We went to Coachella and the trip cost us $5,000 — and that's not even including the price of admission

INSIDER

• The music team traveled from New York to attend the festival.

• During the trip, we spent $5,023.33 on food, airfare, lodging, and other essentials.

• The total does not include a GA ticket. We were given access to the festival for free.

The music team at Insider was on the ground for the return of the festival in 2022.

Callie Ahlgrim, a music reporter, and Courteney Larocca, an entertainment editor, attended the festival for the first time.

The Ferris wheel, fashion trends, and star-laden lineup are just some of the things that have made Coachella famous. The lowest tier of general admission costs $449 and includes fees. It is more expensive to access the festival&s famous attractions.

GA access to the festival was granted to members of the media. We spent more than $5,000 on the trip.

Keep reading for the complete breakdown of our expenses.

Airbnb: $2,184.15

We decided to book a room at a low-key rental resort in Palm Springs after looking at several options.

We were able to spend six days and five nights in California for less money than the cheapest hotels in the area.

Two round-trip flights: $1,250.40

We traveled from John F. Kennedy International Airport to San Diego International Airport. We returned to New York City on Monday, April 18.

We decided to fly to San Diego because it was hundreds of dollars cheaper than flying directly to Palm Springs. For the first weekend of the festival, most round-trip tickets from JFK to PSP were listed for $2,000 each.

We were excited to see the Pacific Ocean before heading inland.

Rental car: $598.85

For six days in California, we rented a car from Enterprise for $82 per day, plus insurance.

We decided that we would travel between San Diego and Palm Springs on our own terms, as opposed to using a ride-Hailing app or public transportation.

We wanted to be able to leave each night when arriving at the festival. It should have taken about 40 minutes to drive from Palm Springs to Coachella.

We found that driving to and from the festival was not as convenient as we had hoped.

It took us two hours to get home because of traffic in the lots, and parking was a nightmare. We arrived back at our house at 3:30 a.m.

The shuttle only operates from local hotels, so some festivalgoers opt for it. By the time we were able to browse, most of the expensive rooms had sold out, and the shuttle itself is not cheap either.

Gas: $70.09

This is what it is. Gas prices in the US are sky-high at the moment, and we were driving a lot.

Other transportation: $269.48

Callie and Courteney both live in New Jersey.

We arrived at JFK at 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday and used ride-sharing apps to travel between the airport and our homes.

Food: $508.24

When we weren't on the festival grounds, we tried to be more careful with the budget because we knew food was going to be a large expense.

We ate breakfast before we arrived at the festival and bought groceries for the two days we were in California.

On our way back to the airport, we stopped at In-N- Out for the cheapest and best meal of the trip.

Additional caffeine: $80.33

When you are in the desert for three days in a row, you will need a lot of coffee. We spent an extra $80 on coffee and soda to get us through the weekend.

A small cup of hot coffee costs $10 at the festival.

Other necessities: $61.79

We had to pick up a few items after we arrived.

The experience of Coachella was more physically demanding than we expected.

With the amount of standing, walking, and dancing we did at the festival, coupled with the extremely hot sun, particularly for us East Coast dwellers, we ended up purchasing a lot of stuff.

Total: $5,023.33

Our verdict? It was not really worth it.

You can follow along with Insider's coverage.

The original article can be found on Insider.