How We Saved $15k on a Trip to The Maldives

Faraway islands, pristine white sand, and crystal clear blue water. If that doesn’t sound like the definition of paradise, I don’t know what is.

The Maldives sits highly on the bucket lists of many travelers for those exact reasons. Considered a luxury destination, it may seem like an unreachable destination unless you have some seriously deep pockets. However, many don’t realize it’s actually quite possible to do on a budget or for basically nothing if you’re strategic.

If this sounds too good to be true, I promise it’s not!

With some major travel hacking, you can turn this aspirational destination into an achievable feat. Using travel reward points allowed us to stay at a 5-star resort and save thousands of dollars!

If you’re wondering how we saved money traveling to the Maldives, then this post is for you.

Airfare Costs To The Maldives

Getting to the Maldives and your resort is an experience in itself. Travelers will fly into the capital of Malé at the Velana International Airport (MLE). Since we visited the Maldives as part of our trip around Southeast Asia, we flew directly from Kuala Lumpur to Malé via Air Asia. Since this flight was on the cheaper side, we paid for it with cash.

If you’re interested in booking with points or miles, some airlines that fly to Malé are Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, and Etihad Airways.

Hotel Transfers

Depending on which resort you stay at, you’ll either catch a seaplane or boat transfer from Malé. Right outside of the international airport is where your resort will organize the pickup. The hotel transfer is relatively expensive and can range anywhere from $100 – $800+ roundtrip, depending on the distance.

Unfortunately, you can not use points or miles to pay for the transfer. However, it is possible to offset the cost if you have a credit card with a travel credit benefit. One example is the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card that provides $300 reimbursement on your statement annually for travel-related expenses.

Hotels

Though the Maldives may seem like a speck on the map, there are actually over 100 resorts to choose from. From well-known property brands to local boutique options.

Finding the right one for your holiday may seem like a daunting task, but there is absolutely one for every kind of traveler.

Where We Stayed in The Maldives

We picked the W Maldives based on several reasons. First, we wanted a resort to redeem our points for the entire stay, which has a fun, hip ambiance, and, lastly, a 5-star PADI dive center to complete our scuba diving certification. The W ticked all of these boxes and then some!

You can read my full resort review here: Where to Stay in The Maldives: W Maldives Review

How Much the Resort in the Maldives Would Cost If we paid cash

When I mentioned deep pockets earlier in this post, I wasn’t kidding.

Our room for a 5-night stay at the resort during our dates would have set us back over $15,000 USD alone, which does not include the cost of the seaplane transfer, meals, or activities we planned on doing during our stay. We booked the Wonderful Beach Oasis, which is considered their base-level room on the island. It’s a lovely beachfront space but not the overwater bungalows that the Maldives is famous for. Booking an overwater villa will increase the cost even more.

While this amount may sound insane, it’s actually quite ordinary to spend that on a room in the Maldives.

Pay with Points

Learning to leverage points and loyalty status was instrumental to making our trip to the Maldives a reality. My fiancé and I both accumulated enough points to book our entire 5-night stay through our Starwood Preferred Credit Cards. We both earned 75,000 points (each) from the sign-on bonus. Unfortunately, this card no longer exists due to the merger between Starwood and Marriott.

The equivalent to the Starwood card now is the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card. There is currently a sign-on bonus of 125,000 points for those interested if you hit the minimum spend upon card opening.

At the time of booking, the W Maldives was a category 5 hotel with Starwood. For 60,000 points a night, we booked the base-level Beach Oasis. After the merger, the hotel was recategorized to Marriott’s top tier, level 8. Now, you can expect to redeem around 85,000 points per night for a standard stay.

Additionally, by being a Marriott Bonvoy member, you can take advantage of their book 4 nights and get the 5th-night free reward. This is applicable whether you are paying by points or cash. Considering one night costs upwards of $1000 or 85,000 points, this is a great cost-saving incentive to extend your stay.

Additional Expenses in the Maldives

Holiday Dinner Gala

If you happen to stay during a major holiday, such as Christmas or New Year, a mandatory dinner gala is added to your reservation. We planned our stay during New Year’s Eve, and that gala set us back $600 each. This cost includes the ultimate all-you-can-eat and drink party on the beach.

While there are definitely better things we could have put that $1200 towards, the W sure knows how to throw a party.

Activities and Excursions

Though you can easily spend your entire stay lounging on the resort and still have a fabulous time, for those thrill-seeking travelers, the Maldives is the ultimate playground. The W offers many water activities and day excursions to keep guests entertained.

Below is a shortlist of activities but there are many more:

• Jet skiing ($295 per hour)
• Big game fishing ($900+ for 4 hours)
• Parasailing ($115)
• Scuba diving ($100 single dive, not including equipment rentals)
• Snorkeling Excursion to whale sharks ($450)
• Sunset cruise ($160)
• Glass Kayak ($55)

We scuba-dived during our stay, something I highly recommend! The water and sea life in the Maldives is amazing! This cost will vary on how many dives you would like to do and whether you’re already a certified diver or looking to take a course.

Beware of the ++

Before traveling to the Maldives, I had never heard of the term ++ (plus-plus). It basically means that these base prices are subject to an additional service charge and the Maldives Goods and Service Tax (GST).

For example, at dinner, an option for unlimited drinks may look something like this: $55++ per person. At your resort, I recommend confirming the current service rate with the staff, as this is something to consider when budgeting expenses for your trip.

How much can you expect to spend on food, drinks, and/or activities in the Maldives?

At check out, we asked the staff what the average bill for expenses charged to the room for a week-long stay was. They said around $4,000-5,000.

Also curious about the most spent on the resort, the staff said a Saudi prince had stayed and racked up a bill of over $200K. They didn’t provide details, but I’m certain it was an epic time.

While most of us are far from royalty, nor have thousands of dollars to blow on a week-long holiday in the Maldives. I’m happy to share that although we visited in the peak season, we spent below the weekly average.

Money-Saving Tips For The Maldives

Visit in the Off-Season

Luckily, the weather is warm and sunny practically year-round, but there is a dry and rainy season. The rainy season is May to October when you can expect to see higher winds and 5 or more inches of rain each month. The heavy rains are often brief periods that pass over the islands quickly and likely won’t hinder your experience.

Booking during the low season, you’re more likely to find better deals for cash and point redemptions. By deals, I mean this by Maldives standards which are still expensive when compared to most destinations.

Don’t Book Too Early

While you may think booking early will save you money, it can actually cost more.

We checked the prices periodically leading up to our trip and found them cheaper the closer it got. Hotels will slash prices if they are not near capacity or have cancellations to entice travelers.

If you are okay with waiting until the very last minute, you’ll save the most money booking then.

Leverage Elite Status for a Room Upgrade

While an overwater villa may seem like a must-book for a trip to the Maldives, it is possible to get upgraded to one if you have elite status. We were lucky to receive one for our last two nights, which you can read more about in my W Maldives Hotel Review post.

While an upgrade is not guaranteed, if you’re willing to take the gamble, this could potentially save you thousands of dollars.

BYOB and Snacks

As expected, the main expense during your stay will be food and drinks. Since the vast majority of goods are imported into the island nation, the prices are high! A burger and fries alone are about $50, while alcoholic drinks are around $25+ each.

Don’t forget the ++. Can you see how quickly this can all add up? While the resort is the entire island, there are no “cheap” options to avoid this.

Although you’ll want to splurge on a nice dinner (or a few) to experience the local cuisine, plan to designate a space in your luggage to bring your own snacks and alcohol. You can eat this to hold you over between meals and to avoid a fat bill upon check out.

My favorite snack to pack is a cup of noodles as most rooms come with a water heater for tea.

Marriott Bonvoy Elite Breakfast Benefit

Another cost-saving tip for food and drink is the Marriott Elite breakfast benefit. We used this every day, and it saved us a lot of money! Not only is the breakfast complimentary, but it’s ALL YOU CAN EAT. Our strategy was to eat breakfast in the late morning and completely stuff ourselves. This way, we’d be too full for lunch and maybe only need a small snack before dinner.

Final Thoughts

Although the Maldives is categorized as a luxury destination, that doesn’t mean the cost has to be too. There are many ways to avoid this and save thousands of dollars. All it takes is a little strategizing to earn the rewards needed and made available by so many property brands and credit cards.

The amount of time and effort it takes to do this is well worth it! You can be living your best “boujee on a budget” life in the Maldives in no time.