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How to find all inclusive resort vacations without a travel agent????
Main Post:
I have tried everything I know... Anyone??
Top Comment: I started with Google. Search for the AI resorts in the area you want to go. Make a physical list of things you want in a resort. Pool, beach, excursions, food, drinks, rooms. Prioritize the list. Then go to YouTube and view resort walkthroughs and tours. Harr Travel is a really good YouTube channel I found that has a ton of resort walkthroughs. They aren't so much reviews or vlogs so you kind of get an unbiased look at them. I tend to steer clear of any videos done by amateurs or people making a vlog of their vacation. Those are going to have a lot of opinions in them. And those tend to be subjective. Try to keep in mind when the video or a review was done. A resort during COVID will look much different than it does today. Memories and Mojitos and Coolist have some great videos. M&M have more of a travel vlog style and are TA's themselves. Coolist is a single guy looking for a good party resort usually. But his video quality is great. But again those two channels give their biased opinions. Once I find a few resorts I like, I'll join Facebook fan groups of the resorts and then search for those criteria that I listed using the search feature in the group. You'll usually find a lot of pictures. Another key thing I look for is the towel game or chair saving. That's a big turn off for me if it is hard to get a chair. Service is also very important to me. Even if the food isn't as good. Also look at when the resort was built. Anything built within the last 8-10 years will be in good shape. It's a good idea to wait about a year after a new resort opens so it has time to work out the kinks and become fully functional. But Facebook and YouTube have been super helpful to me in deciding which brands and resorts to try and which ones to avoid. Generally speaking, the cheaper the resort, the younger the crowd and more party vibe you're going to get. You will generally get what you pay for. Riu hotels are super cheap but most of them attract a younger crowd and have a party vibe. That's fine if that's what you're looking for. I'm not a TA but I love the process of researching resorts and watching and reading reviews. I've only been to two AI resorts in my 46 years. I'm hoping that once our kids are a little bit older, my wife and I will be able to travel more. They're both still in middle school so we have to plan for child care and go after they are out of school for the summer. We went to Secrets Cap Cana in June 2023 and are planning on going to Secrets Akumal in June 2025. May and June are the beginning of off season in the Caribbean so it's a bit cheaper than during the late fall through early spring months. I can't give advice on the best way of booking or getting the best price. We did book through a TA both times we've been to a resort and it takes the headache and stress out of it. You usually lack the flexibility of pricing with a TA. I could be mistaken here. Once you're booked, your price is locked in. I've found that if you join a Facebook group and start asking questions in there, you might get a message from a TA. Or other members will recommend you one. That's how we found ours. You pay the same price, sometimes less than what you would pay booking directly yourself on the website. If you're new to traveling, I'd definitely suggest using one. Hopefully this helps. Happy travels!
All-Inclusive Vacation Packages - how to find deals online?
Main Post:
I’m wondering if someone can help me search for all-inclusive vacation packages online. I’m looking to get away for a week with my husband and it doesn’t really matter where. We just want to relax for a bit. How do I do an open search to find deals on all-inclusive packages when I don’t have a specific destination in mind? We are flying from Halifax, NS, Canada.
Top Comment: Tripcentral.ca is great for finding packages. It takes a little while to explore all the search options and clickable boxes. You will probably want to click Direct Flights and All Inclusive. Note that there are only a handful of countries that you can fly direct to, from Halifax (Cuba, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Jamaica). If you want to go to St Lucia for example, you have to fly to Toronto, Montreal etc first and change planes. Costco has slightly better prices than almost anywhere, but their website isn’t as good.