Start Pages: Travel Zoo

Since this website is about points and miles, few of you have likely put your hands up. For those who don’t know, Travelzoo is an online travel agency (OTA) that sells trip deals at a price. From trips to Tanzania to islands in Fiji, these deals have everything. Traveling with cash isn’t always a good idea, but sometimes it makes sense, especially if you book through Travelzoo. Let’s take a look.

What Is Travelzoo?

Travelzoo is an online travel service that sells deals for various trips. Sites like Travel Pirates, Groupon, and Costco Travel compete with them. Travelzoo works slightly differently than its competitors because some rates are arranged just for the website, and others are just good deals that the site has found.

Travelzoo wants to help you find cheap travel deals all over the world. If you’re into points and miles, it’s easy to think that buying trip packages is a waste of money. But sometimes, getting deals from Travelzoo makes more sense than saving up points.

This is especially true for places that are expensive or hard to get to and don’t have many points. Be aware that all Travelzoo vacation deals have expiration dates. Most of the time, you won’t be able to find them again once they’re gone. Also, your buy can be very flexible or not at all.

You might find a package that lets you get your money back in full until it runs out. Some people may require a shorter time frame. Still, more may only be available on certain dates or have extra fees during busy times. When you buy a Travelzoo ticket, you should be aware of how flexible it is, especially if you have set trip plans.

Is Travelzoo a Great Deal?

This is probably the question we like to answer the most, especially for people who have never paid for a trip. Whether or not Travelzoo is a good deal for you depends on your needs and where you want to go. Many of these deals include flights in economy class, which you might not want to try. And if you usually pay for things with points, you might not want to spend your money on a hotel. Let’s look at a Travelzoo plan to the Maldives, a popular place for award travelers.

Travelzoo’s Package

Travelzoo is giving people a second chance to buy a 5-night plan to the Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa. Prices change based on the plan you choose, but a beach house can be rented for as little as $3,999:

• The Beach Pool Villa costs $3,999 and has 1900 square feet and a pool.
• Overwater Villa is 1,237 square feet and costs $4,999. It is right on the water.
• Overwater Sunset Pool Villa: $6,499, has a pool, is over the water, and is 1,237 square feet.

These prices are cheaper than those listed on the site, but the Travelzoo deals include much more than just a room. You will also get the following:

• Daily breakfast and a three-course supper
• Bottles of water in the room
• 22% of taxes and tips are already included

If you’ve been to the Maldives before, you probably know how expensive food and drinks are, particularly in the high-end resorts. Even though this deal doesn’t include drinks or lunch, a smart traveler can save money on food by eating breakfast and snacks at the right time.

You can also book straight into an overwater house, which you can’t do when you use points. The Park Hyatt Maldives is additionally on the short list of hotels where you cannot utilize a Suite Upgrade Award to reserve an overwater house ahead of time. You may relocate to an overwater house by paying a cash copay of $600 or more per night.

Booking with the Hotel Directly

So, we know a 5-night stay at this hotel can be booked through Travelzoo for $3,999, but how is this compared to reserving directly with cash? People who value their World of Hyatt elite status might consider making reservations directly to earn the elite night points that come with that, or they may want to use other elite status perks.

The coupon says you can’t use it from December 20 to December 31, 2022, and from January 1 to January 10, 2023. During peak season, which runs from December 15 to 19, 2022, and from January 11 to February 28, 2023, there is also a $150 per-night fee. After buying this deal, you probably want to avoid extra costs, so let’s look at the December 10–15 rates, 2022.

Uses Of Points

Of course, many travelers don’t want to spend any money on their trips, which is a perfectly fine choice. In this case, comparing apples to apples is hard because the Travelzoo coupon is for a room type you can’t get with points.

Still, let’s see how the prices stack up. Your room at a Category 7 hotel will cost you between 25,000 and 35,000 points per night. These times are standard, so you’ll have to pay 30,000 points each night:

It requires you 150,000 points to stay here for 5 nights. Considering that we value each Hyatt point at 1.5 cents, that’s a pretty good deal. You’ll only need 2,250 points to get a beach house. No matter how you look at it, that is a great deal.

On prize nights, you can improve for a cash copay instead. The Travelzoo plan shows that changing to a beach pool house costs $200 or more per night. Overwater homes cost $600 or more per night. If you picked this choice, you would have to give away 150,000 World of Hyatt points worth $2,250 and an extra $1,000 in cash for a total of $3,250.

But remember that both breakfast and dinner are included in the Travelzoo deals. Neither will be part of your salvation unless you are a Globalist. And if you go on a vacation where tacos cost $26, you should expect to spend a lot on food. Plus, when you choose this payout, you lose 150,000 World of Hyatt points that you would have saved and used elsewhere when you used the coupon.

How to Book Travelzoo Packages

It’s easy to buy a Travelzoo deal. How you do will depend on whether Travelzoo is the seller or just sends you to another site. If you buy your coupon through Travelzoo’s website, you must add it to your cart and then check out. If not, Travelzoo will redirect you to the website of the trip company, where you can book directly. In some cases, you’ll require a phone call to make a reservation, but the steps for making a reservation will be clear.

Redeeming Travelzoo Packages

When you buy a Travelzoo deal, you usually haven’t booked the trip. Instead, once you’ve finished shopping, your coupon will tell you how to redeem it. This can mean emailing a hotel or ship line to see if any spots are left. Once you’ve followed the steps for using your coupon, you can confirm your order. After that, you’ll only have to move.

Conclusion

Travelzoo isn’t for everyone, and it’s hard to get people interested in it in a community that’s all about points and miles. But there is a lot of value to be had in the right situations. If you want to go somewhere that doesn’t have big hotels, Travelzoo can help you save money and earn a lot of extra points along the way. But there’s more. Even if you’re going somewhere well-known for point redemptions, you should still check Travelzoo packages to determine if you can get a better deal.