Enjoy a luxury vacation without the luxury price tag *

The luxury vacation might seem like it’s for the most exclusive of clubs. It’s only the elites, the celebrities, and royalty that get to enjoy the feeling of a private jet, a world-class hotel, the chance to experience absolutely everything a destination has to offer. But that’s not necessarily true. Here, we’re going to look at some of the secrets that the elite travel gatekeepers of the world don’t want you to know. We’re going to look at how to cut the costs of that luxury holiday big-time.

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Finding far-flung destinations for less

The longer a flight, the more expensive it will be to find a direct route. There’s no doubt about that. So, how do you reach your bucket list destinations for less? It’s all about being flexible. Last-minute flights can be extraordinarily cost-effective for those who aren’t particularly picky about which bucket list location they want to visit whether that’s heading to Bali or making Belmond Cap Juluca reservations. But you can also save a lot of money if you’re less picky about how convenient the flight is. For instance, layover flights with connections might take longer but they can cost a lot less and the same can be said for overnight flights, too.

It’s all in the timing

If you have a particular destination in mind, then it pays to think specifically about when you should go. If it’s not obvious enough already, you want to avoid peak times above all else as they can get astronomically expensive. Learn more about when that particular destination’s off-season is. It does change for each country and even each city, in some cases. For instance, April is the cheapest time of year to visit London while August is the cheapest time of year to visit Tokyo. It’s not too difficult to find out when a destination’s “off-time” is. With fewer customers, many of the tourism industries and hotels are going to be slashing their prices down, big-time.

Get the all-access pass

Luxury travel isn’t just about opulence or getting to go to locations you might not be able to afford otherwise. That’s a part of it, of course. But the truth is that with money comes the freedom to enjoy a lot more of the attractions than other tourists. Nowadays, you might not necessarily need money to achieve that, however. More and more destinations are offering city passes or travel passes that allow you to make one payment to see some of the location’s biggest attractions without having to rack up a bill that charges you for them individually. That way, you can ensure you have the freedom and the budget to see more of the places you’re actually visiting.

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Fly in style

When it comes to the luxury holiday, how do you imagine the average elite customer traveling? It’s certainly not in the cheap seats of an airline flight. Private flights are more expensive, there’s no doubt about that, but if you learn more about charter companies, you can find that sometimes they can be a lot more affordable than you think. For instance, certain shorter routes can cut your costs in a small jet by a couple grand. You can save even more, however, on what are called “empty leg” flights, which can get up to a whopping 75% off. This is when a private jet would otherwise be flying empty because they need to reach another destination but don’t have any passengers on the flight to that destination. Empty leg flights aren’t rare, so get in contact with charter services and see if they have any deals that you would be silly to miss.

Flood that inbox

Much in the same vein of keeping an ear out for “empty leg” flights from private jets, there are plenty of opportunities that other providers in the industry offer as well. Airlines and hotels are almost always offering some sort of discount, but most of those aren’t advertised very widely. Start building up a mailing list subscription frenzy, signing up for emails from airports, specific airlines, and luxury hotels in all the destinations you would like to visit. You would be surprised how often you get offers and how low they can go. Hotel coupons and vouchers can even offer free access to the spa, a free meal, or other little luxuries to boot.

New and shiny

It might sound counterintuitive, but sometimes the newest, hottest thing can actually be one of the least expensive. This is especially true of luxury hotels. When new boutique accommodations open up, they normally have huge discounts. This is because they want to attract as much attention, as many guests, and as much publicity and word-of-mouth as possible. Keep up to date on the newest luxury hotels opening across the world. You might find that you get to be amongst the first in those doors, even before all the celebrities and business elite get the chance to enjoy it.

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Get some bang for that buck

When you visit a hotel, make sure that you sign up for their loyalty system. You might not necessarily think you will visit again, but if another big discount rolls around, you could be missing out on the rewards you might have earned from your last trip. Plus, it functions much like subscribing to a regular email except those with a loyalty account are even more likely to get better deals in future. More and more hotels are offering reward systems for loyal customers and many of those hotels will have other branches in other destinations using the same system. So, staying in one place could end up saving you money in an entirely different destination.

By keeping an eye and an ear out for opportunities, taking advantage of flexible thinking, and signing up to more cards and emails than your inbox can handle, you can start enjoying luxury holidays for a lot less. They are likely to require a bit more budgeting than your usual travel experience, but they are far from unattainable. Treat yourself, go for that luxury trip.

* This is a collaborative post and may contain affiliate links