Budget Travel: Cancun all-inclusive

So you want to stay on a budget, but you also want to go to Cancun. Cancun is the first city I traveled to in Mexico. I have heard of so many people who have great vacations here, and I helped multiple friends find great flights and all-inclusive resorts I decided to do my own trip there as well. It was my first trip to Cancun, and it was my first all-inclusive experience. I want to go through how to have an inexpensive trip to Cancun, and how I truly feel about all-inclusive.

Plan Your Flights

To start, as I suggest you plan all your trips, the first thing you should do is look at flights. The dates we chose directly correlated with my S.O’s days off in January. We saw that the cheapest place to go (besides Cuba) would be to Cancun.

This is interesting because the high season in Cancun is actually December, Americans and others from the northern hemisphere are always migrating to the equator. That means during the colder months for the northern hemisphere, Cancun is the most expensive.

I have seen that July is actually one of the cheaper months to go to Cancun. If you want to compare flights the only site I use is Skyscanner, It shows all the available flights for the month and the current flights.

PRO TIP: if you want to get cheaper flights, check on a Wednesday night. Don’t like what you see? Clear your cookies and try again next Wednesday. (for more pro tips join my mentoring my team.)

Hotel Options

After you find the flights you feel comfortable with, the next step is finding a place to stay.

Now, this is my favorite part of writing blog posts for you all. All-inclusive resort is something I have never done before. Honestly, I thought it was a waste of money. I always find cheap places to stay through VRBO, or house sitting. When I was looked at the houses to stay in home-sharing, I didn’t feel comfortable with my options.

We also had limitations on where we could stay because of my S.O’s Job. We had to stay in a hotel, or a resort he could report to his job. Then, I did my research about all-inclusive and what it really entailed.

I mainly avoided all-inclusive because of the terms and regulations vegas has on their hotels. Each hotel has a daily resort fee. I always felt these fees were a waste of money until I looked in further that theses fees for all-inclusive mean something completely different.

The all-inclusive resort we stayed at included money towards the spa, a dinner for two at a local restaurant, transportation to and from the airport. All of these things are add up fast in Cancun. After a few days of research, we found the best resort here. Of course, each resort has different pricing at different times. We “upgraded” to a room with a view of the ocean for free after we booked before we got to Cancun because I called when I saw a price drop. The easiest way to get an upgrade is when you see the price drop at another resort.

If you are looking for a cultural experience I still suggest staying with a host on VRBO. The host will allow you to see local outings without feeling like a tourist, but rather a friend of the host. If you want more of a luxurious stay, more bang for your buck so to say, then I would suggest all-inclusive.

When to book

I usually suggest booking six months in advance. Cancun, is another story, every 7th seat booked to Cancun the flights will either go up or down. Stay with me here. If the flight is booked full and they need to add an additional flight for your dates, prices will drop dramatically. The easiest way to find the drops is by putting a “watch” on flights. Skyscanner does a really good job with this and even send emails when there are drops or if prices are raised.

Let’s do some math, a flight has around 200 seats before its full. The first 7 that are available to book will be the cheapest and hardest to get, but no worries, because flight prices go up slowly. SkyScanner will alarm you when there are huge shifts in price, not $10-$12. If the airline companies are having a hard time filling a time, that one will be cheaper. so checking once or twice a week is ample enough times to get the fill on how fast certain times fill up.

Weather

When we were in Cancun in January it had a few days of overcast, a little windy, but overall great day drinking weather. I highly suggest checking the weather before booking your flights but here are some quick guidelines on the weather in Cancun.

The months of high rainfall include September through January.

Hottest months include April through September.

The best place to look at the weather in Cancun is here.

Itinerary for Cancun

Lastly, you need to look into what you really want to see while you are in Cancun. Are you interested in staying at the beach all day? Or are you more interested in the culture? Did you get all-inclusive because you wanted to have drinks in your hand all day by the beach with your best friend? Or are you traveling in Cancun to learn more about the islands that surround it, little day trips?

Personally, we wanted to walk up and down the beach, and enjoy our all-inclusive resort. We spent more time at the beach than the pool but I can see why some families would rather set up inside the resort rather than by the ocean.

There were a few days we did venture out to an outdoor mall or snorkeling. We took the bus (which was less money if you use pesos vs. US dollars.) I always suggest taking public transit to new places. Do your research ask the hotel staff or your hosts what transit is the safest for tourists. But taking public transit really helps you get around and learn about your surroundings.

If you aren’t into malls Or sitting at the beach there are a few day trips I highly recommend. There is a little island right off of Cancun called Cozumel. there are a few ferries to and from the island each day. Have you heard of Playa del Carmen? The ferry goes to and from that beach. You can buy your tickets ahead of time or show up and buy them at the ferry dock.

If that isn’t enough adventure for you Cancun also hosts swim with sharks or venturing through caves. There is a lot of fun activities to do in Cancun that is specific to the lands foliage and biological niche. If you need more ideas this is a great post of what can be done!

Price Break Down

-Resort total: $1100
-Flight total: $700
-Transportation total: $10
– Food: $80
-Extra: whatever people have budgeted
Total: $1890
People: 2
Per person: $945
Days: 6
Amount: Per person per day $157.50

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