$1500 Travelling!!??!!
 

Just need some idea's. My gf has been naggin me to go somewhere but can't decide on a place (that costs around 1500 each). Travel time will be 7-12 days, but I don't want to go to Mexico. Here's a list of places I want to go...

NYC
UK
Costa Rica
Chilliwack
Alaska

Any insight would be helpful.

one is not like the others

I'm guessing you REALLY want to go to Chilliwack cause it's the obvious choice you want. Oh and for $1500, is that for airfare only or whole tripe?

Rent a Cabin at Cultus Lake maybe? Go boating a couple of times, hiking as well.

England on $1500 is probably out of the question.

Just take a 12 day cruise that will be on of your best bets.

Unless you're at or near retirement age, a cruise to Alaska with just you and your gf will NOT be enjoyable. If you are a nature lover, just go directly to Alaska.

NYC might be out of the question too.

If you plan to stay in Manhattan, a 3 * hotel will probably run you at least $200/night. Meals are just as expensive (your average entree at TGIF runs about $20).

If you don't mind roughing it (staying at hostels and eating at places that are cheaper) then NYC can be done. Airfare however runs about $500 give or take $100 so it might be higher than what you had budgeted.

If you want to try a cruise, have you though about Miami? There's quite a few cheap cruises that go to the Bahamas that leave out of Miami/Ft Lauderdale. (the one I took last year was roughly $300 pp for 3 days) I rented a vacation rental condo out there that was about $130/night for a studio that was a block away from Miami Beach. Airfare was about $400 to Ft Lauderdale. You could potentially make it under budget depending on what you want to do.

The UK is totally out of the question for 1500, as is Manhatten.

That said an Alaskan cruise will fall right in your buget. There's a lot of 7 days that begin and and in vancouver or seattle which means you don't need airfare (which is where you save the most money).

Why is Chilliwack on the list?

I would also suggest taking a cruise, they're always nice. :)

Haha Chilliwack is just a joke. Don't want to go on a cruise to Alaska just want to go there.

Thanks for the comments, I thought that NYC could be done, but I guess not. I can spend more, just trying to give myself a range.

UK is too expensive on a 1500-2000 budget
New York is barley achievable?
Cruise/Mexico is my only option?

nyc definitely not doable for 7 days on your budget. maybe 4-5 days, and thats if you save by flying from seattle.

staying in a hotel almost anywhere will run you at least 100 a night... in manhattan, 200.

what about vegas? thats totally doable. cheap hotels, cheap flights. just watch your spending. anywhere allegiant flies in california should be ok too.

Remember hotels are twin share so you don't have to double the hotel cost for the both of them.

If you don't mind roughing it, my buddy stayed at a hostel in midtown Manhattan for $60/night. Might be worth it if you're not picky about places to stay. If you don't mind a commute to Manhattan, you could always just stay in NJ and take the bus in to Manhattan. Hotels in NJ are significantly cheaper than hotels in Manhattan. Most buses from NJ will take you to the Port Authority bus terminal. (Bus from Rutherford or Secaucus to NYC is about 45 mins)

i love hostels, but 60 a night x 2 is still 120 for a hostel.
im guessing cause its with your gf, you want something a little more comfortable and for 120-150 you might be able to get a serviced apartment for a week outside of midtown, or even a small apt somewhere in manhattan but far from midtown.

honestly you dont need to stay in midtown in manhattan because the entire time you're in nyc you'll be out and about. only thing thats good about a close hotel is you can drop off the shit you buy and head straight back out.

Dominican Republic? Or you could do the whole Vegas thing if you've never been there.

1500 per person is ok.. but TOGETHER and your options are limited.

Last minute deals, fly out from seattle for 1500 for 7 days is totally do-able.

12 nights at a motel would run you $1500, alone. Factor in airfare, and various spending money, and you have well exceeded $1500. Maybe keep an eye out for package deals, and snag one that looks appealing.

A roadtrip would work. You'd only be shelling out coin for gas instead of airline tickets. Take a drive down to San Fran, or something.

OP said $1500 each in his/her original post. That would be $3000 combined.

OP - you willing to look outside of the places you mentioned or is that a pretty set list?

If so, are you looking for any particular setting? Are you looking for somehwere warm, somewhere relaxing, looking for the big sights and attractions, etc?

You can always stay in Jersey which is like 10 mins across the bridge and 5X cheaper than a Manhattan hotel.

^^^

If you're going to NYC, it's best to stay in NYC. Last time, I went with my family, and my mom got a decent price (don't remember what) at the Comfort/Quality in, which was right around the corner from Times Square. The rooms were small and basic, but it's not like you'll be spending time there, anyways. It's good that you're right in the action when you walk out of the hotel.

Staying out of the city may be cheaper, but getting back into NYC with transit is a pain in the ass. We had to get something outside the city when we went to NYC for the first time. You didn't want to get back too late because it does get a bit scary at night. Spending a bit more to get a nicely located accommodation is the way to go.

For $1500 a person, maybe it would be a good idea to head down to California.

Airfare - $400 give or take $100.
Hotel - You can seriously ball out and stay at a nice hotel.
Meals - Again, you can seriously ball out.
Go clubbing - Make it rain in K-Town!
Disneyland - Yeah.
Hit up the beach - Free
Car rental - $100 to $200 a week plus gas expenses?

NYC and the UK are out of the question. It is high season and that $1500 might get you to London and a day's worth of lodging and food in London. :p

LOL.

Someone asked if I was set on my places, I am not. Those are just the places that I would like to go. This is why I posted here cause I needed to think outside the box and get some outside opinions. I didn't want to do a crazy trip, just something small and try to keep cost low while going somewhere new and exciting (IMPOSSIBLE). Every now and then I see crazy flights to London, I knew NYC was pricey but didn't think it was going to be 200 a night for a 3 star.

I told my GF today that we should just take the 3000 and go nuts in Vancouver. Needless to say, that didn't go over well.

NYC is freaking pricey. but if you do consider new york, i just booked my vacay there for 5 days and 4 nights. tickets were $570 at cathay.
staying at a 3 star hotel called Marmara Manhattan looks decent, referred by a friend. its around 200-300 per night depending on when you go, and you should book it through the site called wotif.com because on the hotel's own website, they quote about $100 more per night.

Otherwise, perhaps Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Hawaii, Miami, Montreal??

Like remak3 suggested - maybe try Hawaii? I see Alaska is offering $149 one way tickets from Bellingham to Honolulu. (although you have to wait till January)

Not sure if it's fully recovered from Katrina and whether it was affected by the oil spill, but perhaps New Orleans might be something different to check out. I'd probably do some research on that one before considering it though.

nobody has mentioned anything about Costa Rica, with 3000 between the two of you and if you don't mind travelling by bus or something instead of taxi you could easily do it.

I was initially thinking a flight there would be around 500-700, but kayak shows for 12 days in september, you can get a flight for as low as 313 us pp round trip, seems quite cheap. ( september 15-september 28).

If I remember correctly you can bus around the country for like 7-10 dollars for longer jaunts, eg san jose to tamarindo. I would reccomend hitting up tamarindo ( little pricier because of the amount of gringos, but still retains surf town feel). monte verde for the cloud forest, arenal if volcanoes interest you at all, manual antonio park near quepos, which has a beautiful beach and tonnes of crazy wild life, and Montezuma the crazy hippy town with great beach and lots of tropical waterfalls. Obviously 12 days isn't enough to see all those, and Costa Rica is a destination that would take more planning, but it is definetly worth it.

Flights there right now are cheaper because it is the rainy ( green season) but it only rains for a short time in the day and temperatures are still tropical, less tourists come this time of year ( May through Nov.) this also makes hotels cheaper this time of year. a short expedia search yields many 3 stars in tourist areas for around 70 bucks a night