It’s easy to smile at Beaches Turks & Caicos; it’s even easier when you know you scored a great deal.
There are lots of ways to save money on a trip to Beaches all-inclusive family resort in Turks and Caicos. Even so, the resort is expensive and you'll need to decide if Beaches is worth it for your family. Our family loves Beaches and we've stayed there three years in a row because we found a way to score a 18% discount through our airline.
You might see advertisements or coupon code websites that advertise "65% off trips to Beaches," but that's not as good a deal as it sounds. 65% off is the base discount that Beaches advertises for most of the year: There are better ways to save money.
Here are some tips (and links) for getting the best deal on a trip to Beaches Turks and Caicos:
When Is the Cheapest Time to Go to Beaches?
The cheapest time to visit a Beaches resort is the week before Labor Day, according to our family's research. However, we wouldn't risk a trip during hurricane season. Dollar for dollar, we think April or May is the best time to go to Turks and Caicos. The weather is still good in these months and a spring trip can cost 80-90% less than a trip in peak season: December, January, February or March.
As a general rule, Beaches resorts are cheapest when children are in school.
When Is the Best Time to Book a Trip?
Sometimes, the best time to book a vacation is after something bad happens. In Spring 2016, our family booked a weeklong trip to Beaches, with airfare, for around $5,000. People were afraid to travel to the Caribbean that year because the Zika virus was constantly in the news. (Turks and Caicos was not impacted by Zika-carrying mosquitoes at that time.) That misplaced fear turned into a great deal for our family.
In September 2017, Beaches Turks and Caicos resort was severely damaged by Hurricane Irma. Our family booked a trip shortly afterward because we were confident that everything would be rebuilt by May 2018. (Not only did Beaches rebuild, they actually improved the resort!) Of course, sometimes bad news is bad news. We would never plan a Caribbean trip under the threat of a hurricane, no matter how good the price was.
Statistically, we’ve found that the best time to book a trip to Beaches is about 54 days in advance. However, we always start our comparison shopping at least three months before we plan to travel.
Beaches Promo Codes and Promotions
Beaches has a deals section on its website. There are lots of offers there, but they can be downright confusing. Each promotion has its own terms, conditions and fine print and some of the promotions may only be active for short periods of time. Here are links to some of the recurring promotions and coupon codes that are available:
Best Value Suites (aka, “777 Sale”)
Girls Getaway Package (Promo Code: BFF)
Lastly, there is also a webpage that is dedicated to specials at Beaches Turks & Caicos. It's mostly a rehash of the pages listed above, however, some short-lived seasonal deals may also be included.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals
Some websites have a year-round countdown page dedicated to Black Friday deals, but Beaches isn't one of them. The best Black Friday sale that we've seen for Beaches Turks & Caicos was a 7% discount on select rooms as well as a free pair of Waterford crystal champagne flutes and a $500 spa credit for bookings of six nights or more. This was a one-day sale and the free gifts required a separate registration that had to be completed within 72 hours of booking.
Similarly, we once saw an extended sale (spanning Black Friday to Cyber Monday) that included a catamaran cruise for up to five travelers as well as a family photo shoot and photo album, plus, a free Xbox One. Other promotions included the catamaran cruise, but swapped the family-themed extras for romance: a couples massage and a private candlelit dinner.
Our take: Beaches' Black Friday sales seem less about discounted bookings and more about having vacation extras tossed in free of charge. Alas, there is no shortage of websites that will falsely claim the biggest-discount- or best-deal ever. Keep a healthy dose of skepticism and mind the fine print.
Rewards Program
Sandals, the parent company of Beaches, has a Sandals Select Rewards Program. This loyalty program is more focused on providing perks than discounts. Members who stay at the resort for 70 paid nights (yes, 70!) quality for a free 7-night stay. We're guessing you're not impressed by this.
Loyalty and Travel Desk
Although we weren’t impressed by the Sandals’ loyalty program, we are impressed by the deals that are available within the Loyalty and Travel Office at the resort. The idea of being "sold" while on vacation didn't appeal to us (timeshare presentations, ugh), so we ignored this on-site travel agent for years. This prejudicial thinking may have been a mistake.
The absolute best price to be had for an all-inclusive vacation at a Sandals-owned resort is often the price that is quoted to returning customers who are present at a Sandals-owned resort.
Live and learn. Of course, the Loyalty and Travel Desk isn't without its trade offs. A non-refundable deposit is required, and although travel dates and booking windows are fairly flexible, the idea of booking a vacation while on vacation still feels strange to us.
Airline Vacation Packages (our discount of choice)
Lots of airlines offer vacation packages and they can be a sweet deal for members of frequent flyer programs. Our family is part of the jetBlue True Blue program and we also have a jetBlue Mastercard. By booking our trip to Beaches Turks and Caicos via the jetBlue Getaways website, we get 12 points for every dollar we spend. That's works out to an 18% discount! It would be nice to get cash back instead, but we're happy for the points since jetBlue is our airline of choice. Here are links to the various airlines that offer Beaches TCI vacation packages:
Reward Credit Cards
jetBlue offers two travel reward credit cards: The JetBlue Card (free) and The JetBlue Plus Card ($99). The Plus card is a great value if you fly jetBlue often. Customers who spend $1,000 in the first 90 days are awarded 50,000 bonus miles (a $750 value) and 12 points are collected for every dollar spent on jetBlue’s website (that’s around 18% of the purchase price refunded!). The card also comes with perks like free checked bags and 50% in-flight discounts. We recently upgraded to this card (unfortunately, not in time for our trip to Dreams Punta Cana all-inclusive resort).
A Beaches credit card is available through Visa. By our calculations, you can accumulate rewards of up to 2.4% of what you spend at the resort. That’s not nearly as good a deal as the jetBlue cards above.
Police, Firefighter, Military and FEMA Discount
Beaches has a standing discount of 10% off (on top of other discounts and promotions) for active U.S. and Canadian police officers, military, federal emergency management workers and members of the International Association of Firefighters Members. There are instructions on how to get this discount on Beaches website. ID is required and the discount does not apply to group bookings, so for a family, the final discount will be much less than 10%.
Group Rates
If you’re planning to travel with a large group (e.g. weddings, family reunions, work conferences, etc.), you can score a better rate. Here is a sample of the group specials that Beaches offers.
