What does it cost to travel to the Maldives?
My most requested question… “how did you go to the Maldives on a budget” or “how much did you spend to go to the Maldives” ? Well short answer… it’s never going be a “cheap trip” unless maybe you are from Asia and its a shorter destination. But, regardless I truly believe it needs to be known that the Maldives does not have to have a 10K price tag. I’m going to breakdown how we went to the Maldives for about 2,500-3,000$ a piece which in terms of Maldives trips is a budget steal for sure. We were there for a week and although we were conscious about what we spent still had a luxury tropical vacation.
Prices for trip (per person):
Airport parking for the week-25-50$ (Travel tip: I use WayParking, ParkingSpot to find airports close by that offer 3-8$ per day parking.
Flight from Houston IAH to the Maldives- 1200$ (Qatar Airlines Economy) I used Chase credit card points via my Chase Sapphire Preferred card. My links to Chase Sapphire and Chase Freedom cards are below. I travel a lot using these point systems they offer great deals! No pressure to use the code but I seriously will vouch by the fact that using points to travel is a really great way to use your points.
Chase Freedom: https://www.referyourchasecard.com/18a/3NNBC0AHPQ
Chase Sapphire: https://www.referyourchasecard.com/6f/TEYNNCBTP2
Tour of Qatar during our layover for 5 hours with a private car escort and guide with a free meal included with airport pick up and drop off- $60 (Guide company is Doha Transit Tours) WhatsApp number: +974 7052 6969 . Our tour guide was great and offered us a wonderful view of the city, cultural history and a yummy traditional meal.
Villa prices- The most expensive part of the Maldives is by far the glamours overwater villas you may see on social media and dream about, they are just as dreamy in real life trust me. The numerical price of these villas are really outrageous. A more financially intelligent way to snag one of these for a week is to you guessed it, use credit card points. A lot of the resorts has close ties with certain US based hotel systems and offer year round deals on these resorts especially during off season which is May-August for the Maldives. We stayed at Le Meridian Spa and Resort which is a Marriot Bonvoy resort. Using Marriot Bonvoy Boundless credit card points The villas cost about 80,000-100,000 points for the week plus a 50$ a night for cleaning and fees. These bonus deals are available and rerun every 3 months so it’s important to book this trip based on the current bonus redemption offers. For example if you want to take this trip in the next year look out for these bonuses every 3 months. For the most current bonus redemption offers use this link and if you apply for the card I would appreciate it if you use my code as we both get some extra $$ for travel! The sea plane was included in this price as the sea plane alone is usually 400-500$ round trip. It is important to ensure this before booking as this expense is often slipped in and people may not realize it is not included.
Marriot Bonvoy Card link: https://www.referyourchasecard.com/252f/7J8SM2LYXK
Food- so this was the big kicker for this trip that we didn’t quite expect. Food is incredibly expensive as this country is made up of 1200 small islands and has zero land able to produce goods. So due to the fact that everything is imported, resort fees, and tourist surcharges food and drinks are expensive. Most resorts offer packages including a all inclusive package (very expensive and not worth it in our option) a full board (breakfast buffet, lunch and dinner) and then a half board (breakfast buffet, and 3 course dinner) all in all it also depends on how much you eat so for example I spent about 75$ a day on food this included a large breakfast buffet, snack, and nice dinner. If you are going to be drinking, eating a lot more etc. I would highly suggest investing in the packages as the food is beyond pricey! But with that being said the food is delicious.
Extras: we did not spend any money on extras as we were trying to travel on a budget but there are souvenirs, excursions, spa treatments etc. that could raise that price.
Total: 2500-3000$ a piece
So, that is a rundown of everything we spent in the Maldives. It is not a cheap destination but how can it be considering its location relevance to the US is halfway across the world. A 3k price tag as compared to a 10k one is an incredible steal. I highly suggest using travel credit cards to travel to such high luxury places like this as the dollar amount is simply such an expensive one! The Maldives can be a honeymoon or anniversary destination or simply a tropical getaway! I adored the Maldives and the tropical luxury offered; it is unlike almost any destination in the world.
