[pcthrowaway]

London and Paris are two of the most expensive cities in Europe (maybe the top 2 if you ignore Switzerland) so I agree if you're talking about people going there.

But the majority of Europe is cheaper than the majority of the U.S. (think Greece or Spain or Portugal or even most of Germany)

Japan also is much cheaper to travel in than the U.S.

Personally most people I know who do international traveling have avoided London and Paris due to the high cost of travel.