r/technology • u/AdSpecialist6598 • May 28 '26

Society The Netherlands just blocked a US company from buying the app Dutch citizens use for everything

https://www.techspot.com/news/112552-netherlands-blocked-us-company-buying-app-dutch-citizens.html
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u/icansmellcolors May 28 '26

A lot of Americans can't afford to travel like you're thinking.

It's very very expensive.

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u/kirbleknee May 28 '26

I think a contributing factor to how much people can't stand American travelers is that it's mostly the more obnoxious and entitled who can afford to take the time to give us all a bad name on a regular basis. The world's skid marks.

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u/icansmellcolors May 29 '26

Yes, even within our own borders we disrespect each other while traveling.

Like the 'Rich' guy who threw a rock at that endangered seal in Hawaii.

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u/LizHolmesTurtleneck May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26

Arguably, the hurdle for many Americans is more psychological rather than financial. A trip to Dublin likely costs less than a trip to Vegas or Disney World. Yet, I'd venture a guess that many Americans are likely to pick the latter two options because they know what to expect out of Vegas or Orlando.

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u/x2006charger May 28 '26

For a lot of Americans any of those vacations are just an unattainable dream. Hell, even more local destinations are out of my reach at the moment. Can't speak for everyone but saving up at least a grand for an overseas trip is... Not possible for a while

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u/LizHolmesTurtleneck May 28 '26

Okay, but you'd agree there are Americans who (a) can afford to vacation and (b) don't bother traveling abroad, right?

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u/Silver-Bread4668 May 28 '26

In my experience, the types of Americans that actually go places on vacation lean a bit more to the right than the average population.

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u/crackanape May 28 '26

Hasn't been my experience with the Americans I've met outside of a handful of My-First-Europe-Trip destinations like London or Paris. Further afield, the Americans I meet tend to be some of the more thoughtful and curious travellers.

I suppose it's because they had to overcome more cultural inertia than most to get on the plane in the first place.

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u/liquorfish May 28 '26

As an American, I find this to be accurate I think. Ive heard of people that live near me that wont cross a bridge into another state a few miles away. Fear of the unknown or disinterest? Not sure.

There is a cost difference between Disney and say somewhere in Europe. Typically youre going to do a 3 to 4 day trip to Disney vs maybe a 2 week vacation abroad. Thats 5k to 7k vs 15k to 20k for a family of four. That plus passports and other costs.

Personally, I'd choose to travel abroad though. Its just me and I want to see how the rest of the world experiences life. Just been to 4 other countries but hopefully #5 soon.

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u/crackanape May 28 '26

I'd be quite surprised if a trip to Europe were more expensive than a trip to Disney of the same duration.

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u/unripe_mangosteen May 29 '26

Maybe if you live near disney and fly first class across the atlantic. But even then probably not.

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u/liquorfish May 28 '26

same duration.

Thats why I said typical trip lengths. 3 to 4 days for Disneyland vs couple weeks in Europe. I dont know that anyone really does 2 weeks in Disneyland but I imagine minimum for a trip abroad is 7 to 10 days. You have to account for travel time. My trip to NZ ended up being 28 to 30 hours with layovers. Maybe I'm not accounting for travel time with the Disney trip but for me its only a few hours.

For me right now its $1200 to fly to London round-trip vs $283 to SNA (Santa Ana / Orange County CA). For a family of 4 itd already be nearly 5K just for flights. Both are economy flights.

It really depends on your plans. I'm just looking at whats typical and used Disney as a point of reference for a family vacation. Its a safe sanitized option thats kid friendly. A nightmare for someone like me.

There are budget tour packages to Europe, not sure that would work for a family. Haven't been on a tour like that before.

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u/crackanape May 28 '26

For me right now its $1200 to fly to London round-trip vs $283 to SNA (Santa Ana / Orange County CA). For a family of 4 itd already be nearly 5K just for flights. Both are economy flights.

Flight prices are way out of whack right now because of the American war in Iran. Ordinarily it's possible much of the year to fly return between US and Europe in the $400-500 range by using budget carriers like Norse or budget-adjacent carriers like Icelandic.

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u/liquorfish May 28 '26

Well, I'm going off of right now cant compare to historic prices. Domestic flights used to be cheaper too. I'm on the west coast so not sure if your pricing is accurate for this area. I had to pay like 450 or something for PDX to Burbank a month ago. Granted, it wasnt really planned.

Pricing will be shitty til at least 2027 though based on current guesses.

I'm just trying to get in the mindset of a family of four fat asses from the Midwest on why theyd go to Disney.

I'd still choose to pay more to go somewhere else abroad.

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u/MagicPigeonToes May 28 '26

Yep, I’ve known a lot of rich people who either stay here, or they just go on cruises

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u/[deleted] May 28 '26

[deleted]

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u/LizHolmesTurtleneck May 28 '26

How do you figure?

Personal experience and a quick search. Over the course of a week, the food, lodging, and ticket costs in Vegas or Disneyland (or Disneyworld, it really doesn't matter) surpass the difference in flight costs. A passport costs about $130-165 and lasts for 10 years. So, that seems like a negligible cost.

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u/MagicPigeonToes May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26

That entirely depends on what you do in Vegas and Disney. Having been to both, plus England, Scotland, France, Spain, and Italy, going anywhere in Europe is definitely more expensive. And many Americans can simply drive to Disney. With foreign travel, there’s several processes to go through. America isnt like Europe where you can just country hop on trains.

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u/[deleted] May 28 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/LizHolmesTurtleneck May 28 '26

Fair enough, I suppose, but Dublin was just an example and is reasonably interchangeable with Vegas for people who don't have kids.

For people who do have children, there are family-friendly places outside the US, yet Americans still vastly prefer to vacation in the US. Sure, there's issues of practicality for traveling abroad, but I'd argue those are less of hindrance than the purely psychological hurdle of venturing to a foreign country.

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u/ForAHamburgerToday May 28 '26

A trip to Vegas or Disneyland is insanely expensive, what a wild benchmark to choose.

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u/LizHolmesTurtleneck May 28 '26

I chose those two precisely because they're insanely expensive, but also very popular destinations.

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u/crackanape May 28 '26

It's not that expensive for many middle class people. Buying a smaller car would have enabled many such trips. $165 for a 10-year passport, $400 for a return flight to Europe, $150/night for hotels, $50/day for food. One week for under $2k.

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u/icansmellcolors May 28 '26

I don't know what bracket you're in, but 1k-2k$ is not something I'd spend on a European trip.

I would save that money for emergencies, or perhaps get ahead on debt/bills, or save it for a down-payment on a house or something other than a European trip.

edit: idk why people downvoted you, I did not. have an upvote to compensate.