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.
5 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.
Is it true I will be able to go in airport lounge with Travelzoo overshot?