Last Updated on June 22, 2020 by Laura Cooper

Depending on when you book your all-inclusive resort vacation, you might be eligible for resort credits as a promotion on your booking. Resort credits are offered by the hotels and resorts to add extra value to the package. A resort credit is basically cash you can use for extra services not normally included in the all-inclusive package: spa services, golf, motorized watersports, and private beachside or romantic dinners, for example.

Similar to cashback, resort credits often have limits, and while these are often an excellent way to get more out of your vacation, we highlight the fine print, limitations, and some of the common resort credits and resort chains that offer these promotions.

How do resort credits work?

The amount of resort credits you earn or are eligible for is dependent on the length of your stay, and sometimes your room category. Depending on the promotion and resort chain, some hotels award $400 for weeklong stays, while others reward upwards of $1800.

Here is an example of the resort credits at the Hard Rock Hotels:

*subject to change

Hard Rock Hotels calls their resort credit promotion a “Limitless Resort Credit” which means there aren’t restrictions or caps on how much you can use toward your services (though there is a 20% fee applied to the final price of all transactions using the Limitless Resort Credit). In the case of Hard Rock Hotels, the resort credits are treated like cash as opposed to coupons. (You are not given actual cash – but they have a cash value.)

Resorts that offer credits in the form of coupons means that there is a maximum credit you can use on each activity. In the case of coupons, when a promotion says something like, “up to $1000 USD resort credit per couple,” these resort credits are broken down for different services. You can only use so much on one service.

It may be advertised, for example, that you will receive a $100 resort credit for the spa. But note how one hotel breakdowns their spa credit coupons:

2 coupons of US $30 for 80-minute deep tissue massage
2 coupons of US $25 for facial treatment
2 coupons of US $20 for body wrap treatment
2 coupons of US $15 for stress cure massage
2 coupons of US $10 for spa pedicure
*Limit of 1 coupon per service per person

On the other hand, sometimes resorts will give you a $50 voucher to use fully toward whichever spa service you’d like. Guests usually receive coupons at check-in and can reserve activities upon arrival.

Services and tours are subject to availability at the time of booking. You’ll notice you will likely have to supplement the majority of the cost of the service – but hey, a discount is a discount!

Hotel chains that offer resort credits:

Including but are not limited to:

• Riu
• Melia
• Hard Rock
• Barcelo
• Palace – If you don’t use your credits in full, you can use them on your next stay within the year or pass them onto a friend! They also publish prices in advance so you can budget for your extras.
• Palladium
• Iberostar

Resort credits can often be used toward spa services, gift shop purchases, car rentals, romantic dinners, room upgrades, rounds of golf, and excursions. They can sometimes also be used for smaller things like bottles of wine, premium drinks, late checkout, laundry, and special menu items like lobster. Scuba diving and other water sports are popular items (you can use $50 toward open water dives, for example) as well casino vouchers (usually just two coupons of a small value to use at the slot machines and table games like $10 or $25). Some resorts give you a casino coupon per night to keep you coming back.

With all this in mind, resort credits are still a value-add, especially if you plan on enjoying a massage or scuba dive anyway.

*Resort credits cannot be used on future stays and are non-transferable. It’s nice to receive a little something for upgrades, spa treatments, and romantic dinners. Check with your travel agent for current promotions.

To get a better understanding of how resort credits work, below is a sample of items you can use your Hard Rock Limitless Resort Credits on. *Subject to change