Vacation Budget Calculator
Estimate your total vacation cost from lodging, food, transportation, activities, and shopping, including an emergency buffer.
How Vacation Budgeting Works
A vacation budget brings together your major trip costs — lodging, food, transportation, activities, and shopping — into a single total, then adds a buffer for unexpected expenses. Planning for the unexpected helps you avoid running short on funds partway through your trip.
Planning For The Unexpected
An emergency buffer is a percentage of your planned spending set aside for things like price changes, extra meals, last-minute activities, or unplanned purchases. A common starting point is 10-15% of your subtotal, but you can adjust this based on how predictable your trip costs are.
FAQ
What does the Vacation Budget Calculator include?
The calculator estimates your total vacation cost from lodging, transportation, food, activities, and shopping, and adds an emergency buffer based on a percentage of your subtotal.
How is the lodging total calculated?
Lodging total is your lodging cost per night multiplied by the number of nights.
How is the food total calculated?
Food total is your food cost per day multiplied by the number of nights and the number of travelers.
What is the emergency buffer?
The emergency buffer is an extra amount set aside for unexpected costs. It is calculated as your subtotal multiplied by the emergency buffer percentage you enter, and is added to the subtotal to give your total vacation cost.
How is cost per traveler calculated?
Cost per traveler is the total vacation cost divided by the number of travelers.