Last year, Travelzoo changed its business model — while you could previously join Travelzoo for free (which puts you on Travelzoo’s e-mail list and allows you to book Travelzoo deals), starting January 1, 2024, new Travelzoo members had to pay $40 for these benefits.
There was one important carve-out: members who signed up for Travelzoo on or before December 31, 2023 did not need to pay the $40 for the 2024 calendar year. As 2024 comes to a close, to access Travelzoo for the 2025 calendar year, everyone (including myself) will need to pay $40 for the privilege.
Importantly, I’ve never booked a Travelzoo deal before and it’s unlikely I’ll book one in 2025. Even though I’ve never taken advantage of a Travelzoo deal, I decided to pay the $40 for a few reasons:
The Travelzoo deals e-mailed to me often give me travel inspiration
Every week, Travelzoo sends an e-mail of their top 20 deals, and I’m always excited to read it. I’ve discovered hotels that I’ve never heard of through these deals that have become bucket-list stays of mine, including Nayara Alto Atacama in Atacama Desert, Chile.
I’ll likely book a Travelzoo deal in the future
While I haven’t book a Travelzoo deal yet, I’m sure that I will eventually. Over the last few years, I’ve been more focused on points redemptions and trips that I’ve planned out sometimes a year in advance. That said, I am confident that I’ll eventually take advantage of a Travelzoo deal in the future — and since the price is $40/year, if I book only one Travelzoo every three years, I’d only need to save $120 on the deal to make Travelzoo worth it (and it seems like you can get much more value than that with most Travelzoo deals).
I think $40 is a fair price for Travelzoo
The last thing I wanted was to add another subscription to my portfolio of reoccurring bills. But I think $40/year is fair given the access to deals that Travelzoo provides, along with the travel inspiration that I get from their e-mails.
With that, I’ve decided to try a $40/year membership with Travelzoo and will (hopefully) reevaluate next year before my membership automatically renews.
Will you be paying $40 for Travelzoo? Let me know in the comments.
7 comments
I stopped receiving travelzoo emails like literally 20 years ago. Even back then, I found the emails (and the offers in them) to be a big giant ad for places (and hotels) that I wouldn’t care about visiting in the first place. Sure, there were some “deals” but I would never pay $40 for inspiration when there is inspiration every day in my social media feeds.
I can’t speak to what Travelzoo was like 20 years ago, but I’m guessing a lot has changed! And I agree that 80-90% of the deals are things that I’m not interested in, but I’ve seen some amazing deals on Tavelzoo that I would take advantage of if the timing was right (for example, they had an incredible luxe Sri Lanka deal that I was very interested in, often have incredible pricing for fancy Maldives hotels, and a few years ago had some great pricing at the Hilton Moorea). I hear you regarding travel inspiration — and if that was the only reason I used Travelzoo then I agree, I would not keep it.
Since Travelzoo sends you out to other sites to book, I don’t think that the deals are exclusive to Travelzoo. I can get the same deal by going directly to the partner site. Why should I pay Travelzoo. I have decided not to spend the money for it. Travelzoo tends to use the same sites over and over, so I can find the deals by checking those sites directly.
I have used Travelzoo twice and both times it was very good deals. You do not book with 3rd party rather pay via Travelzoo and then call the property to reserve/book based on your travel dates. I had very good deal of Suite at St Regis Bahia Puerto Rico on of the best hotel rooms I have stayed. Another time I got very nice deal for boutique hotel in Lisbon, Portugal. Both deals were huge discounts compared to if had booked directly with the properties.
I’m glad to hear you’re feedback, thanks for sharing it.
Is it true I will be able to go in airport lounge with Travelzoo overshot?
Going from zero to $40 seems a little steep, especially considering they can only go UP from there. I used to really enjoy dreaming of trips with their Top 20 and now it feels like it’s one more thing that extends the divide between “haves” and “have-nots.” Am I being a tad dramatic and existential about this?
