So as you are reading this article keep in mind that I’m on my 6th all inclusive vacation in the last 3 years. One thing I told myself when I started my post secondary education career was that I will study hard, save all of my money, and travel if I ever get the opportunity. I have been lucky enough to do all of the above thus far and hopefully am able to continue this trend well into the future. Today I will outline the steps that I have followed to plan the perfect all inclusive vacation:
1. Know your price limit. Once you are able to come up with a maximum dollar amount of how much you are willing to spend on a vacation then you can begin planning. Try to be realistic and base your limit on how much you can save and how much vacation prices tend to be.
2. Talk to others/research. Whether you ask friends or go online and read the forums at TripAdvisor, make sure that you do the proper research so that you can find the ideal destination for you and your travel maters.
3. Track the prices. Go to your favorite online travel site every couple of days to check what the price is at. I do NOT recommend waiting for the last minute simply because if you find a perfect resort then why risk letting it sell out? Funny thing is my friends wanted to book last minute but when I found the perfect price I booked everyone’s trip on my credit card. What happened? A week after we booked the resort sold out.
4. Read every review. The reason I’m listing this step here is because it is crucial to read recent reviews of the resort. Things change and the last thing you want is to go to a resort that has changed a certain policy or way of conducting business.
5. Contact the resort. The last thing you need to do before booking your all inclusive vacation is to contact the resort through email or phone to ensure that every question of yours is answered. The last thing you want is to arrive at a resort and be disappointed by something.
Remember you work hard for your money so when you travel you deserve the best treatment at the fairest price.
I'm a 24 year old dude that studied finance in school and now wants to make it fun. Over the past three years I've been helping readers like YOU make more money and keep more cash in your pocket. I've appeared live on Fox Business News and I've been mentioned in the NY Times. You can also learn more about
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As someone who also travels quite a lot. I also suggest that you should never book too early. Typically airlines need to hedge their bets and if you book too early they account for commodity price increase risks.
I think the best time frame is 2-4 weeks before you plan to travel.
I’m in the process of planning an all inclusive honeymoon myself. Your advice is spot on.
I would add that you should read reviews with a grain of salt. Too many people shy away from a place they like because of bad reviews. Bad reviews are sometimes just a sparce representation of the people that go to the destination. If you have a bad time you are more likely to right a bad review. When you have a good trip, you aren’t as motivated to post a positive review.
Also keep in mind some companies have paid people to post positive reviews about their company and/or negative reviews about competing companies.
A lot of times I read bad reviews and they are very trivial. Like when I was looking at Caribbean vacations and saw reviews “The rooms are too humid!” I automatically discount them. Those are the kind of people who expect first world amenities in third world countries and that just isn’t me. I am much more simple than that.
Sometimes the best way to get a deal is to save up some cash and have it ready for when a great deal comes around. I subscribe to travelzoo for updates on travel deals. The trick is being open minded as to where you will travel next. You can’t be set on going to hawaii and pass up great deals to mexico. They have some awesome all-inclusive deals.