All-Inclusive Travel Agency
1) Who has the best All-Inclusive vacation PACKAGE?
Answer:
The Basics:
Vacation planning can be a lot of work, which is why an all-inclusive beach vacation can be a good option for those times when all the travel prep just seems too overwhelming. Depending on the resort, most everything will be taken care of and paid ahead of time, and you won't need to keep reaching for cash or credit cards during your trip. Comb through the info, read reviews about dining options, and/or consult with the best travel agency near me to see if included food choices and restaurant styles (like buffet versus sit-down) will work for you and/or your whole family and if you need to make any dining reservations in advance.
What's Usually Included:
Read the FINE PRINT to fully understand what's included at the resort of your choice and what isn't. Typically, all-inclusive beach packages include food and drinks at your resort, so if you eat elsewhere, you'll be paying extra on top of what you've already paid for. At most all-inclusive beach resorts, non motorized water sports are included. Motorized water sports are usually extra. Are resort fees going to be charged when you get to the resort? Read the fine print!
What's Usually Not Included:
At most all-inclusive beach resorts or resorts which offer the all-inclusive beach option, things like spa services, butler service, "top shelf liquor" or "premium brand liquor" are an extra cost. The same goes for tours and activities outside your resort. At most all-inclusive beach resorts, motorized water sports are not included.
Premium All-Inclusive Beach Resorts and All-Inclusive Clubs:
All-Inclusive beach resort brands that typically offer "top shelf liquor" or "premium brand liquor" and things like daily restocked in-room minibars include: Excellence, Sandals, Hyatt Zilara, Hoteles Xcaret, Le Blanc, Secrets, and Club Med. Many of these same premium all-inclusive beach resorts offer clubs or premium/private areas of the resort which typically offer butler service, private beach areas/pools, private club restaurants, and private beach bars.
The Excellence offers properties in El Carmen, Dominican Republic; Oyster Bay, Jamaica; Playa Mujeres, Mexico; Riviera Cancun, Mexico; and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. At the Excellence, top shelf liquors are standard as well as COMPLIMENTARY LOBSTER.
Some resorts like the TRS Coral hotel, part of the Palladium Hotel Group, in Cancun, Mexico offers COMPLIMENTARY LOBSTER dishes at one of the resort's restaurants. TRS Coral offers butler service at every room at the resort.
Hotel Xcaret offers 3 properties in Playa del Carmen, Mexico which include the Hotel Xcaret Mexico, Hotel Xcaret Arte, and The La Casa De La Playa. Each of the 3 properties offers complimentary Unlimited entrance to 9 ECO-THEME PARKS. The Hotel Xcaret Arte which opened in July 2021, offers complimentary instructor based classes in knitting, vegan cuisine, dancing, painting, and pottery. Guests are urged to bring back their artistic works when they return home.
Consulting Online Reviews vs The Travel Agency Near Me:
If you decide to consult or read online travel advisory websites such as TripAdvisor, Travelocity, and Yelp, please be sure and keep on open mind and read more than just a few reviews. Often times, a guest of the resort may take serious issue with something that may sound trivial to most guests. In some cases, a guest may not be aware that the resort charges for certain services which they were not aware of when they booked. Keep in mind that resorts are always upgrading and modernizing so the review from 2 years ago that took issue with outdated rooms may be invalid today. That is why the travel agency near me such as Seven Seas Travel constantly stays in touch with its travel partners and recent guests to check on various resorts around the world. Several times a year, the best travel agency near me such as Seven Seas Travel will personally visit these same resorts.
According to the publication, 'Familyvacationcritic.com', the top 7 online travel agents (OTAs) for All-Inclusive vacation beach packages are:
Apple Vacations
Cheap Caribbean
Tripadvisor
Travelzoo
Orbitz
Liberty Travel
BookIt.com
The best travel agency near me can offer advantages over the online travel agents (OTAs) such as:
Proprietary Information:
The travel agency near me believe it or not, has access to information unavailable to you to get better deals. Additionally, they receive daily deals via e-mails and faxes that cannot always be found on the Internet. The best travel agency near me also can make phone calls and have direct communication with resorts and hotels to bargain for better deals.
Safety When Things Go Wrong:
Travel agencies like Seven Seas Travel are YOUR ADVOCATE when things go wrong. Some of the things that can go wrong when traveling include missed flights, room issues at resorts, lost baggage, and emergency medical issues. Travel agents will go to bat for you to fix those issues and save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars if problems occur. Travel agents can signficantly reduce flight rebooking fees if a flight is missed. Travel agents like Seven Seas Travel will actively pursue refunds at no cost to you on your behalf when dealing with resorts and cruise companies.
Payment Plans:
Keep in mind that the vast majority of online retail travel booking websites want all their money upfront via credit card or debit card. Deposits are not generally accepted. Travel agencies like Seven Seas Travel offer convenient payment plans which allow you to pay a small 5-25% deposit and then pay the final payment 30-90 days before the departure date.
2) Where is the BEST PLACE to vacation All-Inclusive?
Answer: Opinions vary on the best resort to vacation all-inclusive. Generally speaking, prices and the best values are going to be where there are many all-inclusive beach resorts in a specific area. Travel agencies like Seven Seas Travel have sent thousands to these locations over the years. We have written about these locations extensively. Specific popular all-Inclusive beach destination and islands that can provide the best values include:
CLICK LINKS BELOW:
Antiqua
Aruba
Bahamas
Barbados
Cancun
Cabo San Lucas
Costa Rica
Dominican Republic
Jamaica
Puerta Vallarta
St. Kitts
St. Martin
Turks and Caicos
3) What is the best website for vacation packages?
Answer: For the large online travel agencies, the publication, 'TripSavvy' has rated the 8 Best online travel agencies (OTAs) of 2021 as follows:
Best Overall: Booking.com
"Booking.com takes care of every aspect of your vacation, offering tours, activities, and even airport taxis."
Best Budget: Skyscanner
"Skyscanner routinely delivered cheaper prices (sometimes by over $100) than the major OTAs."
Best Package Deals: Expedia
"Expedia is a particularly good option for those wanting pay for flights, accommodation, and car rental in one go."
Best for Reviews: TripAdvisor
"Travel services offered by TripAdvisor include hotels and vacation rentals, tours and tickets, flights, and restaurant reservations."
Best in Asia: Agoda
"The company has the best price guarantee that offers to match any price on the web or refund the difference."
Best in Europe: Lastminute.com
"You can book several Europe-specific travel services as well, including Eurostar tickets, and even theater tickets."
Best Secret Deals: Hotwire
"Vacation packages are offered as well, giving you the opportunity to bundle two or more options for greater overall savings."
Most Innovative: Kiwi.com
The Nomad feature helps you to find the cheapest route for a multi-destination trip and also offers pre-planned itineraries."
4) Can you make payments on vacation through a travel agent?
Answer: Keep in mind that the vast majority of online retail travel booking websites want all their money upfront. This is not the case with travel agents. If your trip is at least 60 days out, you may only be required to put down a deposit of 10% to 25% of the trip and then pay the final balance 30-90 days before the flight or cruise. This is especially helpful when booking in the fourth quarter for next summer's vacation. You can save hundreds if not thousands of dollars by depositing 3-11 months ahead of your trip and then paying the balance a month before trip departure. Travel agents do NOT charge interest on travel payment plans so this might be just what you are looking for if you want to book ahead for next summer or spring.
5) Is Cancun safe for tourists in 2023?
Answer: There is no testing requirement to come to Cancun. If you are a resident of the United States you DON'T need a Covid test for returning home. Canada doesn't need Covid test for re-entry neither. There are no travel restrictions for air or sea travel to Mexico from the US or Canada, no quarantine
is required. Cancun properties run routine temperature-checks, disinfect guest luggage, require resort staff to wear face masks, disinfect plastic luncheon menus, while some resorts utilize contactless QR codes for ordering.
6) How much should an All-Inclusive beach vacation cost?
Answer: Vacation costs are one of the biggest gimmicks of the travel industry. Many secondary online travel agent sites offer almost miraculous bargain-based prices for all-inclusive beach vacations. Keep in mind many of these prices require you to travel in a very constrained time window and stay at 3 star or lower-star beach resorts. Sometimes these so called bargains do not even include airfares or leave out transportation to and from the airport. That being said, a budget of $900/person is a good starting price for a 4-night all-inclusive beach vacation. Prices can move up to thousands of dollars per person from there. One last note of caution is to beware of beach resorts or properties that throw in a lot of 'resort credits' into the price. If you are not going to use a lot of those services or products covered by those 'resort credits', then you may wish to look elsewhere.
7) What is the cheapest month to go on vacation?
Answer: Most travel destinations have 2-3 pricing plans based upon what is called the High, Medium, and Low Season. Travelers looking to save money are advised to travel in the Medium and Low Season to avoid Peak or High Season prices and sometimes unwanted crowds. Hundreds if not thousands of dollars can be saved in just airline costs alone. For Caribbean and Mexican all-inclusive beach travel, March is probably the HIGHEST COST month to travel. July is often the second highest cost month of the year. Spring Break is often the time when hotels and airlines charge the most.
Ask yourself, is there something going on in July or March that cannot be seen in mid-September (after Labor Day) or early October? If one does not have school-age children to plan around, this option is even more feasible and can provide even more significant benefits as the crowds are gone and one can experience more in less time at a much lower price.
8) Where is the cheapest tropical place to vacation?
Answer: Opinions vary on the cheapest tropical place to vacation. Generally speaking, prices are going to be where there are many resorts in a specific area. Specific popular all-inclusive beach destinations that fit this requirement include Punta Cana (The Dominican Republic), Jamaica, Cabo San Lucas, Puerta Vallarta, and Cancun. Doing a short web search on some of the popular online travel agents (OTAs) reveals hundreds of all-inclusive beach resorts in the following Caribbean and Mexican locations:
CLICK LINKS BELOW:
Antiqua
Aruba
Bahamas
Barbados
Cancun
Cabo San Lucas
Costa Rica
Dominican Republic
Jamaica
Puerta Vallarta
St. Kitts
St. Martin
Turks and Caicos
9) Are Costco vacation packages a good deal?
Answer: Over the last few years, Costco has become a haven for good deals for travelers. On the flip side, there is a long list of very unpleasant stories documented on various consumer websites that have resulted when booking with Costco. If everything goes right and you have accurate information on what resort to go to, Costco might be for you. Keep in mind if things do go wrong, you are on your own to deal with airlines, van services, hotel chains, cruise companies, and other service providers. Your leverage is limited as you represent one customer vs. the travel agent whose travel company supplier represents hundreds of thousands of travelers and thus has infinitely more leverage.
10) Are All-Inclusive beach vacation packages worth it?
Answer: Opinions vary on this subject. Many beach resorts offer all-inclusive rates which are far higher than their normal breakfast included-European Plan rates. Often times if you are not a serious drinker or don't think you will eat that much, you are better off not going with the all-inclusive beach rate. Vacation packages which include air, transfers, hotel, and resort fees are often far less expensive than buying all the components one by one. One last area of caution is rental cars. Since mid 2021, rental car companies have raised prices substantially by 25-50% or more. If you don't think you will use that rental car every day, you may wish to stick with far cheaper public transportation or ride-sharing services. You can also save yourself daily parking fees at the resort of your choice if you forego a rental car.
11) How do I get the best deal on All-Inclusive beach vacation packages?
Answer: Opinions vary on this subject. The best travel agency near me, believe it or not, has access to information unavailable to you to get better deals. Additionally, they receive daily deals via e-mails and faxes from major travel suppliers that cannot always be found on the Internet. The best travel agency also can make phone calls and have direct communication with resorts and hotels to bargain for better deals. The best travel agency is going to contact you when these deals arise.
These same travel agencies have access to wholesale rates for international air travel. This can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars if you are traveling with a group on an international trip or vacation.
12) What is the cheapest vacation package website?
Answer: Opinions vary. A full list of online travel agents (OTAs) is as follows:
Venere.com
Priceline.com
GetYourGuide.com
LastMinute.com
Kayak.com
Agoda.com
Booking.com
Trip.com
Skiplagged.com
Hotwire.com
Travelocity.com
Trip.com
HotelTonight.com
Expedia.com
EDreams.com
13) Are All-Inclusive beach resorts worth it?
Answer: Opinions vary on this subject. Vacation packages which include air, transfers, hotel, and resort fees are often far less expensive than buying all the components one by one. HOWEVER, many resorts offer all-inclusive beach rates which are far higher than their normal breakfast included-European Plan rates. Often times if you are not a serious drinker or don't think you will eat that much or dine at premium restuarants, you are better off not going with the all-inclusive rate.
One last note of caution is to beware of resorts or properties that throw in a lot of 'resort credits' into their all-inclusive price. If you are not going to use a lot of those services or products covered by those 'resort credits', another resort may be a better choice for you. You are going to pay for those 'resort credits' whether you use them or not as the daily room rate absorts those 'resort credits' into the total price.
14) What is the safest All-Inclusive beach resort?
Answer: Opinions vary on the subject. Generally speaking, the higher-rated the hotel beach property is, the safer it is. Top name brands like Secrets, Melia, Breezes, Hard Rock Cafe, Palace Resorts, Club Med, Zoetry, Beaches, and Sandals can add a certain degree of safety to your all-inclusive beach vacation.
15) Where are some of the TOP All-Inclusive beach resorts?
Answer: Mostly in the Caribbean, Central America, and Mexico. All-inclusive beach resorts in Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, and Turks-Caicos usually offer the best and top shelf all-inclusive resorts. Florida, Europe, Hawaii, Alaska, and Las Vegas are generally not known for all-inclusive resorts. Club Med is perhaps the one exception to that rule. Club Med offers all inclusive beach properties all over the Caribbean, Mexico, Europe, the Indian Ocean/Asia, Florida, and Canada. For those in the USA who do not have a passport, the Club Med Sandpiper Bay property in St Lucie, Florida is a good choice for a family vacation with a strong all-inclusive offering. Top all-inclusive beach estinations that can provide the best values include:
CLICK LINKS BELOW:
Antiqua
Aruba
Bahamas
Barbados
Cancun
Cabo San Lucas
Costa Rica
Dominican Republic
Jamaica
Puerta Vallarta
St. Kitts
St. Martin
Turks and Caicos
16) Why choose an All-Inclusive beach resort?
Answer: It is a lot of work to research travel destinations and resorts, which is why an all-inclusive beach vacation can be a good option for those times when all the travel prep just seems too overwhelming. Everything will be taken care of and paid ahead of time, and you won't need to keep reaching for cash or credit cards during your trip.
All-inclusive beach packages include food and drinks at your resort, so if you eat elsewhere, you'll be paying extra on top of what you've already paid out. The same goes for tours, excursions, and activities OUTSIDE your resort. Read the fine print to fully understand what's included and what isn't. Sometimes things like spa services and "top shelf liquor" are an extra cost. In many all-inclusive beach resorts, non motorized water sports are included while motorized watersports are not. One note on outside tours and excursions is that you may be able to save some money on them if you purchase them ahead of time when you purchase your entire travel beach package. Some of these same tours and excursions also may require reservations days and weeks ahead of time.
You may to comb through the info and read reviews about dining options to see if included food choices and restaurant styles (like buffet versus sit-down) will work for the whole family and if you need to make any dining reservations in advance. You can also ask our all-inclusive beach travel agency to work with you on dining options or have them reach out to the resort's concierge services or butler service departments.
