We have all been there. You are binge-watching the latest season of The White Lotus, seeing Jennifer Coolidge drift around a Sicilian palazzo in a caftan, or watching Lily Collins strut down a cobblestone street in Emily in Paris, and suddenly, your dorm room or studio apartment feels incredibly… small.
You don’t just want to watch the show; you want to be in the show. You want the Aperol Spritz on the Amalfi Coast. You want the pain au chocolat by the Seine. You want the “Main Character Energy” that comes with stepping onto a movie set that happens to be a real place.
This travel trend has a name: “Set-Jetting.” It is the act of planning vacations around the filming locations of your favorite movies and TV shows. In 2024, it became one of the biggest drivers of tourism globally. But for students, recent grads, and anyone living on a “Gen Z budget,” there is usually a massive record-scratch moment: The Cost.
The Four Seasons San Domenico Palace in Taormina (where White Lotus was filmed) costs thousands of dollars a night. For most of us, that’s not a vacation; that’s a year of tuition.
But here is the secret the travel influencers aren’t telling you: You don’t need a trust fund to set-jet. You just need the right tools, a bit of strategy, and a platform that understands that “paying later” is sometimes the only way to go. Here is how to use Expedia to live your best TV life without wrecking your credit score.
The Psychology of Set-Jetting: Why We Do It
Before we get into the “how,” let’s talk about the “why.” Why are we so obsessed with visiting the places we see on Netflix or HBO?
It’s not just about sightseeing. It’s about immersion. When you visit the filming locations of Game of Thrones in Dubrovnik or Wednesday in Romania, you aren’t just a tourist; you are stepping into a narrative. For a generation raised on screens, the line between content and reality is blurry. We want our lives to feel cinematic. We want our Instagram stories to look like scene transitions.
However, the “Instagram vs. Reality” gap is usually financial. The aesthetic is expensive. This is where the strategic traveler separates themselves from the dreamer. The dreamer looks at the price tag and closes the tab. The strategist looks for the workaround.
The Tool: Why Expedia is the Gen Z Travel Hack
You might think of Expedia as the site your parents used to book family trips to Disney World in 2008. But if you haven’t looked at it recently, you are sleeping on one of the most powerful engines for budget travel.
Expedia has evolved into a massive ecosystem that aggregates millions of properties. Because they have so much data, they are often the first to spot trends. They know you want to go to Sicily because of The White Lotus. They know you are looking at Paris because of Emily. And because they are competing with Airbnb and direct booking sites, they often offer “Member Prices” that are 10% or more off just for logging in.+1
But the real game-changer for the student demographic isn’t just the price, it’s the payment method.
The Holy Grail: “Buy Now, Pay Later”
Let’s be real. Dropping $2,000 upfront for flights and hotels is physically painful when you are working a side hustle or an entry-level job. It drains your savings account instantly.
Expedia has integrated “Buy Now, Pay Later” (BNPL) services like Affirm (and in some regions, Klarna or Afterpay) directly into the checkout flow.
Here is why this matters for Set-Jetting:
- Cash Flow Management: Instead of paying $1,500 today, you might pay roughly $125 a month over a year. That is the price of a few nights out or a couple of DoorDash orders. It turns a “someday” dream trip into a “right now” reality.
- Locking in Prices: Flight prices fluctuate wildly. If you see a cheap flight to Paris but don’t have the full cash in your bank account right now, you usually lose the deal. With BNPL, you can lock in that low price immediately and pay it off over time.
- No Hidden Surprises: Unlike credit cards which can trap you with compounding interest if you miss a payment, services like Affirm show you exactly what you will pay upfront. The interest is calculated at the start.
Warning: Always use BNPL responsibly. It is a tool, not free money. Ensure you have the monthly income to cover the payments. But for students who have cash flow but not a lump sum of savings, it is a superpower.
Destination 1: The “Emily in Paris” Experience
- The Vibe: Romance, fashion, cafes, and slightly chaotic career choices.
- The Reality: Paris is expensive, but it is also incredibly walkable, and the “aesthetic” is free if you know where to look.
You don’t need to stay at the Plaza Athénée to live like Emily Cooper. You need a hotel that is central, cute (for the TikToks), and safe.
How to Find it on Expedia
Filter your search by Arrondissement (District). Emily lives in the 5th Arrondissement (Place de l’Estrapade), but she works near the Louvre in the 1st.
- Pro Tip: Look for hotels in the 9th or 10th Arrondissements. They are trendy, much cheaper than the city center, and filled with the kind of young, cool energy the show tries to capture.
The “Savoir” Budget Choice
Look for boutique hotels that offer that classic Parisian balcony view without the 5-star price tag. On Expedia, you can specifically filter for “Terrace” or “Balcony” under amenities.
Where to Stay: There are stunning 3-star options in the Opera district that give you the Haussmann architecture (the fancy cream stone buildings) for a fraction of the price.
(Writer’s Note: Insert affiliate link for a hotel like ‘Hôtel Chopin’ or ‘Grand Hôtel De Turin’ here)
The Itinerary Hack
- The Bench: Visit Place de l’Estrapade. It costs $0 to sit on the bench where Emily and Mindy eat lunch.
- The Bakery: The “Boulangerie Moderne” from the show is real, and a pain au chocolat there costs about €1.50.
- The Museum: Instead of a private gala, hit the Musée d’Orsay. It’s free for EU residents under 26, and very cheap for students with ID.
Destination 2: The “White Lotus” Sicilian Dream
- The Vibe: Italian glamour, mysterious aristocrats, Vespas, and heads turning in slow motion.
- The Reality: Taormina (the main filming location) is a tourist trap in high season. But Sicily is huge, affordable, and incredibly rugged.
How to Find it on Expedia
The show was filmed at the San Domenico Palace, which is likely out of budget. However, Expedia lists hundreds of “Agriturismo” stays in Sicily. These are working farmhouses converted into guest houses. They are authentic, often include incredible homemade food, and cost a fraction of a resort.
The “Tanya McQuoid” Budget Choice
You want a view of the Ionian Sea and Mount Etna. You can find bed-and-breakfasts in Taormina that share the exact same view as the Four Seasons for $150 a night instead of $2,000.
Where to Stay: Look for properties in Giardini Naxos. It is the beach town right below Taormina. You stay on the beach for cheap, and take a €3 bus ride up the hill to party in the luxury town where the show was filmed. You get the best of both worlds.
(Writer’s Note: Insert affiliate link for a hotel like ‘Hotel Villa Belvedere’ or ‘Unahotels Naxos Beach’ here)
The Itinerary Hack
- The Isola Bella Beach: This is the beach from the show. It is a public nature reserve. Entry is minimal. You can sunbathe on the pebbly shore and look exactly like the cast without paying for a private beach club.
- The Vespa: You can rent a Vespa on Expedia (under ‘Things to Do’) for a day. It’s the ultimate prop for your photos and significantly cheaper than hiring a private driver.
The Step-by-Step Guide to Booking
So, how do you actually execute this? Here is your battle plan.
Step 1: The Bundle is Your Bestie Go to Expedia and select “Packages” (Flight + Hotel). Bundling is the oldest trick in the book, but it works. Airlines and hotels hide their lowest rates in packages so they don’t look “cheap” on public listings. You can save up to $300 just by booking them together. That’s your spending money for the trip.
Step 2: The “Flexible Dates” Flex If you are a student, you likely have weird breaks, January term, Spring Break, early May summer start. Use this. On the search bar, don’t pick specific dates. Look at the price calendar. Flying on a Tuesday in October to Paris is half the price of flying on a Friday in July. Emily in Paris looks just as good in the Fall (plus, better coats).
Step 3: The BNPL Checkout When you get to the payment page:
- Select “Monthly Payments” or click on the Affirm/Klarna tab.
- It will run a “soft” credit check (this usually does not impact your credit score).
- Select the payment schedule that fits your part-time job pay cycle (e.g., 3, 6, or 12 months).
- Confirm and pack your bags.
The “Student Status” Advantage
Don’t forget that Expedia often has a Student Hub or partnerships with platforms like UNiDAYS. Before you book, do a quick Google search for “Expedia Student Discount.” You can sometimes stack a 5-10% coupon code on top of your package deal.
Furthermore, use the Expedia Rewards program (One Key). Even one big trip (like a Set-Jetting adventure) can earn you “OneKeyCash” that you can immediately apply to your next trip, or even just a hotel for a weekend getaway back at school.
Don’t Just Watch It, Live It
We live in an era where FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) is constantly being triggered by our feeds. It’s easy to feel like these lifestyles are reserved for the rich or the influencers who get sent on free PR trips.
But the world is more accessible than you think. The locations in The White Lotus or Bridgerton or Emily in Paris are real places with real public transport and real budget hotels next door to the 5-star palaces.
You don’t need to wait until you’re 40 and “established” to see the world. With the bundled discounts on Expedia and the flexibility of Buy Now, Pay Later, you can capture that main character energy while you are still young enough to enjoy it.
So, stop scrolling through TikToks of the Eiffel Tower. Open a new tab. Search “Paris.” Click “Package.” Choose “Monthly Payments.”
The set is waiting. You just need to show up.
