The last time I spent at least $600 on a plane ticket was in 2012

People often hear about my travel and assume I’m loaded. I wish that was the case, but it’s not — I’m a freelancer running my own business and I’ve got to be budget-conscious with my travel.

That said, I’ve never let having a budget stop me from seeing the world. In the last year alone, I’ve been to Tulum, Cabo, Scottsdale, Los Angeles, Turkey, Greece, Puerto Vallarta, Medellín, Bogotá, Cartagena, Chile, Denver, Turks & Caicos, New York, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and I know I’m missing some more.

With all that travel, though, I’ve spent surprisingly little on airfare. I almost only book trips when there is some sort of flight deal (including mistake fares), or I use credit card promotions and programs so that I can pay with miles/points.

Thinking back on all of my travel, this led me to wonder: when was the last time I paid at least $600 for a plane ticket?

It turns out, the last time I paid at least $600 for a plane ticket was August 27, 2012, over 4 1/2 years ago. The flight was for a last-minute Labor Day Weekend flight from SFO to Honolulu, Hawaii and it cost $684.19. Given it was a holiday weekend and the flight left on August 31st, I’m not shocked at the price, though I am a little shocked that I was willing to pay this much. But to my credit, I had free accommodation in Lanikai (my favorite part of Oahu) during the trip and plenty of free meals thanks to staying with an awesome cook.

Though I’ve traveled a lot since then, here are some of my notable trips that came in under $600 since August 2012 (trips where I used miles to pay are excluded from this list):

• LA to Sydney (Business Class, direct, round-trip, Virgin Australia)
• Sydney to Bali (Business Class, direct, round-trip, Virgin Australia)
• SF to Turks & Caicos (2 legs in Economy, 2 legs in Business Class, round-trip, American Airlines)
• Washington, DC to Santiago, Chile (Economy, Copa Airlines)
• SF to Istanbul, Turkey (Economy Plus, round-trip, United)
• SF to Hong Kong (Economy Plus, direct, round-trip, United)
• NYC to Milan to Oslo to SF (Economy, multiple airlines)
• SF to London (Economy Plus, direct, round-trip, United)
• Lisbon to Budapest to London (Business Class, Lufthansa and Swiss Airlines)

Travel is certainly not a cheap hobby, but if the only thing preventing you from traveling more is cost, be sure to follow Josh Trips to find out ways to stretch your dollar and see the world!