$18 Glass of OJ

[buildmybudget]

I have to admit I'm pretty embarrassed about this one but simply had to share. My wife and I just came back from an amazing 10-day vacation with six friends to Dublin, London, and Paris. It was such an amazing trip, and was thankfully a bit cheaper than our honeymoon in 2008 when exchange rates had hit rock bottom. Anyway, on the last day of the trip we had brunch within the Jardin de Luxemburg in Paris and the cafe charged us $11.50 Euros for a fresh squeezed glass of orange juice. That's $17.94 in dollars!!! That's enough to buy almost six cartons of OJ from Publix!!! Ok, now that I've come clean to my favorite forum I don't feel as guilty. I suppose next time I'll look closer at the menu.

[disneysteve]

Wegman's OJ is only $1.99/half gallon so that would buy 9 cartons. Wow. Hope it was good juice.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

You can't compare costs when traveling. Sorry but where do you store 1/2 gallon of juice on a trip if you are changing places to live daily? I budget what to spend daily and some places are expensive and live with it.

[disneysteve]

LAL, I think the OP's comparison (and mine) were more tongue-in-cheek. Although it certainly is a good reminder to pay attention to menu prices, especially when there is a currency difference and an exchange rate to figure in.

[BuckyBadger]

I recently traveled to Belgium, and unlike other European countries I've been to, you could not get "tap" water. It was buying bottled water, buying another beverage, or drinking nothing. (We are not wine drinkers, so that wasn't an option, and a bottle of soda about 1/2 the size of what you would usually get in the US was $7 with the exchange.)

I refused on principal ;-)

I was quite dehydrated for a few days, that's for sure! When we made it to France they gave us tap water. Room temperature, but better than nothing.

[bjl584]

I hope that there was a lot of Vodka in it for that price.

[feh]

That's one of my pet peeves when we (rarely) eat breakfast at a restaurant. Six dollars for eggs, bacon and toast...and $4.50 for a glass of juice. Ridiculous.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

DS, mine was eye rolling to the tongue in cheek! LOL. Although maybe if I were frugal i would carry the half gallon around and make everyone drink from it.....

[disneysteve]

We almost never eat out for breakfast when we travel. We will either bring stuff with us from home if we are driving or buy stuff locally and eat in our room for a fraction of the cost of a restaurant. We can do breakfast for $1-2/person instead of $10-20/person.

[buildmybudget]

BJL, no, unfortunately no vodka! Although we did have Guinness at the Brewery and Jameson at the old distillery in Dublin. Both were fantastic (and relatively more affordable)!

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by buildmybudget

BJL, no, unfortunately no vodka! Although we did have Guinness at the Brewery and Jameson at the old distillery in Dublin. Both were fantastic (and relatively more affordable)!

I'll have to remember that if I find myself in Dublin - Jameson Yes, orange juice No. Sounds like a plan to me.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Me too! I like to eat pastry and a drink from a grocery for breakfast when traveling abroad.

[tan fish]

Yes, they really screw you over at hotel restaurants. Although not as bad as $18, I can remember having breakfast in a hotel in Syracuse, NY and my glass of OJ cost $4.

I think part of what keeps these outrageous prices going is the fact that a lot of hotels know that a fair amount of their lodgers are business travelers on business accounts. They could care less what they are paying for food since its not coming out of their pocket. My employer has a per diem rate of something around $55 a day for food. I might spend that much on groceries for 5-6 days!

[Scanner]

Eh, here's my thought on that. . .I can live without Europe and me traveling there and I am sure they can live without me.

Best of luck to them.

[NolaP]

Oh my - I sure hope there was some champagne in that OJ!

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by tan fish

I think part of what keeps these outrageous prices going is the fact that a lot of hotels know that a fair amount of their lodgers are business travelers on business accounts. They could care less what they are paying for food since its not coming out of their pocket. My employer has a per diem rate of something around $55 a day for food. I might spend that much on groceries for 5-6 days!

I think that's true. Hotels that cater to business travelers will charge for services that are free elsewhere. I can stay at a Fairfield Inn and get free WiFi, free breakfast, etc. But if I go to a Marriott, breakfast is $18, WiFi is $12/day, etc.

[bjl584]

Originally Posted by buildmybudget

BJL, no, unfortunately no vodka! Although we did have Guinness at the Brewery and Jameson at the old distillery in Dublin. Both were fantastic (and relatively more affordable)!

LOL. Two excellent choices.

[My English Castle]

Everytime we discuss moving back to the UK, I read a post like this and sigh.

[SteveBlissLaw]

Dear God....were the oranges grown at the foutain of youth?

[PaydayLoner]

My cheap travel solution is to take backpacking food. Light-weight, no cooking, nutritious, easy to eat anywhere without a table or silverwear. Also handy if you're stranded with a missed connection or bad weather and everyone else is hungry, but you just pull some trail mix out of your carryon and munch away.

It doesn't really work if everyone wants to go out to eat for the fun of it, but for all those other times when food is just for practicality when you're traveling, it really saves money.