How to get Hotel + Flights to Aruba for under $700 for 5 Nights

When my husband and I got married 18 years ago, we took a Southern Caribbean cruise for our honeymoon.  Our goal was to hit Aruba, but at that time, cruise ships removed it from their itineraries.  Ever since, Aruba has been on our bucket list.  I found a hotel a couple of years ago that would be perfect for our large family, so I’ve been saving our points and miles to make it a reality!

The total for our 5-night trip to Aruba, including hotel stay + round trip flights from Pittsburgh, PA was only $683 (+$100 immigration fee)!  Keep reading to see how we scored this amazing deal!

If you’ve followed our blog, you know that our family uses credit card points and miles to travel all over for a fraction of the cost.  Most recently, we’ve spent our time in the US hitting 48 of the 50 states.  We’ve vacationed in Hawaii, the Florida Keys, New Mexico, Las Vegas, The Grand Canyon and more.

Hotel Accommodations for Larger Families

In most US hotels, we can squeeze the five of us into one room. Hotels in the states typically don’t require you to check in your entire family, unless the hotel has some sort of wristband required for certain amenities like pools or waterparks. However, outside of the US, it’s stricter. 

Since we’re a larger family of 5, we try to stick to hotel brands that offer two beds, plus a pull-out sofa. We have the most luck with Hilton’s Embassy Suites and Hyatt Place or Hyatt House.  These hotel brands are rare in other countries so we either need to find some sort of suite or book two rooms.  Either way, the cost is significantly higher than booking a standard hotel room.

Hilton Embassy Suites Aruba

One of our favorite hotel brands is Hilton Embassy Suites.  We love these hotels because rooms are spacious, easily fitting our family of 5.  Plus, they have a free cooked to order breakfast and evening reception with appetizers and drinks.  Just a couple years ago, Embassy Suites Aruba opened!  As soon as I found this hotel, I began saving points and planning this trip!

Hilton Honors Surpass Credit Card

My husband and I have both held the Hilton Honors Surpass credit card for years! We love this card for many reasons and is how we paid for our Hawaii accommodations a couple of years ago (you can read about that here). And now, we’ve used these points to stay at this resort! 

In addition to the points we’ve earned, this card also gives us Hilton Gold Status, which allows us to book five nights on points, but only pay for four.  This is a huge perk for us!  Plus, this higher tier status, makes us eligible for upgrades – which got us moved from a standard pool-view room to an ocean view!

This card also gives you a $50 Hilton hotel credit each quarter. Since my husband and I both have the card, we receive $100/quarter. Although our hotel cost was free, we were able to charge dinner and drinks to our room, allowing us to use this credit to cover that bill!

Almost all resorts in Aruba have some sort of “Resort Fee” added to the nightly room cost.  These fees cover things like access to cabanas, lounge chairs, special amenities, etc. The fee for Embassy Suites Aruba was $45/night/room.  When you book a Hilton room on points, these resort fees are waived, saving even more money!  For our five-night stay in Aruba, we paid $0. Had we paid cash for our upgraded ocean view room, our cost would have been $4172.

Embassy Suites Aruba: Perks and Amenities

Cooked-to-Order Breakfast

At any Embassy Suites, guests get a free cooked-to-order breakfast each morning from 7am-11am. We’ve stayed at a variety of Embassy Suites, and the breakfast spread is always pretty good, but Aruba’s was incredible! There were plenty of grab and go options like scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon and sausage, plus cereal, oatmeal, yogurt, fruit and waffle bar.  They had a variety of bakery items like muffins and pastries – and even gluten free options!  They also had salads, meats, cheeses, beans, etc.  And if all of that wasn’t enough, they have chefs who will cook you eggs or omelets to your liking!

Food is expensive – especially when you’re feeding a family of five (with three teenage/pre-teen boys). Having breakfast included is a huge money saver for us!

Evening Reception

Another perk of staying at an Embassy Suites is their evening reception/happy hour. We received tickets each day for two alcoholic beverages per adult and one mocktail ticket for each of the kids.  They had a variety of drinks to choose from including rotating cocktails, plus beer, wine and liquor.  In addition, they had appetizer stations with fruit, cheese, chips and salsa.  The reception was from 5pm-6:30pm each night and was complementary.  We loved being able to grab a few drinks and snacks before heading out to dinner for the night.

Pool/Beach Chairs, Cabanas/Palapas and Towels

The resort had plenty of seating both at the pool and the beach.  Plus, chairs along with shade were not an added cost.  You did have the option to rent a specific cabana for $80/day that came with a $30 food and beverage credit, but any cabanas that were not reserved were on a first-come, first-served basis.  And even if you didn’t get a cabana, there were plenty of loungers with shade as well.

The Embassy Suites wasn’t directly on the beach, but they had an underground walkway that went directly to a small beach where they had chairs and palapas free of charge for guests.  The beach wasn’t huge, but it was a perfect place to lay out or enjoy the sunset!  We were also able to walk the beach all the way up to the big resort area on Palm Beach.

It was also convenient to have towel service. Fresh beach towels were available whenever we needed them. We just dropped our wet towels in the bin and gave them our room number and they’d give us fresh ones.

We rented a car on this trip so we drove to a few different beaches on our trip. The hotel also had the backpack beach chairs available for rent for only $5/chair for the entire day!  It was so nice to throw these in our car when we were exploring those other beaches!

Rooms

Our room was spacious! It had a wet bar with refrigerator and coffee maker, plus a dining table with four seats. It had a pull-out sofa and then a separate bedroom with two queen beds.  Both the living area and bedroom had sliding glass doors that opened to our ocean view balcony.  It had only one bathroom, but we’re used to that on trips.

Restaurant/Bar/Food

The resort had a restaurant that served dinner and then a pool restaurant/bar that served lunch. We ate at the resort a few times and had good food.  Drinks were typical for a resort (beer was $7.50, specialty cocktails were around $15).  We like the convenience of having food available on site.  Some days we had a later lunch and didn’t feel like going out for dinner so we just grabbed dinner at the hotel instead.

Embassy Suites Aruba: Cons

It’s not a beachfront property.  They have a small beach, but you access it via underground tunnel.  We were not put off by this at all though.  The beach isn’t as nice as some of the beaches around the island, but it’s also not a bad beach.  It was small, but perfect for swimming and catching the sunset! And our kiddo loved finding all sorts of sea creatures in the tide pools!

It’s a little out of the way.  Don’t get me wrong, you can still walk to Palm Beach (about 15 minutes), where all of the big resorts, shops and restaurants are.  We actually walked the beach several times and our kids walked back from lunch when we ate at Bugaloe. 

Although, having a hotel that’s a little farther from the action may be a con to some, it’s also a pro.  We walked through some of the resorts in the Palm beach area and they were so congested.  The pools had so many people, chairs were hard to find and the beaches were crowded. 

Bottom Line: Would we stay here again?

We would 100% stay at this resort again! We loved so many things about this resort – the spacious rooms, free breakfast, happy hour, beach access, plenty of open pool/beach chairs with shade and access to a restaurant.  Plus, it’s within walking distance to Palm Beach restaurants and shops.  And if you’re going to rent a car, parking is also free!

Flights

As I mentioned above, we paid $0 for our entire hotel stay, which means the $683 we spent on this trip was the cost of our flights.

When I initially booked our trip, I had different dates selected.  My goal was to fly both ways on Southwest because we have a Companion Pass, which allows one person to fly free with my husband.  We had flights booked to Aruba on Southwest, but when I switched our dates, the cost skyrocketed so I just canceled them. 

PIT to AUA: Spirit Airlines

I watched flights from Pittsburgh to Aruba for a while and it got to the point where they just kept climbing so I decided to book the cheapest way in cash.  I found flights on Spirit Airlines for $117/person from PIT to AUA.  We typically book my flights directly with airlines versus using any travel portals; however, I have the Capital One Venture X credit card, which gives me a yearly $300 travel credit.  I decided to use this credit to cut down on our flight cost – making our out of pocket cost for our flights $281 (less than $56/person)!

I’m not going to lie – I was a little hesitant to book with Spirit, but it ended up working out fine.  Spirit is a budget airline, so everything comes at an added cost.  Want to sit next to each other? You’ll have to pay for that – FOR EACH LEG of your flight.  In our case, seats were around $28/person and we had a layover in Fort Lauderdale.  This meant if we wanted to be guaranteed to sit next to each other on both legs, we’d need to fork out an additional $280. 

Budget Airlines

We’ve flown other budget airlines before and my kids are old enough (and have flown enough) to be comfortable sitting anywhere, so we saved our money and took our chances.  In the end, we were all seated next to each other, so it worked out well for us.  Sure, we were in the back of the plane, but that doesn’t bother us.

Airlines are not required to seat kids 12 and under with an adult, but they try their hardest to make it happen.  Had our youngest not been seated by us, I would have talked to the gate agent to see if I could make that happen.  He was recently diagnosed with epilepsy and although it’s controlled, I definitely wanted him near at least one of us.

In addition to seats being an extra charge, so are bags – whether they are checked or carry-on bags.  It was $65 to add one carry-on bag (thankfully you pay that cost one time, even if you have multiple layovers).

On budget airlines, you’ll also pay for more leg room, seats closer to the front of the plane, snacks, drinks, etc.  And honestly, the seats just aren’t as comfortable as some other airlines. Need to cancel your flight? Forget about it because there are no changes when you book those cheap seats (unless you pay quite a bit more). 

Capital One Travel Portal

One of the benefits of booking on the Capital One Portal is that they have a price drop protection. If you book a flight when they tell you it’s a good time and the price goes down within 10 days, they’ll give you a travel credit. With most airlines, once you book, you can’t get a refund if the cost drops. Our Spirit flight to Aruba dropped around 9 days later, so Capital One added a $65 credit into our travel account!

Travel Insurance

I LOVE flexibility, but I also LOVE cheap prices because it means we get to travel more.  Since we only paid $280 for this flight, I was ok gambling with non-refundable tickets.  If my flight was significantly more, I’d likely pick a different airline or opt for the more expensive seats that give me the ability to cancel, if needed.  You have to decide what you’re willing to risk when you book any trips.

With my son’s recent epilepsy diagnosis, we opted to purchase yearly travel insurance for our family.  For under $500, we have trip interruption/cancellation insurance for any trip we take in 2026.  In addition, we have medical insurance and even emergency transport for all five of us – anywhere in the world. 

And because my son was covered prior to our trip being booked + his doctor cleared him for travel, we qualified for a waiver for his epilepsy.  This means that even though he has a pre-existing condition, he’d be covered while we were away – even if he was hospitalized due to his epilepsy.  Navigating life with a chronic illness is already stressful, but having this added travel insurance gave me some peace of mind.

AUA to PIT: Southwest Airlines

We’ve been flying Southwest quite a bit over the last couple of years because we earned a ton of points with the Southwest Credit Cards + earned their coveted Companion Pass (x2)!  The Companion Pass basically gives you BOGO Free flights for almost two years, when you plan it right! You can read all about how we earned those here.

For our flight home from Aruba, we booked using Southwest points and since we have one Companion Pass, we only paid for four flights (instead of 5).  When you book using points or you book a free companion fare, you just pay the flight taxes.  If you’re flying domestically, these taxes are cheap – $5.60/person.  However, when you fly out of the country, those taxes increase – and the cost depends on where you fly to/from.  Flying TO Aruba, taxes were around $50/person, but flying HOME, they were around $80/person.

In our case, a good chunk of our flight cost was just taxes ($401.90).  Southwest has changed several policies over the last year (no more free checked bags, now you’re required to pay for seats, cancellation is no longer free, etc.).  One of the perks we loved about Southwest was it didn’t cost to change or cancel your flight.  Unfortunately, that policy has changed so booking the cheapest flight is now non-refundable (just like those budget carriers). 

However, if you book the cheapest flight using POINTS, you can cancel and your points get refunded to your account.  Because of this policy, I decided that booking on points was our best option to, again, give me that peace of mind. I knew if we had to cancel our flight, we wouldn’t be out any money.  So, we booked on points and paid the taxes for each of our flights.

We also didn’t have to worry about seats on this flight since we were coming home prior to the rollout of the new seating policy.  We still had to check in 24 hours prior and hope to get an A or B boarding position (which we did).

Aruba ED Card

One thing I didn’t know about Aruba is that each person entering the country must fill out their ED card online prior to entering.  This is their Embarkation/Disembarkation pre-registration form required for both adults and children.  You can fill it out up to seven days before you travel and is what grants you access to enter the country.  There is a Sustainability Fee of $20/person that must be paid along with completion.  You’ll be required to enter flight info, hotel info and submit a photo of each traveler’s passport and double check that everything is filled in appropriately.

Once submitted, you’ll receive an email with your card, giving you the ok to board your flight.  If you go to Aruba multiple times in one year, you’ll only need to pay the fee one time as it covers you for a year; however, you will still need to fill out the form again.

Food

Food cost on the island is similar to what you would find in any tourist area. You can find fast food (Wendy’s McDonald’s, Burger King, etc.) along with a variety of chain and local restaurants.  Anytime we’re on vacation, we opt for local restaurants.  We like to try foods that are unique and Aruba offers a variety of options.  You’ll find Dutch, Caribbean, South American and African foods.  It’s kind of a melting pot of cultures.

My husband and son LOVED the barracuda they had at Wacky Wahoo’s.  I enjoyed the beachfront dining at Bugaloe and The West Deck and we all loved our meals from Bingo Cafe.  For our family of five, lunch was around $85-90, while dinners cost us between $120 and $220, depending on what we ordered.

My son is a sushi lover and had the Thailander Roll from Poke Ono and said it was probably his favorite of all time.  My husband had the Traditional Tuna Poke and the Hulk Roll, both of which he liked.  Our oldest opted for the Pho and liked it.  I, on the other hand, had the Chicken Karaage and did not care for it (and neither did anyone else).

If you’ve got a sweet tooth, stop at Gelateria Italiana for some gelato or other sweet treats! We enjoyed our gelato and the other desserts looked yummy!

Excursion: Catamaran Dolphin Snorkeling Adventure Cruise

We only paid for one excursion while we were on the island and that was a snorkel tour with Delphi Watersports.  I highly recommend this tour – the crew was fantastic and our family had a blast! This three-hour tour was $69/person ($45 for kids 5-12) and included an open bar along with a small wrap and fruit.

First, we boarded a small boat, which took us out to our catamaran.  We were fitted for fins and taken to our first stop, the Antilla Shipwreck.  We were able to snorkel above this sunken ship for about 20 minutes.  The bar opened almost immediately and once we finished our first stop, we were provided with our snacks.

We then headed to Boca Catalina where we could snorkel as well as use the on-board waterslide and rope swing.  Drinks were constantly flowing and the music was going, making it a fun vibe for everyone on board!

And if you’re not using Capital One Shopping, you need to jump on the bandwagon! It’s similar to other cashback sites, but they send unique offers via email or their app notifications with some AMAZING deals!  Viator was offering 25% cashback when I booked our trip, so I have $80 pending in my account from this excursion! And just weeks ago, I got an offer for 50% cashback – I just didn’t want to book too early in case plans changed. You don’t need a Capital One Card to use it either – just follow the link they send with the deal and you’ll earn!

Free Activities

Beaches

Aruba has plenty of beaches to explore! We checked out Eagle Beach, Baby Beach, Tres Trapi, Boca Catalina, Mangel Halto and Palm Beach.  The great thing is that all of these beaches had free parking (honestly there is free parking almost everywhere in Aruba)!

• Eagle Beach: This beach was so pretty and not far from our hotel.  If you’re looking for a beach with soft sand, activities and not super-crowded, this is a great option!

• Baby Beach: This was about a 45-minute drive and although it was pretty, it was so crowded that we just kept on driving.  If you’re on a cruise ship, I’d skip this beach – there are better, closer options!

• Tres Trapi and Boca Catalina are next to each other. The beach attendant at our hotel recommended Boca Catalina for snorkeling.  She told us to grab some bread from the hotel and put it into a water bottle and as we’re snorkeling, squeeze the bread water and the fish will surround you!  She wasn’t kidding!  We spent an entire morning at this beach and the kids LOVED it! It’s also where our snorkel tour docked further out, so you know it must be a good spot!
  • We purchased snorkel masks/tubes from Amazon before we left so we were able to snorkel on our own at any beach.  This was, by far, the best beach for snorkeling though. If you’re looking for your own inexpensive adventure, this is a great stop!

• Mangel Halto: This beach was different than the others. One side was zero-entry, but rocky (still crystal clear though).  On the other side, you entered from steps that went down a cliff right into deeper water.  Near those steps was a swing with the beautiful, electric blue water as the backdrop.  The water was rougher here so we didn’t swim, but there were snorkel tours out in the water.  My main goal for visiting this beach was finding the swing!

• Palm Beach: This is where you’ll find most of the resorts.  The beach is pretty packed, but you can find spots to sit.  There are plenty of watersport rentals available as well as tour operators. There are a variety of beach-front restaurants as well as shops and restaurants behind the hotels.  If you like to be right in the action, this is where you want to be!

Aruba Sign

If you navigate to the Plaza Turismo, you’ll find the Aruba sign.  Parking is free and it’s just a quick stop for a photo op!

Aruba Aloe Factory Museum & Store

If you want to try out some aloe products and learn how they are made, head to the Aloe Factory. Upstairs on the catwalk, you can see aloe being made and bottled.  Free tours run every 15 minutes and samples are available around the store.

Fofoti Tree

The Fofoti Tree or Divi Tree is a type of mangrove with twisted trunks that are considered natural symbols of Aruba. They are found near the water and are low, slanted and south-west pointing, which is a result of the trade winds. We stopped at this iconic tree located on Eagle Beach. 

Oranjestad Shopping

Obviously window shopping is free, but you can do some major damage in stores like Gucci, Prada and Louis Vuitton at the Renaissance Mall. You’ll also find plenty of souvenir shops in the area as well.  Oranjestad also has colorful buildings and cruise ships to check out.

Super Food Plaza

This is a grocery store filled with all sorts of foods and unique finds.  We didn’t end up buying anything because the lines were crazy long, but it was cool to check out!

Transportation: Car Rental

Having a car during any trip makes getting around a lot easier. We don’t always rent a car, but in some cases, it just makes the most sense.  Typically, when we’re out of the country, we leave driving to the locals.  However, driving in Aruba was easy.  They do have some different road signs that you should familiarize yourself with and speed limits are in kilometers, but it’s similar to the US. Just know that there are no stop lights – it’s all round abouts!

Aruba has taxi service, but not Uber or Lyft.  We knew that we wanted to rent a car for at least 1-2 days so we could explore the island, plus we’d need to taxi to and from the airport to our hotel.  As I was doing my research, I found that a taxi was going to cost around $35-50 each way and a one day car rental was about $120. 

I found a car rental through Avis for $398 for our entire trip, which seemed like our best option.  Plus, my husband also has the Capital One Venture X card and had his $300 annual travel credit to use.  Since we rented our car through the portal and applied the credit, our rental ended up only costing us $98!

Our hotel also offered free parking, which made our decision a little easier.  We’ve stayed at hotels that charge $65/night+ for parking.  In those cases, renting a car for a longer period of time becomes too expensive.  It was so convenient to have our car whenever we needed it so I’d recommend renting one if you can.

Overall Thoughts

If you’re traveling out of the country for the first time, Aruba is truly a great place to start! The country really felt more like the U.S – and here’s why:

• English is widely spoken
• Cars drive on the same side of the road
• You can drink the tap water – and it’s good!
• USD is accepted pretty much everywhere
• Credit Cards are also accepted but know that American Express is not taken at many businesses. Be sure to bring a Visa or Mastercard (that has no foreign transaction fee).
• No special vaccinations are needed
• This island is small and easy to navigate
• Temps are pretty much the same all year round and they don’t have hurricane season, making it a perfect spot any month of the year!
• We felt safe. It’s always important to be mindful of your surroundings and lock up your belongings, but we never felt unsafe.

Reminders:

• Since you’re out of the U.S., you’ll want to check with your cell phone carrier to see if you’re covered. My husband uses Visible and had service, but my Verizon plan would have charged me so I opted to use GigSky for my data plan.  And since my Capital One Venture X is a Visa Infinite card, I got 3GB of data for free while we were there.  Our hotel had wifi, so I was connected to that when we were there, but while driving, I used GigSky.  I only used a little over 1GB in five days.
• Keep in mind that you will need a passport as well as your Aruba ED card filled out in order to board your plane!
• Aruba has a strict ban on sunscreen containing oxybenzone and octinoxate so be sure to bring reef-safe alternatives (we brough Blue Lizard, but Sun Bum and Aruba Aloe are also good options).  Since you’re so close to the equator, the sun is HOT! You’ll want protection! Sun shirts are another great option!
• Do not try to bring home any sand, shells or coral as it is strictly illegal to remove these items from beaches and will be confiscated at the airport and could cost you a fine.
• Some public restrooms do charge to use, so have some cash available!
• Embrace the wind! You will lose your hat, if it’s not tied because it’s so windy!

Have you been to Aruba? What are some of your best tips?

We LOVED the island and I would come back in a heartbeat! Heck our oldest is already planning a trip with his friends in a few years! There is a reason it’s called “One Happy Island!” The people are so friendly and I just love the overall vibe.  The water is stunning, sunsets are gorgeous and the weather is perfect!

We’d love to hear what you think about Aruba and what tips you’d share!