The price we pay in an LDR

[BlackRoseOpal]

You know what is worst than spending so much money to go see your SO?

Not having any at all to go see him ^_^

That is worst imo.

I concur!

[lala]

I just reserved my tickets.. so it's gonna be 1120€.. I aaked my SO to support me. I just think it would be fair for me not to pay everything.. he has no problem with it..but still I feel stupid for asking him for money

[alesitag]

I concur!

I concur with the concurrence :P

[FarAway]

You know what? I want to thank you for saying that actually. I know any distance is hard, but (having grown up in Florida with most of my family being in Wisconsin) a four-hour drive (each way) is a snap for me; I'm quite used to that and more. I would kill to be able to just spend an afternoon's drive to see my boyfriend, and I'll admit, petty and insensitive as it is, I always feel a little stab of jealousy when I see people complaining about (relatively) short distances. $100 and a little time in the car, I can swing. $1,000 for a plane ticket and half my yearly vacation allowance? Not so much.
So, again, thank you. I appreciate it

[FarAway]

Come to Chicago, my dear. I'll show you worse public transport

You're very lucky to be able to spend so much time together! The longest mine and I have had was two weeks, and because of the ridiculously low amount of holiday time we get in the US, I had to spend half of that at work (I can't afford to take time off of work unpaid, unfortunately!)

[FarAway]

Agreed with you all... flights are DEFINITELY the worse part!!!
My SO and I always joke that we are the worst LDR couple in history, because neither of us can afford flights, and when we can... we're both afraid of flying!!! *lol*

But the weird thing I've noticed is how much cheaper the flights are for him. Right now, a flight between Chicago and Manchester (UK) is about $1,100/£650 for me... for him, during the same period, it's about £500/$850 for Manchester to Chicago!!!! Because we tend to save $250-$300 if he comes here, I've never actually seen Manchester

[blueeyes79]

I also feel so lucky...I only have a 3 and half hour drive to Boston to see my SO. It only takes me a half a tank of gas to get from my house to his house. Honestly I dont think I would be able to see him as much if I had to fly...I can fly but it just doesnt make sense too. yes I would get in a hour and 45 mins but i would rather drive the 3 and half hours and save the money. To do something that we can do together...

[Jazi]

You know what? I want to thank you for saying that actually. I know any distance is hard, but (having grown up in Florida with most of my family being in Wisconsin) a four-hour drive (each way) is a snap for me; I'm quite used to that and more. I would kill to be able to just spend an afternoon's drive to see my boyfriend, and I'll admit, petty and insensitive as it is, I always feel a little stab of jealousy when I see people complaining about (relatively) short distances. $100 and a little time in the car, I can swing. $1,000 for a plane ticket and half my yearly vacation allowance? Not so much.
So, again, thank you. I appreciate it

haha, are you thanking me? I'm the OP

I definitely feel the same with the 'stab of jealousy'. If i'm to be completely honest i'm a bit jealous of you with your $1,000 price! I TRY to be understanding though that not everyone has an income.. or have very high expenses.. or for whatever reason it might be that $500 or even $100 is a lot for them to spend. I still can't help but feel like I'd die for it to be that cheap.

Come to Chicago, my dear. I'll show you worse public transport

You're very lucky to be able to spend so much time together! The longest mine and I have had was two weeks, and because of the ridiculously low amount of holiday time we get in the US, I had to spend half of that at work (I can't afford to take time off of work unpaid, unfortunately!)

The public transport in the UK is quite nice.. it's just the fact that it is all privatized and the companies that own the railways what to RAKE in the profits. So it's the price that makes me cringe :P.

And lucky maybe.. We have actually purposefully decided for me to keep my job which is very flexible but not very reliable so I can do longer trips which means I don't earn as much as i could.. But I can take as much unpaid time off as I like. I still live with my parents though so I have little expenses for now.

He has a full time job and has a low amount of holiday time like you.. when I come to visit he still works and when he comes to visit me he can only manage to be here for 2 and a half weeks at the maximum. He works overtime/weekends to be able to achieve this because he wouldn't even have enough holiday time to take 2 trips a year out to visit me for that amount of time.

But the weird thing I've noticed is how much cheaper the flights are for him. Right now, a flight between Chicago and Manchester (UK) is about $1,100/£650 for me... for him, during the same period, it's about £500/$850 for Manchester to Chicago!!!! Because we tend to save $250-$300 if he comes here, I've never actually seen Manchester

We have the same issue lol. It's partly to do with exchange rates/dollar value and cost of living in each country and partly to do with the 'peak seasons'. Some airlines will have a graph of their prices throughout the year, it's very interesting to see the differences in price and could even help you to plan your trips around the cheaper prices. Unfortunately for me and my SO the cheaper periods for our flights completely overlap with each other in april and in october.. so if we want to see each other at any other time of the year we will be paying more. Also because I have more flexibility to visit and can stay for longer it makes more sense for me to go in the European summer.. even if it is more expensive than him coming here at the same time.


I realise you might not have been talking to me and to another poster BUT i decided to reply anyway! I liked what you posted