We are in Montreal, Canada and have enough points to fly to Mexico or the Caribbean? Can we go away in February or March and stay at a nice (at least 4-star) all inclusive for around $2,000?

We don't need absolute luxury (obviously), but want very good food, nice, clean rooms, a great beach, and nice facilties. Am I insane to think this?

If you think we can do it, please suggest something - we are very open to location.

Thank you,
Susan

Is this per couple or per person? Easy per person ... more difficult per couple, but if you wait until March I think it's possible. Concentrate your search on the D.R., Margarita Island (off the coast of Venezuela), Cancun, and Playa del Carmen. Charters will be cheaper than reg. flights, so do focus on travel agencies that offer charter trips. There are a lot of good deals on direct charters from Canada to all these locations, though probably more to the D.R. Stars mean nothing in these places, but Apple Vacations in the U.S. does award different "apple" ratings for quality, and these are usually pretty accurate.

Sorry - I forgot some very important information.

We have airline points, so this would be for the resort only.

The price is per couple, but for one week only.

Thank you,
Susan

I assume you mean Canadian $, which will make the budget a bit tighter. How many nights minimm do you want to get away? Doug's suggestion of a charter is good. You might also want to check with Air Canada vacation packages. They have good coverage of the Caribbean with lots of non-stop flights from Toronto. Presumably there are nonstops out of Montreal, too, or you could take the quick hop to Toronto to connect. I don't fly them myself, but if they're similar to American Airlines vacation packages which I have used, you can redeem miles for a portion of the vacation package.

You probably know this, but finding "very good food" (one of your requirements) on a budget at an AI is difficult, even during low season. It might be helpful to us if you tell us which of your requirements could slide, or at least prioritize them.

Ooops, premature posting on my part. I should've asked what airline you have the points with. When you say "points," do they work like frequent flyer miles or can you exchange points at any time with no blackouts or restrictions? If the former, then the chances of your finding any availability is slim to none and it should be your first part you nail down. If the latter, you're golden, I suppose, in terms of the air portion.

My guess is that you'd be able to do around 5 nights on that budget at a moderate AI if you're talking about the land portion only of travel.

If you take airfare out of the equation, I'd say that you could almost certainly find an AI within your price range for March ... still hard for February, though, because that's a super-high season. But you should shop around. The places I recommended are still my recs.

Thank you Doug. I hear everything you are saying. Do you have specific hotels/resorts to recommend? There is so much information out there, it's so hard to narrow it down!

Thanks again,
Susan

There are tons of places to go to. That is the hard part, i.e. deciding which one. Actually only you can pick what suits you best. What I do is look for what suits us, e.g. is it on the beach, how is the pool, nightly entertainment, variety of restaurants, close to a town or other sights to explore, etc. and compare. If you use say Yahoo! travel you can click off what interests you and then compare just those. Half the fun is deciding what resort to pick I think. For us we have looked and really like the Occidental in Punta Cana. Have fun. Larry

I like the Iberostar resorts in the DR, but they are a bit more expensive than some others. Iberostar also has resorts in Mexico. There are now so many resorts in Punta Cana that it's hard to even keep up. We review several of the better options on this site, so I'd encourage you to look there. Posters have their own favorites. What I'd suggest you do is to find resorts that are in your price range for the time you want to go and then investigate quality from there. It's going to save you time and trouble. Many of the very favorite resorts of some posters (Secrets Excellence and Paradisus, for example) are probably out of your price range.

Susan, your here in Montreal where I am. You can find tons of deals for AI's for that price "including airfare" if you are willing to wait until last minute. selloffvacations.com has tremendous deals. If I were you I;d use the points , and enjoy a smallish boutique hotel wherever your carrier flys.

Thanks for all of your help everyone, but I just can't seem to find a way to narrow it down.

I would just like to book an all-inclusive WITHOUT air for February or March, for around $2,000 for 2 for one week. We are very open to almost any Caribbean island, Mexico or Costa Rica.

Does anyone have any recommendations - even just for good Web sites?

Thank you,
Susan

You will have more choice if you let go of the "all-inclusive" idea. There are so many smaller, awesome, hotels in the 4 star range that would be more intimate and luxurious than a big AI categorized as 4 star. www.hotelpuntaislita.com is one.

Well, take a look at www.luxurylink.com and see if there are any nice AI packages there. It's a good place for one-stop browsing to see what's out there and to get a good idea of price structure.

You could also look at www.eliteislandresorts.com which has various AI places on a few islands.

Can't help you with Mexico or the DR, but those are the places you're most likely to find a 4* AI in your price range for that time of year.

Hi Faithie: How's things up north? Have any trips lined up? Getting cold there yet? Cheers, Larry

Sorry folks, momentary highjack.... Hi Larry, alls well here in Montreal. Beautiful weather, leaves on the ground. Hockey and indoor soccer started. We are planning a trip. We want to go to Panama or back to Costa Rica, I really like latin america. We will book last minute like last year, the suprise of "where" adds to the excitement of it all. I have allready done tons of research for Panama, so we'll see! Hope alls well with you and yours, whats planned for you, cruise?

Hi faithie: We gat back late August from a cruise in FP or French Polynesia. You can do a search for my TR or go to: www.cruisecritic.com. and find in their. Its for the Tahatian Princess and its under my screen name AND my real name. Somehow it got entered twice.
A cruise to the Panama canal is a possibility. I want to go to CR too but my better half REALLY doesn't like geckos, lizards, etc. and so I don't think we'll get there. In fact Ihave an aquaintance who is from CR ad he told me the place is full of them and iguanas too. My wife nearly flipped when an iguana came strolling by the pool when we were in St. Thomas. My CR buddy told me the iquanas come to be fed by diners and he said they really like salad. I'll try to pusht heir gentle, vegetarian nature on my wife to try to convince her. Cheers, Larry

Ha!! Well.... There are certainly lotsa critters in Costa Rica. A resident gecko or 2 or 3 in our room last year, lots of BIG iguanas(think Jurassic Park), monkeys chasing moi meme a la picine, monkeys stealing our soy nuts direct from back-pack on beach, as well as a thieving racoon like critter, deer on the beach just to name a "few"!! Of course for my children it was UTOPIA. Glad to hear your news, I'll keep Fodors posted, you do the same. I'll check out the report now. Faith

Well I guess CR will have to wait. And wait. And wait.

I spent a night in Playa del Carmen on the way to Cancun from Belize. That town has certainly changed since the last time I was through several years ago. Tons of restuarants, most still very reasonably priced.

If you can fly 'free', I'd opt for one of the smaller beach properties in Playa, you'll have no problems staying in your budget.