It’s pretty hard to find good data on travel costs for far-flung destinations around the globe, so I was excited to take a look at Mercer’s Cost of Living Survey. Mercer is a global consultancy, and the cost of living survey provides information to corporations, governmental organizations, and NGOs to help them determine cost of living allowances for employees stationed worldwide.
One cool thing about the Mercer cost of living survey is that it is city-based, so it avoids the problem of cost differences within countries (which are often even greater than cost differences between countries). Let’s take a look at some of the highlights from the 2009 edition of the Mercer cost of living index.
Most expensive cities:
- Tokyo, Japan
- Osaka, Japan
- Moscow, Russia
- Geneva, Switzerland
- Hong Kong
- Zurich, Switzerland
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- New York City, US
- Beijing, China
- Singapore
Least expensive cities (of the 143 selected cities):
- Johannesberg, South Africa
- Monterrey, Mexico
- Asuncion, Paraguay
- Karachi, Pakistan
- Wellington, New Zealand
- Auckland, New Zealand
- Mexico City, Mexico
- Quito, Equador
- Chennai(Madras), India
- Tunis, Tunisia
- Bangalore, India
- San Jose, Costa Rica
- Montevideo, Uruguay
- Adelaide, Australia
- Glasgow, UK
- Santiago, Chile
- Winston Salem, US
- Manila, Philippines
Now, if some of these results look a little odd to you, you’re not alone. Auckland cheaper than Chennai? Beijing more expensive than Adelaide? Sounds like Australia and New Zealand are the new budget travel paradises!
Delving deeper into the rankings, some even stranger findings emerge. Ho Chi Minh City(Saigon), Vietnam is ranked 69th most expensive, whereas Seattle is ranked 84th. Sorry, but it doesn’t take an olfactory savant to smell something fishy going on here. Seattle is an expensive city even by US standards. And although Saigon must be getting more expensive every year as the Vietnamese economy enjoys its own China-syle mini-miracle, it’s hard to believe that costs there are anywhere near Western levels yet.
I suspect that that what’s at the bottom of these enormous discrepancies is a focus on western and luxury items. This makes sense given the the purpose of the index is to help calculate the expenses of highly paid, largely western personnel.
Take a look at some of the goods in the price index basket:
- Spaghetti, 1000g. Paris $1.95, New York $2.74, Beijing $3.65
- Luxury 2bd Apartment. Paris $1952. New York $2977. Beijing $2532.
Now, if you’re living on a budget in Beijing, you learn quickly that if you eat Chinese noodles instead of Italian pasta, you cut your food bill by about 90%. You can also find a cheap apartment in Beijing for a fraction of the price of cheap, rat-infested New York dive. So while these numbers may be relevant to the wealthy expat, or even luxury tourist, they bear little resemblance to the type of deals available to the creative and flexible budget traveler.
I guess the search for the holy grail of the perfect cost index must continue!
I’ve compiled a list of some of the best discount airlines serving Asia.
- Air Arabia - Destinations in South Asia and the Middle East
- AirAsia - Extensive network covers Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Myanmar, China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Australia and the Philippines
- Cebu Pacific - Philippines based, also stops in Thailand, China, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia
- Hong Kong Express - Flies to Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Japan
- Jetstar - Service to Australia, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Hawaii, Vietnam
- Tiger Airways - Flies to India, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Australia, Singapore
- Viva Macau - Flies between Macau, Sydney, Ho Chi Minh and Jakarta
- Kingfisher Airlines (Formerly Air Deccan) - Many routes in India
- SpiceJet - Destinations in India
- Nok Airways - Destinations within Thailand
Don’t forget to check out the post comparing the cheapest Asian countries.
I was poking around planning my epic round the world venture and I was shocked to discover that a one-way flight from the Philippines to Indonesia costs almost as much as a one-way ticket to from San Francisco to the Philippines - at least using my favorite flight aggregator, kayak.
At these rates, it would cost a fortune making your way around the globe spontaneously, as I’m planning to do.
I did some searches on round the world tickets, but it appears (after a very casual examination) that these things tend either be very expensive of they lock you into a relatively limited itinerary.
Then I found this page on Wikitravel about discount airlines, many of which will not show up in a search on expedia, orbitz, etc. Or even a meta-aggregator like Kayak. I also found a very helpful site listing discount air carriers.
While I was getting quotes at US$700-$800 for a one-way from the Manila to Jakarta on Kayak, I found this gem: Jestar Airways, a cheap Australian outfit with a well-designed website, offers the same one-way route for US$89. They fly to quite a few destinations in Southeast Asia in addition to the stops you’d expect Australia and New Zealand.
It looks like the key to making your way around the world in a cheap, highly flexible manner is to get to know these airlines, where they fly, and what their bargains are. Which is a pretty gargantuan task, considering the huge number of carriers, their limited routings, and their often poor websites.
Tim Patterson over at The Travelers Notebook has written a post on how to travel the world for next to nothing. His advice mostly falls into philosophy-of-travel type advice, but includes a few concrete tips too.
Here’s a summary of his points, paraphrased by yours truly:
1. Enjoy the simple things. This is good life advice in general, but for those with a passion for dressing flash and painting the town red in posh urban areas this won’t mean a whole lot.
2. Don’t consume more than you need. See above.
3. Travel slowly. This is a great point. When you travel slower, you spend less money on transport — plus you have time to discover the bargains in each destination. Not everyone has several months to kill on holiday, but you could try limiting yourself to a one- or two- destination week instead of trying to do, say, a hair-raising dash to check off all the items from your itinerary.
4. Leave your stuff and obligations at home. Unless you want to keep your job and apartment and therefore have to keep paying rent.
5. Leverage the power of a social network. Tim suggests CouchSurfing and WWOOF you get yourself free digs. Ladies, you might want to travel with a partner or carry some mace.
6. Barter your skill or get a job.
7. Get out of the city. Excellent advice. Cities tend to be expensive, dirty and dangerous.
8. Get a job that lets you travel. Unfortunately, most of those jobs suck.
9. Go with the flow.
The days of backpacking all over Western Europe at bargain rates are over. In fact, Western Europe is arguably the most expensive region on the world travel circuit. But some of the 22 countries in this survey are much cheaper than others. It turns out there are bargains to be had after all; you just have to get (way) off the beaten path.
This post follows up in the Cheapest Country series, which has so far included Cheapest Countries in Latin America and Cheapest Countries in Asia.
Here’s a wrap-up of the winners and why you should go:
Andorra: The Cheapest Country in Western Europe?
A tiny country wedged between France and Spain, Andorra offers great mountain panoramas and even better skiing. Better brush up on your Catalan.
#2. Portugal
Attractive beaches, beautiful country vistas, a rich architecture and history. Sound good? Relatively modest prices are the icing on the cake.
#3. Finland
Arguably more a part of Northern than Western Europe, Finland offers oodles of coastline, expansive and untouched wilderness areas for trekking, and a fine city brimming with culture: Helsinki.
What’s the cheapest country in Asia? This post compares the bare minimum travel costs of 17 Asian nations. Daily travel costs range from under $4 to over $30. Here’s a hint: the two cheapest countries both start with the letter “I”.
Continue reading ‘Cheapest Countries in Asia’
Some travel destinations offer much better bang-for-the buck than others. Have you ever wondered which countries offer the best travel bargains?
Here is a wrap up of baseline daily travel budgets for 16 Latin American nations.
Continue reading ‘Latin America’s Cheapest Countries for Travel’
The waterfall Iguassu forms a natural border for Argentina and Brazil and consists of about 275 waterfalls, sure beats the heck out of a fence….
Very nice pics and a couple of videos.
read more | digg story
Argentina’s economy minister has resigned after being asked to testify about storing $64,000 (47,000 euros; £32,000) in her office toilet. Felisa Miceli said the cash was lent to her by her brother to buy a house.
read more | digg story
The next day we were a little more adventurous and decided to try a hike through the jungle. The hike up the Volcán Concepción is currently closed due to activity; either way the trail up Volcán Madéras is said to have considerably more wildlife, making it a much more attractive option to an avowed animal lover like myself. Since this is still our vacation and we didn’t want to completely exhaust ourselves we chose to go only halfway up the volcano (2.5km. about 2.5 hours) to a mirador (viewpoint). On this hike one can see one of the many local petroglyphs (an underwhelming but interesting carved stone from the pre-columbian era, see pic below), as well as fields of coffee, cacao (see pic below), and banana.
Continue reading ‘Isla de Ometepe: Volcán Madéras’