BRB, Questioning All My Life Choices After Reading How Much Some of You Have Spent on Dates
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Say what you want about our current (read: dire) dating landscape, but millennial and Gen Z singles who, for better or worse, have made situationships A Thing (it’s definitely for worse) are the same ones who know how to plan a fire date—even if said date goes absolutely nowhere.
And while the best dates aren’t necessarily the most expensive (you can’t put a price tag on thoughtfulness), sometimes even thoughtful dates aren’t all that cheap. According to American Express’ new Amex TrendEx Millennial and Gen-Z Summer Spotlight, a report that deep-dives into millennial and Gen Z spending habits, 24 percent of respondents said they’re spending more on dating now compared to pre-pandemic, and that same pool of singles is willing to drop an average of $420 on dating this summer. (Ahem, if someone at Amex could direct me to one of their DMs, that would be great!)
My first thought upon reading these stats was: Maybe I’ve been dating duds? But *then* I took to social media to poll the masses on their dating spending habits and I found out...it’s true! I am dating duds! Folks are dropping cash on first dates and anniversaries alike. Don’t believe me? Here are 12 readers who spent big money (or were spoiled!) on a *really* elaborate date.
“My boyfriend of six months and I were feeling spontaneous and in love during the workday, so we made a same-day reservation at SAGA (a fine-dining restaurant in New York City) an hour before. We went in our casual clothes ($20 Brandy Melville dress). The bill was $1,200 and we split it based on our salaries.” —Sara, 27
“For my fiancée’s birthday, I sprung for a fancy brunch at RH rooftop (a rooftop restaurant in New York City), ice skating tickets, a Broadway show, and dinner at Electric Lemon (another very nice resto!). It was like $1,300.” —Janie, 28
“Before Chick-fil-A was available in my state, a boy got his pilot brother to fly us to the nearest location for our first date. He spent about $1,540.” —Rebecca, 27
“One guy rented a sports car for our first date to teach me how to drive stick shift. The worst part is that I canceled at the last minute and he was stuck with the car for the day—which was like $300.” —Olivia, 24
“One of the most elaborate dates I’ve ever been on was a surprise trip to the Bahamas. My partner had been planning this for months and I had no idea until the day before when he told me to pack a bag. We flew in and stayed in a beautiful beach resort. During the day, we went kayaking, snorkeling, and swimming in the crystal-clear waters. We also went on a sunset cruise and had dinner at a beachside restaurant. The most memorable part of the trip was the night sky. We had a private beach bonfire and watched the stars come out. I had never seen the stars so clearly before and it was a truly magical experience. We also had a private chef come and cook dinner for us on the beach. The total cost of the trip was around $2,500, but it was worth every penny!
—Chris, 31“My last boyfriend got us second-row seats for Disney on Ice for our first date, and we went out to a relatively fancy Italian restaurant before. I would say in total it was around $400.” —Jenna, 23
“We got dinner at Nobu (a high-end restaurant in New York) and then had floor seats to the Drake & Migos show at Madison Square Garden. Tickets were like $1,000 for both of us and dinner was like $500 each. We stayed in a hotel and had an SUV for the whole night, which was another $1,600.” —Clara, 26
“I asked a girl I’d met in L.A. through friends to accompany me to a black tie boxing match a family friend was throwing to raise money for charity. She thought it was a fun idea but she didn’t live nearby, so I ended up buying two tickets for the match and got us a hotel for the night. Before the match, we went to dinner with my family friends, and after, we went to a club and turned up for the night. Between the hotel, two tickets, dinner, table service, and drinks, the whole ordeal cost roughly $1,200 for a first date.” —Alex, 27
“I spent $1,000 for four hours of drift lessons with my husband.” —Mara, 32
“The most ridiculously expensive date my partner took me on was about a month into us dating, while we were still in college. My birthday was coming up and he let me know on a Wednesday that we were going to New York City on Friday morning for the entire weekend. I’m not used to or super comfortable with expensive things because of my upbringing, so my boyfriend explained that he really wanted to treat me, since he was financially able and came from a wealthier background. I really wasn’t expecting what he had in mind. We flew first class and stayed at The Standard hotel in the East Village and spent the entire weekend pampering ourselves, ordering delicious room service, going to Nobu Fifty Seven, and of course, drinking champagne and eating cake. We also indulged in some shopping. I would estimate the whole weekend had to have been at least $3,000.” —Sarah, 26
“He sent me two bottles of wine and on one of them, he had engraved, ‘Heard Palma is a good date spot. See you there at 8 p.m. on Friday.’ That cost about $200. And then the dinner at Palma was $300.” —Sienna, 27
“We were in Paris and went on a day trip to Champagne after our engagement. Between lunch and tastings at three different places, he spent like $1,500 plus the cost of the driver, which was $600 for the day.” —Ella, 29
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