How Much Spending Money.....

I think you need to ask the auntie for the itinerary and straight up ask what he'll be expected to pay for so there is no confusion. If my nieces were visiting me, I'd plan to pick up just about everything, but also expect they would have some spending money for souvenir extras ($100 would be plenty for two weeks).

But, if she's expecting him to actually pay for his dinners when dining out, pay for admission to an amusement park, or if he's scheduling his own stuff like going skating and not with her family, then he'd need a lot more $.

Really, this is a decision that needs to be made with advisement and input by the aunt. And, frankly, I'd give some of the $ TO the aunt, b/c your kid isn't going to have a separate bill at dinner. It'll all be on one check.

I'd seriously discuss with the aunt what sorts of paid activities are on the agenda, and give HER some $ to cover expenses for your son for admission costs. Movies, amusement park, etc. And some $ for dinners out. Then, a second amount can be determined to give directly to your son for *his* discretionary spending. Popcorn at the movies. T-shirt souvenirs at the beach/amusement park/etc. Ice cream on the boardwalk. And so on...

But without more concrete information about the itinerary, it's impossible to pick a number.

When our son went on a band trip to Disney World last year my husband gave him a reloadable prepaid Visa Debit card to use for cash.
You can control limits on it or add to it if needed.
It worked very well!

It wasn't through this bank but this describes how it works:

http://www.tdbank.com/prepaid-cards/tdgocard/

https://www.bbt.com/banking/cards/teen-prepaid-debit-card...

Load it with $100 initially and then see if he needs more.

We just gave our daughter $100 spending money for a one-week trip, so I'd give $200. Depends on how much the aunt agreed to cover. My parents were covering all of the basics (food, entertainment, etc.), so the money was just for extras.

my boys went to California to visit my parents in 2013 for the summer. They each had a Visa Buxx card that I could reload from home. They had $500 each since they were going to be gone 6 weeks.

My boys paid for a few dinners out, which my parents were surprised as they were anticipating to pay for things.

I would say $300 for 2 weeks would suffice. I will guess he'll come back with a lot of it as when my nephews came to my house? I paid. I was their host.

Hope he has a blast!!

I agree with the idea if a pre-paid card. But I would put the total on separate cards. Advise your son to not carry them all at once or to put them in separate pockets. If he should be pick-pocketed or he loses a card he will still have money left.
I would also get him a cheap cell phone if he doesn't already have one. Before he leaves program the phone with his aunt's number and his home number.

A prepaid, reload-able Visa or Mastercard will allow you to add money if needed, and you'll be able to see what he's spending money on. And if he loses the card, you can freeze it or suspend it, and Visa will send him a new one quickly.

An amount is difficult to speculate on, since we don't know if they like to dine at McDonalds or Ruth Chris steakhouse. It depends on your finances and your son's spending accountability.

But don't send him with cash. Get a card. And set it up so you have control over it from your home computer, not just him.

My 18 yo daughter is in Disney World this week. (Her High School graduation gift) We sent her down with 2 pre-paid cards totaling $1,000 since she will be responsible for all meals and snacks. We also gave her a credit card and $100 in cash. We already paid for her tickets and she is staying with a friend at her family's timeshare.

Knowing my daughter, she will still have money left on her card but we didn't want her not to have money.

I'm sure Auntie doesn't mind spending money but he should have spending money. My daughter was adamant on being able to pay her own expenses at that age. When her friends came to California, one sweet girl booked me an appointment for a spa visit when we treated her to a Mexican cruise. I would send money to take the family out for a couple nice dinners.

What we do is match whatever amount our daughter has saved.