· Introduction ·
Let’s be honest, if you are here it is because you have the intention of making a different trip and you have been searching and can’t convince yourself of a vacation that really makes you feel special.
I understand that most of us would like to have a dream vacation or even have the vacations that billionaires and artists have but without having to throw the house out the window, but the reality is that luxuries are not cheap.
If you are looking for how to travel like a rich man but with a very limited budget, this post is not for you and you can find the information you are looking for on our page Can I really know the world for free?
We are going to share with you the best ways to save and get the best prices, but always with an unforgettable luxury vacation in mind.
· Motivation ·
We know that this is not for everyone, some prefer a family vacation, others want to rest and others want to have fun. The reality is that luxury vacations really should be considered as a different category than the ones we mentioned, since although they may or may not include some of the characteristics of the other types of vacations, the reality is that the main characteristics of a luxury vacation are:
- Exclusive
- Service
- Personalized
- Comfort
- Food
- Customization
- Elegance
But before we get into these details and help you find your next experience, we have to consider a few things that we don’t normally read about in most posts, but without them, your luxury vacation may not be the experience you’re looking for.
For any type of trip that we want to make, we always have to follow a few simple steps:
- What are we searching for?
- Destiny
- Transportation (throughout the trip)
- Accommodations
- Experiences including the food.
· Transportation? ·
YES, first of all we have to consider transportation. This does not mean that the first thing we are going to look for is transportation, but if we are not very aware of this point, the whole experience can be ruined.
How many times have we not read the phrase that says:
“enjoy the journey, not the destination”.
In a certain sense thats right, but when we look for luxuries it is much clearer.
Before planning anything we have to take into account that the method we use to reach our destination greatly affects our vacations.
It is proven that most of us define our experiences by how we experience the last 20% of them and when we talk about vacations we have to take it into account. An incredible trip can become a disappointment if we spend the last 12 hours sitting in economy class on a plane after 3 hours in line at an airport and even worse if the trip is with family or in a group.
Just like a good date can end up ruined in its last 20 minutes, so can a great experience.
For that we have to be prepared and regardless of whether the destination we decide has the option of arriving by plane, ship, helicopter or car, we always have to plan for first class.
Of course when we talk about Bussines or Frist Class, we know that this is going to be one of the highest costs of our trip, but it is important that you know that it is also one of the most important, it is the welcome and farewell of the vacations and we want to give you some tips depending on the destination.
So how can we get the best rates traveling above the standard. Well here it depends a lot on what type of transport we need and we are going to give you some advice.
- Plane:
To travel by plane in bussines or in First, the first thing you should know is that you should not look for your tickets in the classic discount pages such as Skyscanner and Scott’s Cheap Flights. These pages have been dedicated to negotiating a discount with the airlines with the least amount of services possible and do not consider other categories.
Here the best options are:
- If you have a credit card with a good travel service included such as American Express Platinum or similar, they always have better rates to travel with discounts if you decide to travel in bussines, but if you do not have them,
- look for pages renowned as Expedia.
Now the best tips to really find the best rates, although you will find many in the different posts here we will give you the only 3 tips that really work and not silly advice like plan your trip with a lot of time…
- Travel on weekends: most bussines seats are bought by companies for their executives and they travel mainly during the week, so on weekends, unlike coach tickets, bussines tickets are cheaper.
- Search Packages: In Expidia or the travel agency you choose, plan a hotel plus plane package, all agencies will give you discounts for doing this, but when searching locate the option that says “I only need accommodations for part of my trip” and there it reduces your stay to one night even if your flight is for more days. You will always get a better price for your business flight.
- Buy in an upgrade: Buy in tourist class and then request the upgrade and pay the difference. Many times if you upgrade until check in or until the airline sends you the upgrade auction you will have a better price but this is risky since you may not find enough seats when you go to upgrade.
Extra TIP:
Always use the page of the travel agency of your country, you will have better prices. For example Expedia:
USA: Expedia.com
Australia: Expedia.com.au
Mexico: Expedia.mx
Germany: Expedia.de
UK: Expedia.co.uk
New Zealand: Expedia.co.nz
Canada: Expedia.ca
etc.
Ship:
When we are going to talk about transportation on our vacation and we talk about ships, obviously we are not referring to a cruise. Cruises, while they may or may not be luxurious, are not a means of transportation for a vacation but rather a destination, which is why cruises will be covered later. here we really want to talk about using a boat as a means of transportation during the vacation.
When we talk about renting a boat, we already know that luxury is included, not everyone can afford it, the problem is knowing where to rent them.
Here, although we can search on Google, the reality is that the best, most luxurious boats with the best offers are not so easily found and there are really only two options.
- Talk to an acquaintance
- Rent it in one of these two agencies:
- Sailo
- World Yacht Group
Helicopter:
Do not hesitate, when you have a destination close to where you would normally go by car, you always have to look for the option of arriving and returning by Helicopter.
Being in the place you can rent the car and obviously right now we will give you the best options but the reality is that if you can get there and return in a fraction of the time, regardless of the luxury of the car in which you go, it is worth it.
Remember time is money, that’s why the time you enjoy on vacation is worth much more than the comfort of a car.
Finally the Cars:
Here it depends a lot on your trip. whether it is as a couple, with family, with friends or alone. the place you went and if it is only to move within the destination or also to arrive and return.
We mention all this since without a doubt the most comfortable thing is to get a means of transport that takes you and brings you to all destinations and activities, but you have to consider that many times the means of transport can be the activity.
Many of us want to drive a Ferrari along the blue coast or not?
Either way, the most important thing is to always have the best ground transportation service at hand and not depend on Uber.
Of course you can rent your car at expedia or discover cars and more, but if what we are looking for is a transportation service, always check first:
And if transportation is the experience, I recommend you see agencies like:
As you can see, transportation is one of the main characteristics of a luxury trip and when you have it really accepted, we can then continue.
· Destination ·
Actually, many people believe that vacations depend on where they are going, but the reality is that this is not true. Indeed the destination can greatly affect the experience, but even if you go skiing in Gstaad, Switzerland, if the transportation, hotel, food and especially the service is bad, no matter the location, you will not be able to have the luxury experience that you are searching.
So what should we pay attention to when we talk about destiny? Well, the first and most important thing is what kind of trip we want to have. Let’s not go looking for too many alternatives and details here. It is a very simple question with very few categories.
Do you want to have:
- An experience involving physical activity.
- An experience of total relaxation or,
- an experience to discover new cultures
Look no further, in these 3 categories enter all the options that you can think of.
Important, if you decide that you want an experience that has more than one of the categories that we mentioned, you MUST change your location during your vacation. If you want to find two or more categories in the same place, you will have to sacrifice a little and you will not be able to appreciate the luxury you are looking for to the fullest.
Having said this, we could spend the entire article talking about the thousands of options of places and activities, but in the end our intention is not to tire you with that, so we are going to link you to some of our favorite blogs that talk about locations and we will focus on giving you the recommendations to get the most out of each one.
Now, since you know what you are looking for, you HAVE to follow these tip if you want to have an unforgettable luxury experience.
Always look for the hotel with the highest category in the place. The reviews are very misleading and the ratings of the public, although they can give you an idea of what you are going to receive, the reality is that everyone has their own agenda and criticizes depending on how it went.
Hotel categories are earned, not bought with customers.
What does this mean…
Always look for a 5 star hotel. If you have the possibility of finding a hotel in your location that has the 5S stars or that is on the list of diamond awards, better.
ALWAYS?…
YES always. This means that if your budget is for the presidential suite in a 4-star hotel or for a suite or normal room in a diamond award hotel, always look for the hotel with the best category. A bigger or nicer room cannot replace everything that the other hotel had to invest in services, food, spa, amenities, etc.
Never change the size of your room for the service.
Remember:
Service = Luxury
As we discussed, I leave you below some blogs with destinations that you will enjoy reading once you know what category of vacation you want:
- Active: The best 20 active holidays
- Relax: World’s 12 Most Relaxing Destinations
- Culture: The Travel Expert
· What to Do? ·
We already have the destination, the hotel and the transportation right?
Well, how do we make the holidays different?
The most important thing at this point is the word PRIVATE.
From now on everything we plan has to be exclusive and private regardless of what they want to sell or negotiate.
Each tour
Every dinner or meal
Every experience or adventure
Everything has to be focused on you and your companions.
Remember that the service is the first thing you are looking for, so more than an expensive or different experience, the first thing is that it be exclusive for you.
Around the world you will find thousands of different activities. You can use guides like Expedia/Luxury to give you some ideas or even search for Exclusive Tours on sites like Tour4Fun.
If you want unique activities of luxurious experiences you can also refer to this article.
But in the end, the best information source that exists to plan your experiences will always be the Concierge of the hotel where you stay as long as you have listened to us and you are in the best hotel in the destination or at least 5 stars.
He is in charge of making your experience different.
The reality is that we almost always ignore it and do not realize that many times what makes a service exclusive is that person like the American Express Black Concierge or the Burj Khalifa Butler, who are the main characteristics that differentiate them.
Now one of the most important parts of any experience. Food.
This is the best recommendation you will receive in your life to know where to eat:
Ask the Concierge to introduce you to the Chef of one, if not the best, hotel restaurant and ask him what places (expensive, local and street) he recommends. Only local people can guide you to a true culinary experience and not only that but they can also give you a real opinion about famous restaurants that often charge more than what they really offer. They always love to give opinios but not many people aske them.
· Final Words ·
As you can see, the reality is that in order to have a luxury trip with unforgettable experiences, you only have to take care of 3 things:
- Destiny
- The hotel
- Transport.
Once you have this, even before you arrive you can talk to the hotel and communicate with the Concierge so that they can prepare your reservations, Tours, Activities and more.
Food and attractions are things that although it never hurts to have in mind something specific that you want to do or eat, the reality is that at the destination it will be much easier, fun and luxurious to take care of it.
Don’t trust your luxuries to an agency that doesn’t know what you really like. It’s not bad to have recommendations, but letting someone take care of everything will not be exclusive to you and they will only sell you the same thing that they already sold to someone else.