How to Book a Baecation, Cancun, Mexico
Either you are wanting to get out of the cold, need a break from life, or simply just want to explore and travel, finding where to start can be tricky. Nobody teaches you in life how to book a flight or how to book an all-inclusive trip on your own. Growing up my family never traveled and I had no idea where to even start booking a trip but I have found my way around and it is actually very simple. I only have experience booking an all-inclusive trip to Cancun, Mexico but I know that this is a vacation hot spot and if you are traveling and booking on your own for the first time, Cancun, Mexico is a great “first time” place. This guide is helpful for not only “baecaetions” but friends and family trips as well.
12-8 months prior to your trip:
First things first, get prepared to spend some money and save. Sadly, traveling isn’t cheap and giving yourself some time to save up (if you need) well before your booking date can make this process a lot easier. For a rough estimate Librado and I spent at least 2,800 together on our trip including transportation wherever, excursions, food in town, luggage, gifts, passport expenses and tips.
Pick a month that you are going to be planning this trip in. I know it is hard to look at your schedule so far in advance but if you can pick the number of days, exact week and dates it will make everything a little easier. Flying Tuesday-Tuesday is cheaper for some airlines too. If you are someone who needs to get a vacation approved, this will be the time to do so. The sooner the better and it is more likely that you will get approved for your vacation if you asked in advance, most managers are too lazy to look that far ahead into the schedule so they just agree. November-March is the best time to be in Cancun. It is the dry season, meaning rain or hurricanes shouldn’t be much or a problem, and there is no seaweed build up on the coast. Some seaweed cases get really severe and don’t allow you to swim in the resorts part of the ocean. Plus, the smell is not really pleasant. So, try to steer away from that. Nevertheless, you will have fun no matter what. You’ll be in Mexico!
Seaweed issue we had on our trip in June
for reference and it rained somewhat
Get your PASSPORT, one thing you do not want to happen is to be stressed waiting on your passport and have it potentially rescheduling your vacation. YES, you will need one. There is no way around it and it does take at least 6 months to come into the mail, probably more now with covid issues.
How to get your passport:
1.) You are going to need to stop at your local Walgreens in the photo department, to get your passport photo taken. It is about $10 and takes five minutes. Do not wear white.
2.) Make a stop at your local post office and grab a passport form, make sure it is the correct form and not one to renew it. The forms are different colors and this form has to be filled out at home. Renew passport form = blue, First time passport = brown. While you are at the post office, make an appointment to get your passport.
3.) Once you have your appointment, form filled out and passport photo. Here is a list of things you need to take with you to that appointment.
· Your ID
· Birth certificate (they do take your B.C in order to process your passport but they will mail it back to you)
· Passport photo
· Blue or Brown form filled out BEFORE your appointment
· Be prepared to pay, a first-time passport costs around $160 and to renew around $130
· If you are a minor, your will need your guardian with you.
4.) After you’re done with your appointment, your passport will be in process and should be on its way back to you in 6 months or less!
What to do if your passport is running late (the last resort):
Sadly, mistakes can happen but if your passport won’t be here on time or if it is cutting it way to close here is what to do.
1.) Contact the passport customer service 1-877-487-2778 and ask if you can expedite it, this will be a $75 fee but it is basically rushing the shipping process and they will give you an estimate on how long it will be. If you don’t get your passport on time after expediting it, they will refund you the $75.
2.) You can take all your information that you took to the post office and take it to your city’s passport agency. In Chicago’s case, The Chicago Passport Agency does one day passports. However, you may need an appointment or have to pay for your passport fees all over again as this is a new order than the one ordered at the post office.
3.) Contact or send an email to your senators office and ask if they are able to help in anyway rush your passport, they have authority with this and most of the time they will help you and send it as fast as they can. This is the route Librado had to take and it came within the same week.
7-4 Months prior to your trip:
Start looking and booking for resorts on https://www.cheapcaribbean.com , this is the travel agency that I have used for all of my trips to Mexico. They make it really easy for you to book for an all-inclusive resort for great prices and they are reliable. Sometimes, travel agencies can be sketch but they have been nothing but 100% reliable and everything has gone smooth with me. When you book, you will be booking your resort, flights and if you wanted to, your transportation to and from the airport to the resort all in one. Some things to keep in mind while you are booking is the farther your resort is from the airport (CUN- Cancun International Airport) the more money your cab or transportation will be. If you are looking to really save money, try to find a resort you like that is close to the airport. Do your research on the resort and make sure it is something you like, read anything and everything you can on the websites to make sure that the resort has everything that you would like. This is where you will be spending majority of time at. Most resorts have Facebook groups where people that are there or have been there will post how everything at the resort was and will share photos of their own trip so you can have an idea of how yours might be. These people in these resort groups are super helpful and if you have a question about the resort just post in the group and you will have many people trying to help you in the comments.
Resorts I recommend looking at: Dream Jade/Now Jade & Hard Rock Hotel Rivera Maya
Dream Jade/Now Jade Rivera Cancun:
Hard Rock Hotel Rivera Maya:
After booking your trip, start getting excited!! You’re half way there and booking is the best feeling. Sometimes I even start booking all my appointments at this time because I get so excited!
Download your airlines app and your tickets will pop up on there, you should have gotten an email confirmation from CheapCarribean.com with all the details you need for your trip, pick your seats on the app that way you have the best chance of sitting next to whoever you want and add the tickets to your apple wallet that way you can easily access them at the airport through your phone.
3-1 Months prior to your trip:
This time gets really exciting, you are so close to being on a beach with a salty marg in your hands. Start to book all prior appointments during this time and remind your job that you are going to be on vacation (just so they can’t say they didn’t remember!). Your passport should be in at this time however if it is not, keep checking in and calling the passport customer service number. If it is not arriving on time or is cutting it close don’t worry just scroll up and check “What to do if your passport is running late”. However, if you gave it at least 12-8 months prior it should be there. Something that gave me peace of mind was calling to confirm my reservation and flight with both the airline and resort that I was traveling with. You can call and confirm with both of the customer services numbers. While you are on the phone with them you can confirm any vaccine or covid test requirements that you need to fly or to stay at the resort. Almost all resorts will give covid tests out there but just make sure you are aware of everything. If you are celebrating a birthday, anniversary or big milestone, mention it to the resort because some of them will decorate your room prior to your arrival. Keep up with your resorts Facebook page and just keep looking into it. One thing that happened to Librado and I’s trip was our resort actually had a fire a week before our trip and it burned down part of the lobby. It was something I would’ve never known about if I didn’t keep up with the resort page and website. We had lots of insight on how the resort was handling it and it didn’t affect our trip, we actually got upgraded a room! Just keep yourself updated on everything. In my opinion, if you are interested in excursions the best thing you can do is wait till you get there to book them. A lot of resorts will book them for you at the front desk or give you brochures of things that are in the area. Some excursion companies will even have a booth at your resort to try and get you to book with them. There you will get a better idea of what you want to do and all the things involved. Most take card but some do not. Just make sure you have some cash that you will be able to use for any excursion. Look into towns that you can visit while you are there, Playa Del Carmen is a small pretty town, right off the beach and they have restaurants, shows, shops (a Zara) and even a ferry that you can take to Cozumel for the day. Puerto’s Morelos is an even smaller town that is filled with shops, restaurants, and excursion booths that you can do right then and there. It is also right off the beach. Support these town’s street businesses and dig into the Mexican culture. If you are looking to visit either of these towns, you can catch a cab through your resort and they will drop and pick you up at your desired time, just make sure you have cash for them.
24 Hours prior to trip:
The night before is always my favorite because I am filled with excitement and suspense of how the trip is going to go. There is so much to do the night before and it is so fun to me running around trying to get it all done. Starting packing!! If you have borderline OCD like me, you will create a packing list of everything you need. PLEASE, make sunscreen and aloe vera a must essential because the sun is no joke in Mexico and you don’t want to be sick with sun poisoning on your trip.
As for your flight, you want to check in on your airlines app the night before and pay for your luggage if you can. You are able to do that at the airport as well. Make sure your check-in luggage is 50 pounds or less or you will have to pay extra. Double check your airlines carry on requirements so your check-in goes smooth. You will need your passport information to check-in. Mexico now has this tax on tourist that you have to pay called “VISATAX”, it’s about $10 but you just want to pay it prior here: https://visitax.us and screenshot your confirmation QR code. Figure out your transportation to airport and from the airport to the resort. If you booked a car with cheapcarribean.com just confirm it and the times. If not, there are a lot of cabs waiting to take you to your resort at the airport, just try to find the cheapest one and make sure you have cash for that as well. Make sure all electronics are charged and you have movies downloaded for the flight! As well as your airport fit being able to transition into a summer fit because once you get off that plane and step into Mexico, it gets real hot real quick. Keep shades handy as well. When you arrive to your resort, just head up to the front desk service and tell them you are ready to check-in and they will give you everything you need, just make sure that you schedule your covid tests right when you check-in. Finally, you are ready to have the best baecation ever!
Make lots of mems and drink lots of margs. I hope this helped in the best way possibly because I could’ve used somewhat of a guide for my first time booking!
If you have any questions or I missed something you are curious about always feel free to ask in the comments or DM me on my Instagram <3
With love,
Joce
