Looking for a mid-range estimate of what your vacation might cost? Peter recently chatted with Jane Engle, assistant travel editor for the Los Angeles Times about her article on using the U.S. General Services Administration’s website.
Peter Greenberg: The biggest problem that so many people have is even if they are getting to where they need to be going, whatever they budgeted for their trip is completely unrealistic. We’re not just talking about all the extra add-on fees that the airlines throw on. I’m just talking about the basic costs of goods and services.
I used to rely on a a survey that reported the cost of Big Mac around the world. Anywhere I found the cheapest Big Mac, chances were I found the cheapest cost of living. You know where it was? Caracas, Venezuela. Of course, now that Venezuela is the big OPEC country, I’m sure those Big Macs have gone sky high. But how do you estimate your cost in a realistic way, Jane?
Jane Engle: It becomes a tough thing to do because everybody travels a little bit differently. Some people prefer to go cheaper; some people wouldn’t stay in a hotel that didn’t have top services, so it becomes hard. But if you want a kind of mid-range look at how much it might cost you to visit different destinations at different times of a year, consult the U.S. General Services Administration. These are your tax dollars at work; each year they set per diem rates for federal employees, which is basically the maximum that they will let a federal employee pay and charge to stay for lodging, meals and incidentals in various towns. They do a survey each year to find out what these rates are, and they really aim for the middle costs.
PG: I have to ask the devil’s advocate question: What makes you think that they’re realistic?
JE: They use a couple of sources. They work with a travel consultant that reviews average hotel rates in each town. Then what I love is that the General Services Administration (GSA) has another vendor that just calls restaurants in the local area, and asks them how much they charge for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is so low-tech, but there you are.
PG: We’re back to what a tube of toothpaste costs, or a Big Mac costs, and you can figure it out from there. Now Jane, how do you actually get to the GSA site to find out where they’re going to go for each particular location.
JE: You can go to https://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/21287 and you can find the per diems listed for different seasons in nearly 400 destinations in the United States.
PG: Did anything just kind of jump out at you saying, now that’s an expensive place?
JE: At first I took a look at the list, and I saw New York at the top, which was not too much of a shock. Then I saw that New York was at the top for only certain part of the year. During certain times of the year Vail, Colorado was going to cost you more to visit than going to New York. So was Washington, D.C., Boston, Cambridge—all kinds of places, actually, were more expensive than New York, depending on when you visited.
PG: The one that jumped out at me was that an overnight trip to Yosemite would cost you more than a night in San Francisco.
JE: I find that fascinating. Of course, it depends on the type of year, but when we talk about the peak rate in Yosemite National Park, we’re talking about the summer. The thing about the summer is that it is not the peak time in San Francisco, since their weather is a lot better in the falI. As you might imagine Yosemite National Park packs them in during a very limited amount of time, and the hotel rates go sky-high.
PG: What does the GSA have to say about Hawaii?
JE: That is one of the few destinations that they do not actually survey. Certain destinations like Alaska and Hawaii are farmed out to a different branch of government. I believe in Hawaii it’s farmed out to the military.
PG: God forbid anybody from the government be allowed to come to Hawaii unless they’re on a ship.
JE: Actually, I was pretty impressed with the way they did things. They toss out the budget chains like Motel 6 on one end, and luxury properties like the Ritz-Carlton on the other end. They try to aim for the mid-range, so federal agents have a reasonable amount of comfort without soaking the tax payer.
Read the entire article at the Los Angeles Times Web site.
You can listen to the interview right here on PeterGreenberg.com. Just click the “Play” button in the radio box to hear Peter’s most recent radio show from the Wailea Beach Marriott Resort & Spa in Maui.
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