Rs 299,900 can buy you Apple's first foldable iPhone. Or it can buy you a passport full of memories, a suspiciously large holiday wardrobe and enough airport coffee to develop a personality.
The newest iPhone has entered seriously expensive territory in India.
Apple's first foldable, the iPhone Duo, starts at Rs 299,900 for 256GB, making it the most expensive iPhone launched in India so far.
And while the idea of a phone that folds in half is undeniably cool, there is another way of looking at that nearly Rs 3 lakh price tag.
What if you didn't buy the phone? What if you travelled instead?
Depending on how you fly, where you stay and how enthusiastically you order room service, Rs 2.99 lakh can get you anything from two Southeast Asian holidays to one seriously good European escape.
Here are 10 places where we'd rather spend that money.
Please note: All prices are approximate and include approximate airfare cost.
Kuala Lumpur
Rs 50,000-Rs 80,000 per person
If you want the biggest bang for your iPhone money, Malaysia is hard to ignore. A short Kuala Lumpur trip can come in at around Rs 50,000-Rs 80,000 per person in an all-in budget estimate, meaning two people can comfortably travel for well under Rs 1.60 lakhs if they keep things sensible.
That leaves plenty of the Rs 2.99 lakh budget for shopping, rooftop dinners, Batu Caves...
You could spend the evening looking at the Petronas Towers instead of staring at a foldable screen.
You could eat your way through Jalan Alor.
You could buy something you absolutely do not need from a night market and call it a cultural experience.
Sri Lanka
Rs 34,000-Rs 45,000 per person
Sri Lanka is the kind of holiday where your money stretches surprisingly far. Colombo, Kandy, Ella and the southern SL beaches can make for a very satisfying trip without leaving you facing a financial crisis.
One 2026 estimate puts a four-day Colombo trip at around Rs 33,600 all-in, while other estimates put a five-day Sri Lankan holiday around Rs 38,500.
For the price of the iPhone, you could be taking a scenic train through the hills, eating kottu by the beach and pretending you are the kind of person who wakes up early for sunrise.
The phone may fold. Your beach towel can also fold. But only one allows you to sit on the beach, soaking in the ocean view.
Vietnam
Rs 40,000-Rs 60,000 per person
Vietnam is another destination that makes the iPhone math look slightly ridiculous.
Think Hanoi's chaotic streets, Ha Long Bay, Da Nang, Hoi An's lanterns and Ho Chi Minh City's nightlife. Current 2026 estimates put short Vietnam trips at roughly Rs 38,000-Rs 52,000 per person depending on the city and itinerary.
You could spend the morning on a boat in Ha Long Bay, the afternoon eating Banh Mi and the evening getting lost in Hoi An. That is a lot more exciting than unfolding your phone to show someone the same notification you could have shown them on a regular phone.
Thailand
Rs 45,000-Rs 70,000 per person
Thailand has everything a holiday needs -- beaches, shopping, street food, fancy hotels, nightlife and enough massages to make you forget what an Apple Store looks like.
A recent estimate puts a four-day Bangkok trip at around Rs 43,500 while a five-day Thailand trip can come in around Rs 49,700 per person.
And if you are heading to Phuket, you could spend the day at a beach club or simply lie on a beach doing absolutely nothing -- a feature no phone, foldable or otherwise, has managed to replicate.
Bali
Rs 60,000-Rs 85,000 per person
Bali may be the obvious choice but there's a reason it keeps appearing on Indian travellers' wish lists.
Ubud cafes, beach clubs, villas, rice terraces, sunsets and massages can all fit into a well-planned holiday. Current estimates put a five-day Bali trip at around Rs 60,000 per person while broader mid-range estimates sit around Rs 65,000-Rs 85,000.
So yes, the Rs 2.99 lakh phone could potentially become a Bali holiday for two with money left over.
You could sit on a water bed at Finn’s Beach Club, watch the sunset with a drink in hand and take approximately 400 photographs of the sky. Or you could take 400 photographs of the sky on your new phone while sitting at home. We know which one sounds better.
Dubai
Rs 70,000-Rs 1 lakh per person
Dubai isn't the cheapest option on this list but Rs 3 lakh can still take two people there if you’re smart about flights and hotels.
You get skyscrapers, desert safaris, beaches, shopping and enough restaurants to keep you busy for days. Current 2026 estimates put Dubai among the destinations that can be holidayed in for under Rs 1 lakh per person with careful planning.
You could take the leap of faith ride at Aquaventure and scream your way down a water slide or you could buy a phone that folds very carefully and never once throws you into a pool.
And, unlike the phone, the Burj Khalifa isn’t going to be obsolete when the next model launches.
Greece
Rs 1.2-Rs 2.5 lakh per person
Now we're entering the territory where your Rs 299,900 starts looking much more tempting as a travel budget.
A seven-day Greece trip can range from around Rs 1.18 lakh at the budget end to nearly Rs 3 lakh for a more comfortable mid-range trip, depending on flights, hotels, ferries and islands.
Athens, Santorini, Mykonos or Crete -- you could spend your money looking at the Aegean Sea instead of a 7.6-inch foldable screen.
You could watch the sunset in Santorini, eat grilled seafood by the water and spend an entire afternoon deciding whether the blue of the sea is actually that blue. Spoiler: It is.
Europe (Paris, Italy or more)
Rs 1.5-Rs 2.6 lakh per person
Here's where things get interesting.
A well-planned European holiday from India doesn't necessarily require Rs 5 lakh. Current 2026 estimates put a 10-day mid-range Europe trip at around Rs 1.7 to Rs 2.4 lakh per person, depending on the countries and hotel choices.
You could visit Paris and Amsterdam, Rome and Florence, Prague, Vienna and Budapest or build your own route.
You could eat pasta in Italy, take a train through the countryside and spend an afternoon in a tiny cafe pretending you are in a travel movie. The iPhone Duo can take pictures of that trip but it cannot be the trip.
Switzerland
Rs 2 lakhs-Rs 3 lakhs per person
Switzerland is where the entire 'phone versus holiday' argument becomes genuinely difficult.
It isn't cheap. Switzerland is among Europe's most expensive destinations and current estimates put a comfortable trip close to or above Rs 2 lakh per person depending on the itinerary.
But Rs 2.99 lakh can potentially cover one person travelling through Switzerland, including flights, accommodation, transport and sightseeing if planned carefully.
You could stand beside a lake so clear it looks edited, ride a train through the mountains and eat chocolate in the country that gets highly personal when it comes to this sweet treat.
Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff
