On this trip

Read on this device

This phase uses this device's date. It is not part of the first paint.

Trip cost, in five layers

What will this trip actually cost?

Advertised, required, likely, optional, contingency. Load an example, paste your lodging quote, and see the range you should actually budget — with what is already non-refundable, what moves with an exchange rate, and what the trip costs you at home. Nothing you enter leaves this device.

Decision brief

Advanced puts the whole workspace up and takes the starter examples down.

Start here

What kind of trip are you actually taking?

Pick a realistic example. You will see all five cost layers in a few seconds. Then paste your own lodging quote over the top. You do not have to read anything first.

01 · Choose
Pick the trip shape closest to yours.
02 · Replace
Swap the example lodging price for your real quote.
03 · Read
Use the honest range, not the advertised number, to decide.

People

Nights

Freshness is read on this device.

Chicago / Loop baseline · Chicago, Illinois

Chicago hotel tax stack is often ~17%+ with city and county assessments — confirm on folio. Winter weather and ORD delays are the friction story. Typical figures, not a live quote.

Sample plan. Replace sample amounts with your real quotes before making a decision.

Sample figures stay marked until you claim the plan. They are not mixed in with a plan you have said is yours.

Published reference figures

These are reviewed public figures bundled with the instrument. They are not added to your total unless you type them in.

America the Beautiful nonresident annual pass · 250 USD per pass · review 2027-01-15
America the Beautiful resident annual pass · 80 USD per pass · review 2027-01-15
Parks Canada admission fees · no single figure · review 2026-12-01
Washington State Ferries card surcharge · 3 percent of card fare · review 2026-12-01

The number

Plan $900–$1,350 USD, not $360.

Chicago / Loop baseline · 2 people · 2 nights

Advertised: $360 USD
If all goes to plan: $819 USD
True estimated trip cost: $1,139 USD
Above the advertised price: $779 USD (+216%)

What this is in: All figures in USD · nothing converted from another currency · tax: 1 lodging tax and fee line listed separately; whether the advertised price includes tax is not stated · 0% fixed, 74% estimated, 26% variable · 2 people · 2 nights, dates not set.

People

Nights

Your lodging quote

Leave the example figure if you do not have a quote yet. Anything unconfirmed stays marked unconfirmed, and the range on the total widens to say so.

$779 of it sits outside the headline — required $65, likely extras $394, optional $90, contingency $230. A buffer that size means the bad day is already funded in this plan. Deleting it is a decision, and it should be made on purpose. Replace any remaining illustrative lines with current quotes. Operator and agency terms still control.

Do this next

Replace illustrative amounts with your real lodging quote and current transport fare.

Print the brief How many hours this buys

Before you pay

What this decision probably costs

The probable cost, what is still unknown, what could go wrong, when money becomes committed, and what to verify. A blank amount is not zero. The high figure is not a prediction.

Known minimum

No confirmed price yet

Nothing on this plan is marked confirmed.

Expected planning amount

$1,139

Advertised, mandatory, likely, optional, and friction.

Higher exposure if assumptions fail

$1,329

Not a prediction. The high end of bands already on the lines.

Amount still unknown: 0 costs — not calculated as zero
Amount paid: $0
Amount committed if you cancel today: Read on this device
Refundable amount: Read on this device
Uplift over advertised: $779
Remaining budget: No budget entered

What creates the range

Weather / ORD delay extra night: $112 to $208
Loop / River North hotel headline: $317 to $403
Rebooking / itinerary-slip buffer: $49 to $91
Meals: $141 to $179

Plan type

Choosing a type does not replace lines you already entered. Suggested lines stay blank until you type a real figure. They are sample structure, not a current price.

Plan type

What the advertised price includes

Included in advertised price: 1
Added to realistic total: 9
Still unknown: 0
Not applicable: 0

Included stays out of the total so it is not added on top of the advertised price. Unknown is left unknown. Excluded means it is not in that price, so a number you type is added.

Loop / River North hotel headline
Hotel tax & occupancy assessments

When money becomes committed

Payment dates are placed on this device. They are not part of the first paint, so a server clock cannot move them.

What the advertised price left out

How this trip gets to its real cost

Each step is a class of cost the headline figure did not include. The band underneath is how wide the honest answer is, and how much of it rests on a figure somebody has actually checked.

The stack

Advertised$360
Mandatory$65
Likely$394
Friction$230
Optional$90

Advertised $360. Mandatory adds $65, to $425. Likely adds $394, to $819. Friction adds $230, to $1,049. Optional adds $90, to $1,139. All in $1,139 — 216% more than the $360 you were shown.

0% of this is backed by a figure somebody confirmed.

The figures

Each cost layer, what it adds, and the running total
Layer	Adds	Running total	Share
Advertised	$360	$360	32%
Mandatory	$65	$425	6%
Likely	$394	$819	35%
Friction	$230	$1,049	20%
Optional	$90	$1,139	8%
All in	—	$1,139	100%

The honest answer

$1,139, somewhere between $949 and $1,329 — a spread of 33%. 0% of the figure is confirmed; the rest is estimate or planning assumption.

Less than half of this figure rests on something somebody read. The band is wide because the evidence is thin, not because the trip is unpredictable.

The figures

The range around the estimate and the share of it that is confirmed
	Amount
Low end	$949
Estimate	$1,139
High end	$1,329
Spread	33%
Confirmed share	0%

Committed, paid, and still yours to change

Where this money is

$1,139 expected. Nothing is committed yet — cancelling today costs nothing.

The five states

Estimate $1,139. Committed $0. Paid $0. Actual $0. Avoidable $0.

These are five views of the same money, not five slices of it — what is paid is inside what is committed, which is inside the estimate.

The figures

Each money state, its figure, and whether it is stated or derived
State	Amount	Rests on	Note
Estimate	$1,139	Derived — partly from what you told it	$949 to $1,329
Committed	$0	Derived — partly from what you told it	up to $634 if the unread terms are the bad ones
Paid	$0	Firsthand — what you told it	nothing has left the account yet
Actual	$0	Derived — partly from what you told it	no line has been closed yet
Avoidable	$0	Derived — worked out	$90 is optional, but its terms already put it at risk — cutting it now saves nothing

What is left

No ceiling has been set, so there is nothing for this to be available against. Set one in the Fit Audit and this becomes a figure — and a daily one, once the trip has dates.

What the total hides

The second truth

A total you can afford can still be a commitment you should not make. Here is what the number leaves out.

How much of this has anyone checked?

Only 0% of the planned spend is confirmed, and 3 lines are an unchecked assumption. This is a shape, not a budget.

$900–$1,350

The honest range, not the midpoint. A confirmed line does not move; an estimate is given ±12% and an unchecked assumption ±30%.

Confirmed: $0(0 lines)
Estimated: $845(7 lines)
Assumed: $64(3 lines)

3 lines carry money with no source recorded — the largest is Meals at $160.

What is already gone if this trip does not happen?

Nothing has been paid, so nothing is lost today. If every one of these terms turns out to be the bad one, $634 of it does not come back — 56% of the honest total. That gap is what not reading the terms costs.

Non-refundable: $0
Deposits paid: $0
Partly refundable: $634
Terms unread: $275

Partly70%
Unread30%

$634 of that is graded on how this kind of cost normally cancels, not on terms anybody has read. Every one of those lines carries the pattern it was given and the sentence saying it is a pattern. Replace them as you book.

Read the terms on the big three

These carry the most money and nobody has said what happens to it. One tap each is enough to turn the figures above from a guess into an exposure.

Meals$160
Free untilPaid
Origin airport parking or rideshare RT$90
Free untilPaid
CTA / transit$25
Free untilPaid

What changes, and when — package trips in Europe

The EU’s revised Package Travel Directive was signed off by the Council on 30 March 2026. Under it, an organiser must refund within 14 days after a cancellation for unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances, and within six months where the organiser has become insolvent. A voucher only counts as a refund if it is worth at least as much as the trip, lasts twelve months, and can be handed on once.

Member states have 28 months from that sign-off to write it into national law. For a trip booked today it is a direction of travel, not a right to plan around — the terms in your own booking are still the ones that decide what the figures above are worth.

Source: Council of the EU, 30 March 2026. Checked 5 September 2026.

Where does the money actually go?

Layers say whether you must pay. Categories say what for — which is how a whole missing class of cost becomes visible.

What it is made of

Lodging $585. Getting there and around $150. On the trip $314. Home side $90. Nothing is budgeted under before you go.

A dashed slot is a class of cost with nothing in it. That is sometimes right and sometimes a whole category nobody thought of — home-side costs are the one most often forgotten.

The figures

Each class of cost, what it carries, and its share of the trip
Class	Amount	Share
Lodging	$585	51%
Getting there and around	$150	13%
On the trip	$314	28%
Home side	$90	8%
Before you go	nothing budgeted	0%

Lodging$58551%
Lodging $520 · Lodging taxes & fees $65
Getting there and around$15013%
Rebooking & change fees $70 · Trains $55 · Transfers $25
On the trip$31428%
Food $160 · Tickets & timed entry $90 · Insurance & medical $64
Home side$908%
Home-side costs $90

What they are now required to show you

The advertised number is not a fixed idea. In the US it changed on 12 May 2025, and the change is narrower than it was reported to be.

The FTC’s Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees took effect that day. Anyone offering short-term lodging or live-event tickets — the operator, and the platform or agent reselling them — has to display a total price that already contains every mandatory fee: the resort fee, the destination fee, a required cleaning charge, anything applied automatically that you would have to opt out of.

Three things it still lets them keep out of that total: government taxes and charges, shipping, and anything genuinely optional that you choose. Those have to be disclosed before you are asked to pay — but not in the headline you compared on.

So on a US hotel the Required layer above should now be mostly tax. If a resort fee still turns up after the headline, that is the thing the rule is about. And the rule reaches nothing else on this page — transport, park entry, meals, the home side and a bad day were never inside an advertised price and are not inside one now. Outside the US, none of it applies.

Source: FTC, Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees — FAQ. Effective 12 May 2025. Checked 5 September 2026.

What the rules actually say about this

Mandatory-cost evidence

1 required cost is not current enough to commit

Required means you cannot avoid the charge once you take the trip. Those figures only count as complete when the responsible operator or primary authority is identified, the actual source date is recorded, and that check is still inside its review window.

Required lines: 1
Current: 0
Incomplete: 1
Coverage: 0%

This stack is evidence-incomplete.

Confirm before travel · 1 source not verified as primary

First unresolved line: Hotel tax & occupancy assessments — The recorded source has not been identified as the responsible operator or primary authority.

A future review date never substitutes for a completed source check, and missing dates are left missing rather than reconstructed after the fact.

What changes this number

The things this total is standing on

One more night is worth $293 on its own, which is 26% of the whole trip. Settle that before anything else on this page.

Ranked by how much money each one moves, against a trip of $1,139. The biggest line is usually the room, and the room usually does not move. This is the other list.

One more night±$293
A decision still open. The room, and everything else charged by the night, is charged once more. If the extra night is undecided, this is the price of deciding it.
Contingency ×2±$230
A what-if. Two recovery modes at once Stress-test Fit Audit against the higher all-in before deposits stick.
Contingency zeroed±$230
A what-if. What the spreadsheet looks like without resilience Only zero friction deliberately — with flexible dates written down.
One more traveller±$157
A decision still open. The extra person needs another room as well as a seat, and the room is most of the figure. Settle the party before treating this total as the one you are deciding on.
Weather / ORD delay extra night±$96
An unconfirmed figure. $160 carried as assumption: a planning pattern — nobody has checked this trip. Replace it with a written quote and the band closes.
Origin airport zeroed±$90
A what-if. Local departure or rideshare already covered elsewhere Replace with the real lot rate × trip days, or the actual rideshare RT quote.

Unknowns budget

What the range is made of

Weather / ORD delay extra night creates 25% of the printed range. Resolve the largest widths first; the band closes as the evidence firms up.

Current number

$1,139

Printed range

$949–$1,329

Range width

$379

Where the spread comes from

These widths add back to the range above. They are not scores and they are not another forecast; they are the pieces Money already used to print the low and high.

Weather / ORD delay extra night$96 of range
Confidence band. Assumption: a planning pattern — nobody has checked this trip. 25% of the printed spread.
Loop / River North hotel headline$86 of range
Confidence band. Estimate: a real published or comparable rate. 23% of the printed spread.
Rebooking / itinerary-slip buffer$42 of range
Confidence band. Assumption: a planning pattern — nobody has checked this trip. 11% of the printed spread.
Meals$38 of range
Confidence band. Estimate: a real published or comparable rate. 10% of the printed spread.
Travel medical / cancellation buffer$38 of range
Confidence band. Assumption: a planning pattern — nobody has checked this trip. 10% of the printed spread.
One chosen extra — a good dinner or a ticketed evening$22 of range
Confidence band. Estimate: a real published or comparable rate. 6% of the printed spread.

4 smaller contributions are folded into the same range.

What is still unresolved

A priced uncertainty can widen the range. An unsized one cannot, which is why it is called out rather than quietly treated as covered.

Weather / ORD delay extra nightPlanning assumption
Nobody has checked this trip against the planning assumption; the printed range allows for up to 48 in one direction before rounding. Replace the planning assumption with a written or published figure for this trip.
Largest one-direction move already budgeted: $48.
Rebooking / itinerary-slip bufferPlanning assumption
Nobody has checked this trip against the planning assumption; the printed range allows for up to 21 in one direction before rounding. Replace the planning assumption with a written or published figure for this trip.
Largest one-direction move already budgeted: $21.
MealsEvidence missing
The line has a price but no evidence location recorded beside it. Add the operator, tariff, quote, or planning provenance that this figure came from.
Largest one-direction move already budgeted: $19.
Travel medical / cancellation bufferPlanning assumption
Nobody has checked this trip against the planning assumption; the printed range allows for up to 19 in one direction before rounding. Replace the planning assumption with a written or published figure for this trip.
Largest one-direction move already budgeted: $19.
Airport / train transfer (ORD or MDW)Evidence missing
The line has a price but no evidence location recorded beside it. Add the operator, tariff, quote, or planning provenance that this figure came from.
Largest one-direction move already budgeted: $7.
CTA / transitEvidence missing
The line has a price but no evidence location recorded beside it. Add the operator, tariff, quote, or planning provenance that this figure came from.
Largest one-direction move already budgeted: $3.

Before you call one trip cheaper

A comparison closer than $48 can still be erased by one unresolved input. The controlling one right now is Weather / ORD delay extra night. A wider gap may still overlap several smaller uncertainties together; this is the one-line boundary, not a guarantee.

What is due when

Money, in date order

Deadlines are placed on this device. They are not part of the first paint, so a server clock cannot move them.

Findings

What stands out

Ordered by what would cost you most to get wrong. Open one to see the working.

Sample amounts are still on this plan
Sample plan. Replace sample amounts with your real quotes before making a decision.
Why this appeared. plan is still marked as a sample. Sample figures are illustrations. They are not your quote and they are not a fare you were offered.
Replace each sample amount, or start a blank plan.
Clears when: You mark the plan as yours after replacing the sample amounts.

Do this next

Replace illustrative amounts with your real lodging quote and current transport fare.
If the contingency line feels optional, re-check the return flight or sailing time and reserve a mainland recovery option.
Stamp required lines with operator + quote date before a go decision.
Carry this Trip Record into The Trip Clock, then Plans May Vary, then The Decision Brief.

Next step · Start here

3 of 13 done

Learn what the five layers claim

Required and likely money look identical on a booking page and behave completely differently when a trip goes wrong. Telling them apart is the skill this tool exists to teach.

The layer definitions and decision rules are still unread.

What the numbers actually say

Five cost layers

Advertised: $360
Mandatory — required once you commit: $65
Likely: $394
Friction — the contingency a bad day spends: $230
Optional — choices you can genuinely cut: $90
On the hook the moment you bookAdvertised plus everything mandatory — what you cannot avoid once you commit.: $425 USD
If all goes to plan: $819 USD
If your optional choices stay (before friction): $909 USD

True estimated trip cost

$1,139 USD

+216% over advertised

Realistically $900–$1,350 — a 33% spread, because 0% of the planned spend is confirmed.

The real total is substantially higher than the advertised figure (+216%). Do not treat the promotional price as the trip budget.

A bad day would cost a lot hereMedium confidence in this budgetCosts beyond the advertised price are included

Per traveller: $570
Per couple: $1,139
All 2 of you: $1,139
Per night: $570

If all goes to plan: $410 / traveller · $410 / night · $285 / person-night all in.

Worth a look: the real total is far above the advertised price · the real total is well above the advertised price · a sizeable amount is set aside for a bad day · a large share is set aside for a bad day · several amounts have no source or quote date

Replace illustrative amounts with your real lodging quote and current transport fare.
If the contingency line feels optional, re-check the return flight or sailing time and reserve a mainland recovery option.
Stamp required lines with operator + quote date before a go decision.

Five questions to answer before booking

Is the promotional number your budget?
Good answer → No — the true estimated trip cost is the number you are deciding on
Answer that should stop you → Yes — you are using the advertised price only
Do the transport and tax figures come from the operator, with a date?
Good answer → Yes — each required cost names where it came from and when
Answer that should stop you → No — zeros, blanks, or figures with no date
Can you name the hotel you would fall back to, and what it costs?
Good answer → Yes — a named property and a dollar amount under friction
Answer that should stop you → No — the fallback is hope, or nothing at all
Is the true estimate more than about 60% above the advertised price?
Good answer → Yes, and the trip still works at the true estimate
Answer that should stop you → The budget only works at the advertised price
Are you comparing against a plain city trip, rather than quoting one as a slogan?
Good answer → Yes — Butte, Denver and New York are here to make park and resort mark-ups visible
Answer that should stop you → No — treating the cheap city as the real trip, or stripping its bad-day costs out

Name this trip

Saved on this device only. Clearing browser data removes it. No account, and nothing is synced to a server.

Vehicles

Crossings

Budget

The next question, in the next instrument

What do these dollars buy in hours?

The Trip Clock turns a trip into usable hours away and a cost per hour. It takes the honest total, $1,139, realistically $900–$1,350. It also takes how much of that is confirmed and how much of it is Optional, so the hours come back priced against a number whose looseness the Clock can see.

No dates or destination on this trip yet, so the link carries costs only. Adding them on lets Clock work out travel-day logistics instead of asking you again.

Open The Trip Clock

It is all in the URL. Read it first if you like.