Saving Money on Your Cancún Vacation
How to Save Big on Cancún Trips With Smart Travel Booking Tools
A great way to save money on your Cancún vacation is by purchasing a package that includes a hotel and flights. More often than not, the cost of a package will be less than purchasing these things separately, but you might have to do some digging to get a package with exactly what you want.
Top 10 Websites for Cancún Vacation Packages
Here are the top 10 websites for finding Cancún vacation packages:
1. CheapTickets
CheapTickets is a popular online travel agency that often has great deals. You may notice that the site is owned by Expedia, so the search functionality will look familiar. However, that doesn't mean that CheapTickets and Expedia will have the same prices, so it's not a bad idea to price out your vacation package on both sites to see which one offers the better price.
CheapTickets has tons of great filtering options, including a map feature that allows you to search for hotels by location. You can also narrow your search results by hotel amenities, meal plans, guest ratings, cancellation policies, accessibility, and traveler experience (LBGTQ-welcoming, business-friendly, or family-friendly).
2. Apple Vacations
Apple Vacations specializes in Caribbean, Mexican, and Hawaiian vacations, along with a few other popular destinations, so it's a great site to check out when you're searching for a Cancún vacation.
The site is easy to use and has some great filtering options that help you narrow down your search results by any of a number of factors, including the type of experience, the amenities you want, or the hotel's location.
During the checkout process, you'll be able to add anything from an airport transfer or rental car to trip insurance. Plus, you'll have access to Apple Extras - a selection of tours and activities that you can book along with your hotel and flight.
3. Expedia
Expedia is a popular site for booking travel because it's easy to use and often has great deals. Your Cancún vacation package can be customized to include flights, a hotel, and even a rental car.
Expedia has a great map feature that you can use to find a resort in just the right location. Plus, there are lots of filtering options that will help narrow your search results.
One of the nice things about booking through Expedia is that it has its own rewards program called One Key. With this program, you can earn and use points on eligible trips and access special member pricing. This is a good way to earn rewards when you don't participate in a hotel chain's loyalty program.
4. American Airlines Vacations
Booking your Cancún vacation through American Airlines Vacations might make sense if you're interested in earning or redeeming American Airlines AAdvantage miles.
You'll earn a minimum of 1,000 miles with any vacation package booked through American Airlines Vacations, but there are also special deals that come with up to 30,000 miles! If you're chasing American Airlines elite status, you'll be happy to know that your American Airlines Vacations purchase earns Loyalty Points that will help you earn status.
If you'd rather redeem your American Airlines miles to save cash on your vacation, you can do so through American Airlines Vacations. Unfortunately, you'll only get 1 cent per point in value. We value American Airlines miles at 1.4 cents each, so this doesn't represent a great value. However, if you have miles to spare and would rather spend them on a vacation package instead of flights, this could be a way to make that happen.
5. Getaways by Southwest
Getaways by Southwest is a great option for Southwest flyers since you'll earn Southwest Rapid Rewards points for your Getaways by Southwest purchase!
There's a potential downside, though. Southwest doesn't release a schedule a year in advance like most airlines, so you can't book as far ahead of time as you might like.
6. Kayak
Kayak is a metasearch engine that searches lots of other sites to quickly help you find the best deal. It's a very useful tool to search for flights, hotels, rental cars, and even vacation packages.
One of the nice things about using Kayak is that it's easy to see the price of a specific package from many different websites at once. Kayak will display the lowest price, but you'll be able to see other options (with different flights, for example) by clicking the See all dropdown arrow.
7. Orbitz
Orbitz is a well-established online travel agency that consistently provides a user-friendly experience and often has great deals too.
It even has its own rewards program, Orbitz Rewards, which is a nice perk when booking through a third-party website. You'll earn Orbucks on all of your purchases through Orbitz, which can then be applied to hotels booked through the site.
8. JetBlue Vacations
JetBlue Vacations lets you bundle a Cancún hotel and a flight into 1 single vacation package. The best part is that you can use any combination of cash and TrueBlue Points to pay for your trip! That's great news for travelers with a lot of JetBlue points burning a hole in their pockets.
If you aren't using your TrueBlue points to pay for your trip, you can earn TrueBlue points on your purchase. You'll get 6 points per $1 spent on the airfare portion of your package and 1 point per $1 spent on the hotel and car rental portion.
Another nice feature of JetBlue Vacations is the ability to just pay a $200-per-person deposit at the time of booking. Then you just need to pay off your trip within 30 days of departure for domestic trips or within 45 days of departure for international trips.
Additionally, JetBlue Vacations doesn't charge any change or cancellation fees when your package includes round-trip flights and a hotel stay.
9. CheapCaribbean.com
CheapCaribbean.com is a popular site for searching for all-inclusive vacation packages and it's also great when you're interested in a trip to Cancún.
In addition to being easy to use with lots of great filtering options, the site also allows you to add lots of extras to your package, such as airport transfers and trip protection. Plus, you can even add tours and excursions so you're set before you even arrive in Cancún.
10. United Vacations
United Vacations is a great place to search for Mexico vacation packages, especially if you're a fan of United or live near a United hub. You are limited to United flights, which could be a negative for some and a positive for others.
The great thing about booking through United Vacations is that you'll earn United miles on your vacation package when you provide your MileagePlus number at booking.
Price Comparisons
We've compared prices for two different vacation packages to see how these sites stacked up against each other and which one offered the best prices.
Package #1: 7 nights at Iberostar Grand Paraiso (all-inclusive) plus round-trip flights from Philadelphia (PHL) to Cancún (CUN) for 2 people
Package #2: 7 nights at JW Marriott Cancún plus round-trip flights from San Francisco (SFO) to Cancún (CUN) for 2 people
| Website | Package #1 | Package #2 | | --- | --- | --- | | CheapTickets | $3,180.25 | $2,648.09 | | Apple Vacations | $3,511.43 | $2,832.55 | | Expedia | $3,299.89 | $2,639.09 | | Orbitz | $3,299.89 | $2,648.09 | | JetBlue Vacations | $3,821.57 | $2,599.68 | | Kayak | N/A | $2,046.66 | | Getaways by Southwest | N/A | $2,554.99 | | United Vacations | $3,880.07 | N/A |
The good news is there are deals to be had. The bad news is that there isn't 1 site that always has the lowest price. This means you'll most likely need to price your vacation on a few different sites to find the best price.
Final Thoughts
Cancún is a fantastic vacation destination if you love tropical sunshine and gorgeous beaches. There are many accommodation options, from budget hotels to luxury resorts, that will satisfy any traveler.
The best part is that flights and hotels don't have to cost a fortune - especially when you book them as a package. While we can't guarantee that you'll always save money by booking a vacation package, more often than not we've found that booking a flight and hotel together will cost less.
