Our Budget Caribbean Vacation to Trinidad 

Our Budget Caribbean Vacation to Trinidad 

Are you looking for an adventure that won't break the bank? Look no further than the beautiful island of Trinidad! With its vibrant culture, stunning landscapes, and warm, welcoming people, Trinidad has become an increasingly popular destination for travelers. But how can you make the most of your trip without spending a fortune? In this blog post, we will share our travel hacked journey to Trinidad.

Getting There: Finding the Best Deals

2023 was a very busy travel year for us. In 2023 we traveled to, Jamaica completely free (including airfare and a 5-night stay at all inclusive resorts), Trinidad, England, and Switzerland.  Since we had so many trips in 2023, we were paying cash for airfare, so we wanted to find the cheapest flights.  To find which airlines had direct flights from New York to Trinidad,  we searched the major travel discount sites (Priceline, Expedia, etc.) for direct flight deals. We narrowed our flights down to the cheapest time we wanted to go.  We took Caribbean Airlines, and booked directly with the airline, instead of through a discount travel site.   By booking our tickets well in advance and being flexible with our travel dates, we managed to snag an incredible deal. Being open to different departure dates and times can save you significant money! The best way to snag travel deals is to stay flexible. Travel costs will vary, compare different travel plans to find the best flight time at a good price. Be willing to put the effort into trying different scenarios. 

Since we went on so many trips in 2023, we didn't use points for this airfare. However, we did earn bonus points on the cost of the airfare.  If you wanted to use points for airfare good options would be using Capital One travel eraser, transferring Chase or Amex travel points to an airline, or using any airline points you may have accumulated. Jet Blue also had nonstop flights from NYC to Trinidad, however, the Caribbean Airlines schedule worked better for us.  If you have Jet Blue points, or the Jet Blue Credit card, this may be a good option for you. Check if any of your travel reward cards have bonus categories for travel. In my case, I chose to use my Chase Hyatt card for the airfare cost as travel is a bonus category, and I was trying to reach my $15,000 spend on the card to earn another free night award. Other popular airlines also fly to Trinidad including  United Airlines, American Airlines, and British Airways. Check out the available flight options from your hometown airport. Google Flights is also a good option to get an idea of which airlines have cheap flights. 

Accommodation: Staying in Style on a Budget

Here is where the travel hacking came into play. As you all know, I am a loyal Amex Hilton Surpass card holder, so I often have Hilton points available. I earn Diamond Status through my spend on my Surpass credit card. That being said, we stayed for 7 nights at the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre for the price of 2 nights. Since we are Diamond members were able to use the Executive Lounge which also gave us free breakfast, snacks, and water which saved a lot of money as well. 

I booked our stay in 2 separate reservations. The first 5 nights were for a total of 184,000 points, and I booked the next 2 nights using cash. This goes along with the theory of booking Hilton hotel reservations using points in multiples of 5 to take advantage of the 5th night free when using all points for a reservation. Check out our post on the Hilton Honors Program Overview to learn more about the 5th night free. 

The Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre was a very nice hotel. The outdoor pool area is a true oasis, that the kids loved. For those looking to stay active, the fitness center was quite large for a hotel gym and well-equipped. There were several on-site restaurants and room service was available. The guest rooms were pretty standard fare, for a double queen room. While in Trinidad, we enjoyed white-sand beaches, several nature preserves and learned some of the history of the island. Our one week trip to Trinidad was a wonderful experience. Remember to be flexible to find the best time to travel (but be mindful of hurricane season and the wet season).