How YOU can travel like a millionaire

THIS month the BBC broadcast The Millionaires’ Holiday Club, a behind-the-scenes look at very extravagant holidays. The trips were put together by ITC Luxury Travel, which specialises in lavish breaks. So if you want to splash out on a break, should you turn to ITC, or a high-end rival such as Elegant Resorts, Carrier or Caribtours?

EXPERTISE

IN THE TV show, staff from ITC visit the Seychelles and Thailand on research trips. With any self-respecting luxury tour operator, you should be able to talk to staff who have visited any hotel on their books. They should be able to weigh up the pros and cons, based on their experience.

SERVICE

WITH a luxury tour operator, one person from the company is likely to manage your holiday from start to finish. You can have much more than the flights, transfers and accommodation taken care of. ITC and others offer a complimentary concierge service, which can, for example, fix boat trips and reserve tables in restaurants.

ADDED PERKS

IF YOU book with a luxury operator, overseas airport-hotel transfers are likely to be private, not shared, and in smart vehicles. You may also get airport lounge access at no extra cost – for example, with ITC at Barbados and Antigua airports, and with Caribtours at UK airports. You may also have escorted VIP fast-track service through airports, allowing you to skip immigration queues.

DO YOU PAY MORE?

I OBTAINED quotes for two travelling to Barbados from November 21-28 – staying B&B in a garden suite at the five-star Cobblers Cove, flying premium economy with British Airways from Gatwick and including private airport hotel transfers. Caribtours quoted £5,200; Carrier, £5,563; Elegant Resorts, £5,670 and ITC Luxury Travel, £5,699. Note the hefty price difference of £499 between Caribtours and ITC – operators clearly add on different mark-ups.

You can book many luxury holidays with more mainstream companies – including at Cobblers Cove. So I also got online quotes with Travelbag (£4,746) and British Airways Holidays (£4,978), and Kuoni (£4,754).

These undercut the luxury operators by as much as £953 for the Travelbag package over the ITC one. I should point out that, as well as access to a concierge service, the ITC quote included a meet-and-greet service at Gatwick, and at Barbados airport fast-track immigration on arrival and executive lounge access on departure.

The other luxury operators’ quotes included some similar perks, while those with Travelbag, British Airways Holidays and Kuoni didn’t.

It’s up to you to decide whether you think it’s worth paying extra for the personalised service and extras.

Lastly, what about booking direct? For top-end long-haul packages, the perceived wisdom is that it will often work out cheaper booking through luxury operators, as they get preferential rates with airlines and hotels. By booking direct with BA and Cobblers Cove, and paying taxis on the spot for transfers, the total would have been about £5,630, similar to the priciest quotes, but more expensive than the cheaper ones.