Discover: Unlock luxury hotels at bargain prices
Are you dreaming of hitting a beach in Bali?
Maybe you want a staycation in Sydney?
Or is Thailand talking to you?
If you long for a luxury hotel stay but don’t think you can afford it – think again.
Travel package websites have helped open the world of luxury travel to more people in recent years.
With discounts of up to 78% available on some deals, you could check in to a four-star or five-star resort for the price of a cheap hotel if you play your cards right.
If you’re looking for a top travel hack - this is it.
Where can I go with travel package deals?
Travel package deals can be found for various destinations worldwide, through multiple providers.
These include:
Luxury Escapes – Offers a rotating range of hotels and resorts around Australia and properties in international destinations like Bali, Thailand, Fiji, Vanuatu, The Maldives and Vietnam.
TripADeal – Offers a rotating range of international destinations for hotel packages and tours, including Bali, Thailand, The Maldives and Vietnam.
MyHoliday – Offers flight and hotel packages for some top destinations, including Queensland, Bali, Fiji, Vanuatu, Cook Islands, Hawaii and Vietnam.
ALDI Holidays – Offers a rotating range of hotel package deals for destinations in Australia and overseas, such as the Gold Coast, Whitsundays, Bali and Fiji.
Jetstar Holidays – Offers budget-friendly package deals to many destinations it flies to, including properties in Australia, New Zealand, Bali and Thailand.
How travel package deals work
Typically, these travel package deals come loaded with numerous inclusions beyond just a nice hotel room.
Some packages will include daily breakfast, nightly or welcome drinks, airport transfers, early check-in or late check-out, massages, free parking or resort credits.
Such inclusions could save you hundreds of dollars of spending money during your stay.
Some providers – including Luxury Escapes – let you instantly select a deal and check availability for your preferred dates.
Alternatively, you can buy the deal instantly or give it as a gift and choose specific dates later.
How much can you save with a travel package deal?
Let’s take a deeper look at the real savings that can be had by booking a travel package deal to see whether they are really a good travel hack.
At the time of writing this article, Luxury Escapes had a deal for sale at the Double-Six Luxury Hotel Seminyak in Bali.
A standard’ Leisure Suite’ was available for five nights from $1,999, with the package including:
Daily breakfast
Daily lunch, dinner or afternoon tea
One-time set menu dinner at Plantation Grill
One hour of daily free-flow cocktails at Double-Six Rooftop Sunset Bar
One hour of daily free-flow cocktails at Lagoon Bar
Choice of a 60-minute Balinese massage or a 90-minute traditional bliss massage per adult
A welcome cocktail per adult
Access to the Owners Lounge on checkout with free-flow drinks
Guaranteed upgrade from Junior Leisure Suite to Leisure Suite
One child stays free, sleeping on a sofa bed with daily breakfast
Three hours of daily kids’ club access
We found availability at the Luxury Escapes base rate of $1,999 for a stay from January 21-26, 2025.
We then visited the hotel’s website to compare pricing for those dates.
The cheapest price for a Leisure Suite for two adults and one young child was $2594, including daily breakfast for two people and welcome cocktails.
However, this rate did not include all the other benefits, such as daily meals, drinks, and massages.
At the time of writing, the approximate value of these benefits was:
A main meal for dinner at the Suzie-Q restaurant costs around $12 AUD per person
A multi-course meal at the Plantation Grill restaurant costs upwards of $50 AUD per person
One signature cocktail at the Double-Six Rooftop Sunset Bar costs around $12 AUD per person
One 60-minute Balinese Massage at the Acqua Perla Spa costs upwards of $70 AUD per person
It quickly becomes easy to see why Luxury Escapes claims savings of up to 61% on this package deal.
In this scenario, there is a saving of 30% on the room alone – before any of these added extras are considered.
Travel package deals within Australia
We have also tried out these travel package deals for getaways within Australia, including to the Gold Coast.
We recently stayed three nights at the Hilton Surfers Paradise on a Luxury Escapes deal, which included:
Daily buffet breakfast for two
A welcome drink per person
A $100 Resort Credit
Underground parking for one car
Free upgrade to a Deluxe Room with partial ocean and city views
The package deal cost us $749 for three nights over a weekend.
This five-star hotel regularly charges at least $346 per night for such a stay – or $1,038 across three nights without any added extras.
Buffet breakfast at this hotel usually costs $45 per adult per day – equating to an additional $270 across three days.
Three days of parking normally costs $81, and two glasses of wine would cost around $26.
We used our additional $100 resort credit for daily coffees and a lunch one day, and we used the car parking for our hire car.
We can comfortably say that using a package deal more than cut the cost of our stay in half.
Summary
Hotel package deals can save you stacks on your next stay, whether you’re bound for Bali, looking to get some sun on the Gold Coast, feel like kicking back in Cairns or want to do a staycation in Sydney or Melbourne. Platforms like Luxury Escapes, TripADeal, ALDI Holidays and others provide discounts of up to 78% on some package deals, making luxury travel a lot more affordable. By comparing package prices to individual booking costs, you can easily see the significant savings that these deals can provide. This is one of our favourite travel hacks to save money on stays in Australia and overseas.
Written By: Chris
Updated: October 2024