Estimate cost of meals

We’ve talked about breakfast in the section on lodging…hopefully you are already budgeting for that in the trip fee. Depending on how you design your trip you may wish to budget for lunch and dinner as well, either every day or on specific days. Meals can be paid for as a group where the faculty member pays the bill using the trip budget, or students can receive ‘cash disbursements’ from the faculty member to cover a quick meal at a stand or take-out shop, or students can be responsible for paying for their own meals. Or you can do a combination of the above.

Building in a few group dinners is a nice way to ensure the students are getting a proper meal, allows the students to bond as a group, and is a way for students to learn about cultural norms, interpreting menus, and dining etiquette in a foreign country. If you are on an excursion and dining options are limited, lunch at the only restaurant in the village square might be a necessity. If you are doing a sit down restaurant for lunch a budget of $20-25 is suggested, at a sit-down restaurant for dinner a budget of $20-$50 per person is suggested. This is assuming that you haven’t chosen a Michelin-starred restaurant and are not paying for alcohol. If you are giving the students a cash disbursement to go buy something from the local ‘fast food’ equivalents (falafel shop, pizza, bakery) figure about $8-10 per student.

At a sit-down restaurant be prepared that students may consider this an opportunity to order three courses, many will want to order the steak, even at lunch, and you may wind up busting your budget in short order. One way to have some cost controls is to give the students a budget they can spend and asking them to pay for any cost overrides.

For example, “You can spend up to 25 euros on food and non-alcoholic beverages, and anything beyond that you will be expected to leave cash on the table to pay for. You will need to leave cash to pay for any alcoholic beverages. Keep track of what you will have to pay as the restaurant will not provide separate checks.”

This would not work well in the U.S. where tax and tip increase the restaurant bill significantly. In European countries where tax is already included in pricing and smaller tips are the norm it is easier to know what the cost of a meal will be, basically the price on the menu is what you owe. I suggest to the students that they round up or add 10% toward the tip when leaving their payment to cover the difference between their allotment and what they spend.

The alcohol payment statement is needed as your university or state may have policies against reimbursing for alcoholic beverages. When you submit that receipt those expenses may be denied. Do be certain you understand the policy regarding reimbursement for meal receipts when alcohol is included or you may wind up paying a big bill out of your own pocket for students who order alcohol at meals.

Another idea for controlling costs while paying for meals is to get cash from an ATM and give each student a cash disbursement of the amount that you wish to provide. Of course you will want to have each student sign a receipt so you can account for this money. Then the students can order what they want and pay the bill.

If you are not receiving a per diem from your university for meal expenses, note that the cost of your meals will need to be figured into the trip budget.