Booking on BA holidays vs Sandals direct

[phil-lavin]

Hi Folks,

Just about to book Sandals Grand St Lucian. I’m usually a fan of booking hotels directly – I often find it’s cheaper and you’re more likely to get an upgrade when you arrive.

That said, the Avios benefits of booking this through BA holidays are substantial. I think it’s about 24k Avios for booking with BA holidays + BA Amex vs ~9k for booking direct with BA Amex. BA is about £61 more expensive than Sandals so the Avios seem worth it.

I already booked Reward Flights with a 241 voucher so there’s no TPs applicable here – it’s a hotel only booking.

Before I go ahead and book with BA, is there a compelling reason not to?

Thanks for the advice

[AndrewT]

Check what price it is through hotels.com, which normally has 10-12% cashback through TCB.

[phil-lavin]

AndrewT wrote:

Check what price it is through hotels.com, which normally has 10-12% cashback through TCB.

Hmmm. It’s actually £334 cheaper on hotels.com and, as you say, there’s cashback.

Any disadvantages of booking it on hotels.com? I read that Sandals do not allow agents to discount… which doesn’t appear to be the case here.

[Tracey]

Have you looked at luxurylonghaul dot com? They are Sandals specialists, formally got 2 go travel. Haven’t used them myself, but the one time I stayed at a Sandals resort a few people we spoke to said they gave the best prices.

[masaccio]

Even if you did get a room upgrade, there are so many room categories, I would expect it to be a minor difference. If you have not already done so, a Club Level room is worth it as it’s easier to book restaurants and you can get breakfast as room service.

phil-lavin wrote:

Any disadvantages of booking it on hotels.com? I read that Sandals do not allow agents to discount… which doesn’t appear to be the case here.

We’ve been to Sandals resorts a half dozen times and we have never booked direct. The only advantage of direct is that you can use your Sandals Select rewards, which you get regardless of how you book, to book stays at a discount. But whenever I’ve looked, the official discount through this route has always been unimpressive. The same goes for booking in-resort which they always claim is a great deal, but isn’t.