Mexico is one of the most affordable places to travel to especially if you live in North America. There are various airlines that fly nonstop to popular tourist areas such as Cancun and there is plethora of different accommodation options.
We have been to Mexico before as one of our first international trips and stayed in Sian Ka'an area not too far from Tulum. This time we wanted to visit the island of Cozumel as it has been on our bucket list as one of the best places to scuba dive in the world. Part of our decision to go here was also driven by the fact that we have Southwest Companion Pass through the end of 2019 and we have been really trying to maximize its value. Below you will find the breakdown of the overall costs and money that we saved by using miles and points:
Cost per person shows cost for each of the categories in dollars
What we actually paid shows what we ended up spending out of pocket
Miles/points used shows how many airlines miles or credit card points we redeemed (if any) for each category
Flights
We used a combination of Southwest miles, LUV travel vouchers (received from prior trips when Southwest delayed out flight) and of course Southwest Companion Pass to book our flight tickets.
Savings per person: $529
Accommodation
Since our primary purpose of the trip was to scuba dive, we wanted to save as much money as we can on our accommodations. We looked up different hotel options first but since we were traveling over the Christmas holiday, all hotels were outrageously expensive. We ended up booking Airbnb for just $406 total for 6 nights!
In order to offset the cost we applied for Barclay Arrival World Mastercard (for the second time!). The welcome offer was 60,000 points so we used part of the points to offset the Airbnb cost.
Savings per person: $198
Our Airbnb was in a condo 3 mins from the marina where we were scuba diving every day. We had a mini kitchen where we made our meals, balcony with a walkway to a pool, security, free WIFI and free parking.
Car Rental
We booked our car rental with Alamo simply because it was the cheapest option at the time of booking. We always book car rentals with Chase Sapphire Reserve card as it gives us 1.5 points for every dollar when we redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards points. This made our $93 car rental cost worth only 6,227 Ultimate Rewards points.
We also have primarily insurance coverage through this credit card so we can always decline the insurance through car rental companies. Chase provides collision damage waiver coverage — primary auto rental coverage that provides reimbursement for up to $75,000 in losses in the case of theft or collision damage for rental cars in the US and abroad. Some of the insurance companies can charge as much as $20 per day!
One thing we didn’t know about Mexico is that super cheap Mexican car rental rates don't include personal liability insurance which is required by law, which can triple the cost of the rental. So even though our car rental costed us $93, which was covered in points, once we got to the car rental place we have to pay additional $218 for just liability coverage. This coverage is not included in our Chase Sapphire Reserve complimentary insurance coverage. Mexico is the ONLY country so far that we have ran into this issue. So please don’t get overly excited about the cheap car rental rates in Mexico, because you HAVE to purchase this supplemental coverage.
Food
We actually did pretty good with food on this trip. We went out to the local grocery store and bought enough food for 6 days, so we could cook at our condo and not spend time and money going out to eat. We only bought pizza once and 1 beer each during New Year Eve.
Scuba Diving
This was by far our biggest expense during our trip, but we expected it given that it was the main reason for our vacation. Scuba diving usually costs $80 per 2 tank dive + equipment rental costs and tips. We did 5 full days of diving so those costs add up really quick. Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to get flexible points or bank account sign up bonuses ahead of time to offset some of this cost, so we paid out of pocket.
Tours
During the days when we were not diving we spent time exploring the island. Below are our 3 paid excursions that we did:
Punta Sur Ecological Park- $14
Chankanaab Adventure Park- $21
San Gervasio Mayan Ruins $10
Car Parking/Ferry/Bus
We had to park our car at the airport while we were away, since Uber during the holidays can cost quite a bit more, so it was more economical to just pay for parking.
We also had to take 45 mins ADO bus from Cancun airport to Playa Del Carmen ferry station. From there we had a 35 mins ferry ride to Cozumel.
Overall Summary of our Costs:
We didn’t save nearly as much as normally save on our trips, but this was largely of scuba diving, which was the highest expense on this trip. Other trips that we take where our largest costs are airfare and accommodations, our savings are closer to 70-80% since we cover those categories with points.
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