How much will you pay for a Club Med vacation ?
In my younger single days, I love to go to Club Med for a few days. In Asia, the minimum is 3D 2N. It is a wonderful way to relax. However, I always thought it is a much more suitable vacation spot for families with children. They offer great childcare facilities where the kids are entertained the whole time & they even learnt different kinds of sports. I heard from my friends the Club Med ski resorts are the best. Your kids are so exhausted when you get them for dinner that they eat so much, with great speed (many of you probably like to hear that) and they don’t fight over bedtime.
So, I have been waiting patiently for my youngest to turn 4 so that I can feel completely relaxed sending all of them off to the Club Med Mini Club. (I have my reasons for choosing 4 years old as a cutoff) Finally, I started looking and I spoke to the agent over the phone yesterday. My husband is always in favor of the idea. Boy, he had no idea how much it was going to cost. (We forgot that we were not living in Asia anymore)
My first choice dates were Dec 20 to 27, 2008. It costs a total of $12,460 for a family of 2 adults & 3 kids, excluding airfare. Using the Amex Platinum travel perks where you buy 1 ticket & get 1 free, our total airfare would be approximately $3300. Close to $16,000 for a weeks’ vacation ! GASP ! This would be our most expensive one so far.
Now, they only have Saturday to Saturday block & that means the kids will have to miss a few days of school anyway. SO, I decided to check out the other dates that has school holidays option.
Oct 4 to 11, 2008 $3,200 ******
Nov 22 to 29, 2008 $ 9,245
Feb 28 to Mar 7, 2009 $7,868
Apr 4 to 11, 2009 $9,245
***** Best Option
See, researching pays off. I don’t see why we can’t take our “year end” vacation a little earlier. I checked out the flights for Oct 4 & 11. The total airfare will cost approximately $2400 with the same Amex Platinum Travel Buy 1 get 1 free perk. The whole vacation will cost about $6000 – a whopping $10000 savings. No brainer.