The main purpose of travel influencers isn’t to show off their fabulous holidays and adventures but to showcase destinations and experiences to people who might not otherwise know about them and share their own knowledge and experience to help people with their own travels. To that end, a group trip run -or at least figureheaded – by an influencer can be a really useful thing. Rather than plan something on your own or go somewhere on your own, you can go with a professional and you know that everything will go perfectly smoothly because this is an expert!
But. Whenever I’ve looked at trips like this, my first thought is always “Why on Earth does it cost that much? I could do it by myself for half that!”. Really, there are three purposes to an influencer-run trip. First and foremost is profit to the influencer – let’s be realistic here. They’re doing it to make money, not out of the kindness of their heart. Second is to get to spend time with your favourite influencer. Third is to get to go on a trip you couldn’t or wouldn’t go on solo, or at least without a professional in charge.
But they’re so expensive! That’s partly because they do tend towards the more premium end of the experience. Have you ever seen one that didn’t promise four star hotels for the entire tour? Accommodation is one of the places where I cut costs, sometimes to my own detriment. I just don’t think it’s worth it, for me, to upgrade from a perfectly acceptable bedbug-free hotel with a perfectly acceptable breakfast included, right in the middle of town, to a boutique or bougie hotel. The bed is a bit bigger, it’s more cushions piled on it, the shower is bigger, the free toiletries are better etc. Whatever. I don’t really know what extras 4* hotels offer but for me, that’s somewhere I’m not willing to spend the extra money. And on this sort of trip, you’re going to be sharing a room with a stranger! You’ve paid a premium for this really nice room in a really nice hotel and someone you met two hours ago is snoring like a walrus. Someone else has left hair in the shower and a hint of a bad smell lingering in the bathroom.
You’re also at their mercy for some of the meals. I admit, I recoil from all meals because I have ARFID and meals, especially with strangers, are really difficult. But I’m not the only one in this day and age with quite specific dietary requirements. It’s hard to figure out how to solve this one – meals together are a bonding experience and it’s something you do want to include but where do you start with finding somewhere suitable? Oh, and for all that fortune you’re paying, you don’t actually get many meals included. I know, I’m inconsistent. They include meals, how dare they! They don’t include meals, how dare they! But if I’m paying double what I’d pay to do it myself and then discover that only two meals for an entire week are included in that price, I’m going to look at that trip a bit sideways.
A couple of weeks ago, I ran across a trip to Iceland and I’m going to pick it apart. I have nothing against the person running the trip (I’d actually never heard of the person running the trip) but I know Iceland, I know I can price this one up and I’m going to use it as an example to represent all influencer trips.
It’s next November and it costs the thick end of £3,300, not including flights. I suppose that’s fair enough – the influencer running a trip has no idea where every participant is flying in from, how much luggage they want to bring and what class of seat they want to sit in, so those prices can vary hugely. It’s a so-called six day trip, in which day one doesn’t start until the evening and day six is “have breakfast at the hotel and then leave”. So let’s examine it!
Day one
Arrive on the flight of your choice that you’ve paid extra for, ideally between 12 and 2pm. There is one flight from London arriving in that window: Play from Stansted, 10:55 – 14:00. Otherwise there’s easyJet from Gatwick getting in at 11:25, BA from Heathrow getting in at 10:55 or easyJet from Luton getting in at 10:10. All the Icelandair flights from London get in around 15:30. Return flights for the exact dates start at £98 but seem to average around £150.
Then there’s a private transfer to the 4* hotel in Reykjavik. This is somewhere else I’d personally save money by getting the airport bus. A return trip with Flybus, door to door, ie not to the bus station but to your actual hotel, is £42.58.
Then we have one night in this hotel in Reykjavik. I don’t know exactly where they’re staying but 4* hotels on that night average around £120 – and on my itinerary, you’re getting it to yourself!
Then there’s dinner. Now, in order to push the price up as much as possible, I’ve gone for one of the most expensive restaurants in Reykjavik, Dill. As far as I can see, Dill doesn’t do “pick from the menu”, it does “here is what you will eat” and that menu, without drinks, is 39,900ISK, which worked out on the day I converted it, to an absolutely eyewatering this-had-better-be-solid-gold-food £227.
Finally, there’s a Northern Lights tour. No doubt this particular one is with their very own private driver who will be with you all week but I’ve gone for Reykjavik Excursions’ small group tour which was £80.97 when I priced it up.
That bring day 1 to a grand total of £620.55.
Day two
Day two features a South Coast tour and a night at another 4* hotel somewhere in the vicinity of the South Coast, which I’m reading as Hotel Rangá, which is £363 that night. There isn’t a commercial tour that will pick you up from Reykjavik, do the South Coast and waterfalls sights and then drop you at Hotel Rangá – they’re day trips which will return you to Reykjavik but for the sake of argument, this is another Reykjavik Excursions one and it costs £89.64. You’ve had breakfast at the hotel and I hope you had time yesterday afternoon to find a supermarket because otherwise lunch will be hotdogs at the roadhouse in Vik or whatever you bought at the mini supermarket at either the Hella or Hvolsvöllur roadhouse. Hotel Rangá has a restaurant and I’m not going to include the cost of that because this trip doesn’t include dinner, so that’s on top of the £3,300 you’ve already paid.
That brings the total cost for day 2 to £452.64, not including food and the trip so far to £1,073.19
Day three
This is another difficult one to price up because your own private driver will be right there to take you to Jökulsárlón and then onwards for some snowmobiling. I went back to Reykjavik Excursions for the Jökulsárlón trip, although this one is, again, a day trip from Reykjavik, and costs £156.20. Then I handed it over to Arctic Adventures for the snowmobiling which was £170. In reality, you wouldn’t do all three of South Coast tour, Jökulsárlón tour and snowmobile tour. The Jökulsárlón tour will show you most of the South Coast on the way down and if you dig a bit, you might find a tour that includes the snowmobiling. Back in 2012 or 2013, I did the South Coast and waterfalls, glacier hiking and Jökulsárlón all in one long day trip.
Afterwards – and there’s still no food included other than breakfast – we head back to Reykjavik where we’re settling into a 4* hotel for the next three nights. Average price for these dates works out about £500 for that.
Total cost for day 3 is £826.20, total cost £1,899.39 so far.
Day four
Today we’re going to the Blue Lagoon. No doubt this tour will take you to the Retreat Spa rather than the general public side but I’ve given you Premium admission and transfer and it comes to £140. Don’t forget to get lunch from the poolside cafe and pay extra for it when you leave. You get a free evening to spend your own time and your own money as you wish tonight, so get yourself to the supermarket.
We’ve already paid for the hotel so there’s nothing else today. Total cost £140, total cost for the four days so far £2,039.39
Day five
Now we’re going to go out to the Golden Circle, visit the rye bakery at Laugarvatn Fontana and have lunch at Friðheimar, a tomato greenhouse. Lunch, for once, is included! Golden Circle tour with Friðheimar included, by Reykjavik Excursions, is £67.10. Admission to the rye bakery tour, if you can get yourself to Fontana, is 3190ISK or £18.20. You can also do a Golden Circle tour with a visit to the geothermal pool here at Fontana for £99.18 if you’d rather experience hot water than bury bread.
Another dinner tonight and because we’re still nowhere near £3,300, I’ve looked for the most expensive restaurant in Reykjavik, which seems to be ÖX, where the set-no-variations menu is £376.34. Again, ouch x 1000 and that had better be the biggest and best meal anyone has eaten in their life.
Total spend for day five is £461.64, bringing the total up to £2,501.03.
Day six
There’s no spend for day six – the return flight and return airport bus were both paid for on day one and there are no activities. You’re just eating breakfast at the hotel and going straight to the airport.
In conclusion
That makes 24% profit margin on that trip for the influencer in question and I’m including the flights, which they’re not! Without flights, it’s over 28%. It’s costing you nearly £800 on top of the actual cost just to be on the same bus as your favourite influencer and that’s a lot of money. I’m not even going to argue that you’re spending £800 to get the benefit of their expertise because a lot of influencers I’ve seen are just as new to these places as you are – the tour companies that are actually running the trip are the experts and the influencer is just “the face” of the tour.
How would I do this trip?
Ok, let’s think about this. How would I do it and how much would it cost?
Day one
The same flight and the same transfer, at £150 and £42.58 respectively. I’d go straight to the supermarket and stock up on snacks for a couple of days rather than going to a restaurant but I’m not most people. I think I’d stay at the Downtown Guesthouse Reykjavik, which is not brilliant at all but fine as long as you’re aware of that (I’ve stayed twice now), and it’s very central, and that would be £499 for the five nights for a single room with shared bathroom or you could upgrade to a private bathroom for £570.
I probably wouldn’t do the Northern Lights tour on the first night because I know I’ll be tired and the flight might be delayed and and and so I’d walk up the road and spend the evening in Sundhöllin, the public swimming pool on the other side of Hallgrimskirkja, at a cost of 1330kr (£7.66).
Total first day’s cost: £699.24 not including meals.
Day two
Today we’re going to do the South Coast tour, including Jökulsárlón, using the Reykjavik Excursions tour I mentioned earlier at a cost of £157.58, which will take us to the waterfalls and the black sand beach and a stop in Vik as well as a trip out to the lagoon. In winter you can’t add the boat tour on the lagoon to this tour but you can the rest of the year, and it’s well worth doing if you can (well, it’s a separate tour including boat trip, not an add-on).
That’s a full 14-hour day, so nothing else today, total £157.58, total cost for the trip so far £856.82
Day three
Well, the other tour promised snowmobiling so we’re going to do Arctic Adventures’ Glacier Snowmobiling & Northern Lights Hunt from Reykjavik, since it’s well past time we went looking for the Northern Lights. This is on Langjökull, a couple of hours north of Reykjavik rather than Mýrdalsjökull, a few hours to the south-east and you get to hunt down the Northern Lights instead of just coming home. On the downside, this is a really expensive trip, at £279 and I personally wouldn’t actually do two massive expensive trips like yesterday and today in the same trip. Still, it’s going to work out cheaper than the influencer trip either way.
So that’s £279 for day three and £1,135.82 for the trip so far.
Day four
Time for the Blue Lagoon and I’m going for transfer with Comfort admission rather than Premium admission, which is only £123.80. Comfort includes bus to and from Reykjavik, admission, silica mud mask, use of towel and a drink at the in-water bar. Premium gives you two additional masks and a second drink at the bar plus a LAVA Restaurant reservation – but not the food itself. I’m not sure it’s worth the extra £17.52 for two masks and a drink.
I’m probably going to spend most of the day at the Blue Lagoon. Most people only spend a few hours there but I could happily stay for 8-10 hours. I’d probably then wander around Reykjavik in the evening and freeze on the shore road hoping to see Northern Lights over the city – but there’s a reason Northern Lights tours head straight out of the city, so I probably won’t see anything.
Total cost for day four, £123.80, total cost for the first four days £1,259.62
Day five
Day five and it’s time for the Golden Circle. I love hot water and I don’t love tomatoes so I’m going for Golden Circle and Fontana which is £99.27 and includes the rye bakery experience as well as some time in the geothermal pools. Actually, what I’d rather do is an ordinary Golden Circle tour followed by Northern Lights and Fontana Geothermal Baths, a tour that used be called Cool Lights and Cool Baths but a) that tour has failed me twice a row now and I’ve completely lost faith in and b) it departs the BSI at 6pm on the dot and I wouldn’t trust that any Golden Circle tour could get me back to the BSI in central Reykjavik on time. Not to mention that I’d then spend an hour driving straight back to where I’ve just been, which is a total waste of two hours. So just Golden Circle and Fontana during the day. If I missed out on seeing the Northern Lights last night, I should be back in time for a re-do of that, otherwise most tours will give you three years to try again if you didn’t see anything and I’ll almost certainly be back in the next three years.
Total cost for day five is £99.27, taking the grand total to £1,358.89, since I’ve already paid for my return airport shuttle and my return flight so there’s no cost for the final day.
That’s 41% of the influencer trip and includes my flights and is much more practical and I don’t have to listen to anyone else snoring in my terrible zero star private room. And that’s still so much more expensive than any trip I’d do for real. I’d actually spend most of my time in Reykjavik and only probably do one of those big tours out of the city, probably the snowmobiling one. When I went in December, I went on the lava cave tour (which was the same bus as the snowmobiling tour – we all divided at Husafell) and a trip out to Hvammsvik and went to local pools three or four times and otherwise just enjoyed being in Iceland. I haven’t counted up how much that actually cost but let’s do it! Let’s see how much I’d actually spend on a six-ish day trip to Iceland in winter!
Day one
Flight: £234.89, including seat selection, return
Airport bus: £42.62 return
Accommodation (Downtown Reykjavik Hostel, 6 nights): £515.51
Total: £793.02
Day two
Ice skating: £9.16
Swimming at Sundhollin: £7.66
Total: £16.82 / £809.84 altogether
Day three
Tour to Hvammsvik: £102.92
Total: £102.92 / £912.76 altogether
Day four
Lava Cave tour: £152.29
Swim at Husafell pool: £21.90
Total: £174.19 / £1,086.95 altogether
Day five
Hallgrimskirkja tower ticket: £8.07
Lava Show: £37.97
Northern Lights tour: £74.85
Total: £120.89 / £1,207.84 altogether
Day six
Swim at Laugardalslaug: £7.95
Total: £7.95 / £1,215.79 altogether
Day seven
Swim at Sundhollin: £7.66
Total: £7.66 / grand total £1,223.45
Ok, that’s a lot more than I expected but to be fair, there are three fairly big trips in there. 37% of the price of the influencer trip and includes flights. Terrible accommodation but at least it was all mine. Four glorious snowy swims in hot water, a geothermal spa, some fun things in Reykjavik, no expensive meals (I lived off very hot buttered toast and mango juice in the guesthouse’s kitchen) and a cave! And it’s five and a half days, rather than four and a half, and I think it’s much better value.
And that’s why I don’t think influencer tours are worth the extra money. Every one of these tours has a local expert in charge of it, you’re not forced to spend a month’s salary on ludicrous meals, you can do what you want and who knows? Maybe one day, thanks to your own travels, you’ll be the travel influencer running the trip instead.
I Am A Polar Bear 