We went wayyyyyyyy over budget for our Peru trip! Though it still doesn’t look too bad in comparison to what the trip is actually worth, I was pretty disappointed. Our breakdown is below, and here’s what went wrong for us:
- I did not anticipate how many places require payment in cash only. For some of the cheaper hotels we found, we simply did not have any option to use our credit card, and therefore use points. We simply had to pay in cash
- We were not planning on hiring porters to carry our backpacks for the Inca Trail. But the trail was so tough and so strenuous we quickly changed our minds on that. Best extra $63 we spent!
- The conditions of Iquitos were a lot worse than we were expecting. The city is so poor that our guide on the Inca Trail strongly urged us not to eat any street food while there of we would be sick for sure. Normally we keep our food costs down with street food and shopping at markets. But in Iquitos we stuck to restaurants instead. It was a pretty easy decision after we observed people washing the food to sell on the streets in the filthy rivers with garbage floating all around. Probably another good decision on our part, but it did have consequences of upping our food costs.
| Item | Miles/Points used | Dollars Spent | Details | Actual Value | Date Booked |
| LAN Flights | 36,000 AA Miles | $40.30 for taxes on two tickets
$70 charge for booking 2 tickets on phone ($35 each) | Use Barclay Card Points- 7,000 points for booking over the phone
$40.30 had to be paid ($20.15 in taxes for each ticket doesn’t meet minimum Barclay requirement of $25). | $1,480 | |
| AA Flights | 105,000 miles | $148.88
Taxes | 15,000 Barclay Card Points to cancel out cost | $2,880 in Economy
$3,814 in First | |
| Inca Trail Trek | $770
Paid via Western Union and cash | $770.00 | |||
| CITI AAdvantage Executive Card | $250 | Received 100,000 miles after spending $10,000 in first 3 months. | $250.00 | ||
| Amazon Expedition | 23,400 Barclay points | $243.00
$0 spent in cash due to refund | Spent on Barclaycard via paypal | $243.00 | 1/8/15 |
| Iquitos Hotel (3 nights) | $56.00 | Used Expedia deal for $100 off- no minimum cost, 3 days stay minimum. Used Discover card
Breakfast and airport transfer included | $156.00 | 2/10/15 | |
| 2 nights Cusco hotel | $100.00
(costs 10% more with cc) | Booked through Oscar’s Friend | $100.00 | 7/12/15 | |
| Maras Salt Mines | $38
100 soles for private taxi 10 soles each to enter | $38.00 | Asked a taxi driver to take us that morning | ||
| Food Spending | 237.13 | $237.13 | |||
| Tips for porters and guide on Inca Trail | $89 | $89.00 | |||
| Extra porter to carry our bags for 2 days | $63 (100 soles per day) | $63.00 | |||
| Earlier train back to Cuzco | 2,800 Barclay Points | $28.00 (Used Barclay Card) | $28.00 | ||
| Bus Machu Picchu to Aguas Calientes | $24.00 ($12 each) | $24.00 | |||
| ATM Withdrawls | $710.32 | Food, local transport, souvenirs | $710.32 | ||
| TOTAL | $2,596.63 | $7,535.45 |
Fire Round the World 