Hey East Coasters!
Parents
of students going on the East Coast trip often ask, “How much money
does my child need to bring with them on the trip?” The short answer,
technically, is “none.” Your child won’t like me telling you that, but
all necessities are covered on the trip. All meals are paid for,
drinking fountains are fairly common in most of the places we’re going,
all admissions to all museums, events, and attractions are included, so
your child doesn’t need to bring any money. Technically.
OK,
but seriously now. Your child is probably going to want a bottle of water
here and there, and may want a little extra spending money for snacks and beverages
beyond mealtimes (about $3-$5 per day). Then there are souvenirs. I’ve
seen kids buy a couple small tchotchkes for family, and spend little
more than $15 on souvenirs TOTAL for the whole trip. For other kids, they would put the Real Housewives to shame. We
had one kid spend over $400 in less than a week.
You
know your child and his/her shopping habits best. Clothing is usually
the most expensive item kids buy on this trip, and one nice “I ♥ NY” sweatshirt can go for $40-50, easy. Overall, average souvenir purchases are about $10-$20 per day.
Also
as you may or may not know, I do respectfully request a little tip
money ($10 total)
from each student: $5 for our coach driver, $5 for our tour guide. These
two people will be with us for the whole trip and become a part of our
trip "family". Naturally, tipping is
optional, but in our country it is customary and a nice courtesy,
especially for a job well done. All other tips are included in the cost
of the tour. I will collect the coach driver and tour guide tip money
($10) at the Pre-Departure Meeting on March 26.
On
a related note, parents also ask: “Debit/prepaid card or cash?” There
are advantages to both. Depending on the type of card and the issuing
bank, parents can control the amount of spending per day and/or add
value to the card if needed; this is a good security feature if the card
is lost, and is also helpful in limiting teen spending. Talk to your
bank now about your options. Cash is easiest, but once lost it is almost
certainly gone for good. Talk with your child and find out what you
think will work best. Several airlines are now cashless, meaning you can
only purchase food on the plane with a debit/credit card. United Airlines (the scheduled carrier for our trip), is cashless.
As for VISA, MasterCard, or American Express gift or pre-paid cards,
most of them don’t have a name on them, they don’t require ID, and
they’re usually as good as cash if lost, so be careful with this option.
Finally, don’t even bother with traveler checks; their time has passed.
USA Student Travel still recommends them in their “Travel Tips” sheet,
but the truth is the 19-year-old kid behind the counter at the souvenir shop
will have NO idea what to do with your traveler check.
When asked, this is what previous East Coast trip parents had to say with
regard to money:
“A mixture of cash and debit cards worked great for our daughter.”
“My child took $200 and that was more than enough,she came back with money leftover,and she is quite the shopper!”
“We
got our daughter a debit card for the trip, (which she hardly used,
just on the plane), but it made us feel better. AND, it's proven to be a
useful budgeting tool for our daughter going forward. Rather than $5
here, $20 there, she uses the card and we review it to see where the
money is going.”
“I
gave my daughter cash and put it in envelopes by day. I gave her more
for NY and then gave less for each day as I saw fit. I also told her
that she could keep whatever money she did not spend on the trip. I gave
her $300. She was really careful about making good choices and she came
home with $291. ( She bought one sweatshirt, but, made money back on
the food court allowance). It worked out well and now she is going to
buy a cat with her leftovers as well as an Ipod. :-)”
“I would say slightly more than $20/day.”
Hope
all that advice will help your family make a more informed decision
about money. Our next student meeting is in one week, next Thursday, February 27, at 2:10pm
in Room D-6. Our East Coast adventure is now only 47 days away! As
always, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me.
Take care,
Mr. Sheridan
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