Or simply save enough to upgrade your flight to First Class
We’ve reported before (here, here, here, and here) about the wonderful ABA membership discount for travel within North America. That’s the American Bar Association (the legal kind) membership that can offer great luxury hotel deals, at various Four Seasons, Luxury Collection, Ritz-Carlton, Savoy (Fairmont), St. Regis, Westin, and more.
The $150 annual fee is almost laughable considering you can make that up and more with just one night’s savings. It must be the first time “inexpensive” and “lawyer” can be used in the same sentence. And you don’t even have to be a lawyer or judge to join; anyone can be a member.
So today we’re going to make a case for using the membership in Europe over the winter holidays and New Year’s.
You Have the Right to Live Beyond Your Means
Many of you have a per-night hotel budget of say $300. The ABA membership discount means you can get a $500 or $600 per-night room for that same $300 in some cases. I call that living beyond your means.
Take The St. Regis Rome, for example. Not too many people have a thousand-dollar-a-night budget, but many more travelers will splurge at $500 per night, especially if it’s a special occasion. “Sustained!” as we demonstrate in the chart below. The regular price per night is $825 or $6,454 for seven nights BEFORE the ABA membership discount, and just $446 per night or $3,531 for a seven-night stay AFTER the discount is applied.
That’s a savings of $2,923, or 45%.
Side Note: If you haven’t already, examine our special report about all the different ways of thinking about a hotel upgrade: including room upgrades, view upgrades, and more.
Strike High Hotel Costs from the Record
Now that you’ve saved a lot of legal tender on your hotel room, use it to make your European vacation epic. You can upgrade your flight from Premium Economy to Business Class, or even Business to First, with all that extra $ you saved. You can also look for better routing, or a nonstop flight. Think of it like advancing to go in Monopoly; you skip the high-price hits on the way, and score a nice bonus upon landing.
Why not use it to get really creative? With the $2,923 you save in Rome, you can get four one-way Business Class tickets between Europe and South America. That’s a wow! More on that strategy here.
Sample Savings
7 Nights During Thanksgiving,
Christmas, and New Year’s
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Some ABA Deals Only Available Via Email
Everyone loves the ease of booking online. That said, would you be willing to book over the phone or email if you could save 60% at the Four Seasons, London over New Years?
Take a look at this online rate of ￡927 average per night:
Now take a look at this rate by contacting the hotel directly via email:
While the ABA discounts are hit or miss, to be sure, and aren’t available at every hotel, I've stayed at the St. Regis Rome and it's lovely. So if the occasion is right, it is definitely worth $446 a night, for a top hotel that normally goes for twice that.