bluechigger]

Where did you find a ticket with only a $75 change fee. The lowest I could find was $200.

[LHR02]

British Air, Air Canada, United.......$75 is the standard I find. I think that it depends though....what sort of original ticket you are looking at. If it is the lowest dirt cheap Y fare, then even if they will allow it they charge ya good for the service. If you upgrade to the lowest priced, refundable, changeable ticket, the change price goes down. Last 'long' trip I was on Air Canada, cheapest flight I could get, change cost me $175 in 2002 bucks. This time with BA, paid a higher price for my ticket, but worth it as change is much less.

[bluechigger]

Thanks for the quick help!

I've just been using Orbitz to locate fares. You are right, I have been picking the cheapest flight possible, which includes no perks. I wonder if I can find a flight that is still fairly cheap but with a lower change penalty.

[WillTravel]

Some student fares are open-ended and/or have cheap change provisions. Have you checked studentuniverse.com ?

[LHR02]

Can I say....get off of Orbitz! Check TravelAxe.com, load up SideStep for good side by side comparisons, look at STA and other student travel sites. Look at the consolidator sites.....Orbitz will most likely never offer the best price for your needs overseas. They are set up for domestic/big airlines travel only. I have used thetravelteam.com several times out of Seattle, but they have changed their site and MO and I can no longer direct folks there. But...there are loads of better spots to look at. Check out the BB at FlyerTalk...WT directed me there ages ago and if there is a deal in the works, those folks will know about it!

[Jules80]

as far as budgeting goes, i presume you will be staying in youth hostels if you are on a tight budget. expect to pay between 17 and 25 euros for the cheapest (and therefore biggest rooms) in a hostel. food from a supermarket tends to vary in price depenidng on where you are. in france you can have a fabulous feast of cheese, bread and pate for under 5 euros. ireland is extremely expensive for food. many museums and attractions have entrance fees. in the uk most state museums are now free. in paris, if you're there the first sunday of the month, the museums are free. in italy most state run museums are half price for EU citizens who are under 26. free museums and monuments are few and far between. you even have to pay to get into some churchs!!! the one that annoyed me most was in siena where you had to pay 6 euros to get in and than pay 50 c to go pee!!! i was highly unimpressed with that one! basically budget about 50-60 euros a day to eat sleep drink and sight see.

Jules