Anyone use this All Inclusive trick? Worth it?

wmat983

I seen a trick on YouTube where if you are arriving at your all inclusive resort late in evening would be to book a cheap hotel near airport overnight then travel to your all inclusive the following morning.

I guess the theory behind it is your not getting the benefits from the all inclusive first day you arrive so it would save you some money? Maybe worth it if your all inclusive resort daily rate is expensive? Thoughts? Too much hassle or worth it?

Caz3121

Are you taking about separate flights and accommodation rather than a package?
I am guessing you are meaning if going for 14 nights then 1 night at airport hotel and 13 at AI resort instead of 14 nights at AI.
Things to bear in mind would be check-in time for resort...usually 3pm onwards (not morning) so would have breakfast / lunch to purchase on top of hotel room...all would depend on costs whether worth it

la531983

Wouldn't really work if booking it as a package as you would then have to faff around paying out to not take the transfer from the airport and pay out for taxis yourself, plus you are losing a night out of the 7/14 you have booked at the AI.

And also as said the AI probably won't let you check in until early afternoon.

It's not really a "trick", or a "hack", like these videos would have you believe. 

SW17

There would also be the additional cost of transferring between hotels. I’d say it’s really only worth it if the AI hotel is quite expensive, but everyone has their own view of the quantity of saving that makes it worth the inconvenience. 

Not All Inclusive, but I’ve done something similar in Orlando for Universal. Some of the Universal resorts include theme park Express Passes for hotel guests, and they are valid from the morning of check in date until the end of the day on check out date. These hotels are quite expensive, and with a late flight arrival, the cost of the first night outweighed the benefit, so we stayed in a much cheaper nearby offsite hotel for one night and took an Uber to Universal in the morning. It worked well because the primary on-site benefit was available before official hotel room check in time. As posted above, the saving value for you might depend on the time when you can start enjoying the all inclusive benefits at the hotel, 

DullGreyGuy

You'd need to understand your hotels check in policy and what happens if you arrive earlier than check in time (which is often mid afternoon). Some places will put your bags behind the scenes and allow you to make use of the facilities from any time others may require you to pay for a day pass if you want in before checkin 

In principle it could save you money, just like if you have a very early flight checking out the day before and going to a non-AI hotel could, but its a bit of a hassle potentially.

wmat983

Thanks for your comments, after reading through I guess it would be more hassle than worth unless your resort is like £1000/day and they allowed you to check in and use facilities early in day.

Westin

Gotta love a good self appointed 'travel hack expert' on TikToc or You Tube. #alldoneforviews