As part of our family money priorities, travel takes up a fair portion of our spending. Every trip comes with a budget and then a post-mortem of how we did with our budget to understand the over/under. Although I would LOVE to say we always stay in budget, there are many (most?) trips we go over on our expected spend.
Since we opted for a tour group, our intra country flights and accommodations were fully covered. It was only on the fun stuff like souvenirs, food and fun extras that we anticipated spending more money on. In total, we budgeted $7,300 for two people and 10 days in Egypt.
Egypt Trip Budget
| 2022 Trip to Egypt – Actual vs. Budget Spend | ||||||
| ($ in actuals) | ||||||
| Budget | Actual | Variance | ||||
| Item | Per Person | Total | Per Person | Total | $ | % |
| Airfare (Fares, Taxes, Fees and Seats) | ||||||
| Dallas (DFW) / Cairo (CAI) Round-trip | $798 | $1,596 | $422 | $844 | ($752) | (47.1%) |
| Cairo (CAI) / Aswan (ASW) One-way | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Luxor (LXR) / Cairo (CAI) One-way | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Total Airfare | 798 | 1,596 | 422 | 844 | (752) | (47.1%) |
| Food / Drink | 296 | 593 | 415 | 830 | 237 | 40.0% |
| Local Transportation / Rental Car / Airport Parking | 75 | 150 | 58 | 117 | (33) | (22.2%) |
| Paid Attractions | ||||||
| Alexandria Day Trip | 149 | 298 | 149 | 298 | – | 0.0% |
| Tour Guide Tips | 75 | 150 | 136 | 272 | 122 | 81.0% |
| Egypt Visas | 25 | 50 | 25 | 50 | – | 0.0% |
| Abu Simbel Day Trip | 99 | 198 | 99 | 198 | – | 0.0% |
| Other | 25 | 50 | 132 | 263 | 213 | 426.2% |
| Total Attractions | 373 | 746 | 540 | 1,081 | 335 | 44.9% |
| Memphis Tours | 1,695 | 3,390 | 1,695 | 3,390 | – | 0.0% |
| Souvenir | 150 | 300 | 711 | 1,422 | 1,122 | 373.9% |
| Dog Boarding | 239 | 479 | 226 | 452 | (27) | (5.6%) |
| Other / Unclassed | 24 | 47 | 219 | 438 | 391 | 831.6% |
| Total | 3,650 | 7,300 | 4,286 | 8,572 | 1,272 | 17.4% |
The actual spend? $8,600. We were about $1,300 over our expected spend. Here were the spend categories where we went over:
| Food Overage | $200 |
| Tips Overage | $122 |
| Massages, etc. | $213 |
| Other | $335 |
| Carpet | $1,303 |
We fell in love with a carpet while we were there, so it was well worth the purchase. After the chaos that the first 9 day were, I also have no regrets on the massage we had the final evening in Cairo.
What I wish I knew before was the tip culture in Egypt. We had no idea how much tipping is embedded in every single activity.
Did you make it out of Egypt for less than we did? Overall the dollar goes a long way.
Check out related articles:
3 Reasons to Use a Tour Group in Egypt
How Much and When to Tip in Egypt
10 Things to Know Before Your Trip to Egypt
The Ultimate 10 Days in Egypt Itinerary
8 Traditional Dishes to Try in Egypt
Run On Carry On 