How to choose the best all-inclusive holidays

Holidaymakers regularly end up spending hundreds of pounds extra on food and drink on holidays from all-inclusive providers that, despite their promises, are far from ‘all-inclusive’. 

Many book an all-inclusive holiday for peace of mind about the total price of the trip, but research from Which? has again found that you'll often spend far more than you budgeted for. 

Expedia was particularly bad. Those who booked with the online travel agent told us they forked out an extra £168pp a week in the ‘all-inclusive’ resort. For a family of four, that’s an extra £672 per week. More than a quarter of Expedia customers in our survey told us they had to pay extra for cocktails. But worse, some even told us they had to pay extra for snacks and soft drinks.  

It doesn’t have to be like that. Hays Travel guests found almost everything was included in their all-inclusive deal, paying an average of just £77pp extra on a week's holiday. So who you book with is crucial. We asked thousands of holidaymakers about their all-inclusive holidays so we can tell you which companies aren’t really all-in. 

See the full results of our survey of the Best and worst all-inclusive holiday providers.

Where are the cheapest all-inclusive holidays? 

According to our analysis of more than 1,300 all-inclusive summer (2025) holidays from three of the UK’s biggest package providers - Jet2Holidays, Tui and EasyJet Holidays, Morocco, the Canary Islands and Bulgaria are the most affordable destinations for an all-inclusive package, on average.  

Below are prices for ten of the most popular European countries for an all-inclusive break. 

What’s the cheapest all-inclusive destination?

What’s included at an all-inclusive resort?

The most basic of all-inclusive packages will include flights, accommodation and three meals a day. But the inclusion of other benefits comes down to the resort’s definition of all-inclusive.

To find out what you can expect to find at most all-inclusive resorts, we asked holidaymakers what was available on their recent all-inclusive break.

While you might expect excursions, spa treatments and water sports to cost extra at the resort, we were surprised by the number of holidaymakers who weren’t even provided with the basics - only 84% of guests got free snacks.

Make sure you check what's included at your hotel before you book.

What's usually included

Does all-inclusive mean all drinks are free?

Unfortunately not. International or premium brands of soft drinks and alcohol usually cost extra. And, as the table above shows, only 88% had ordinary alcoholic drinks thrown in.

Even cocktails, considered a mainstay of the all-inclusive break, were only included 80% of the time.

It’s also common for hotels to impose a curfew on their free drinks at 11pm, and most hotels charge more for nightclub drinks.

Some resorts even limit the number of drinks you can have per day.

What is Spain’s six-drink rule for all-inclusives?

Rules in the Balearic Islands limit the sale and availability of alcohol in some resorts, in an  attempt to crack down on anti-social behaviour.

These rules restrict guests to a maximum of six alcoholic drinks per day as part of your all-inclusive package – three at lunchtime and three with your evening meal.

However, the rules only apply to four resorts:

• Playa de Palma, Mallorca
• El Arenal, Mallorca
• Magaluf, Mallorca
• Parts of San Antonio, Ibiza

The rest of Mallorca, Ibiza and all of Menorca remain free of any government restrictions to all-inclusive packages.

Do some holiday companies offer more drinks and restaurants than others?

There are stark differences between what is and isn’t included in your holiday depending on the specific holiday company that you book with.

For example, in our survey, most of Kuoni’s customers got local alcoholic drinks (93%) thrown in and nearly two thirds (64%) got premium or branded alcoholic drinks, but Expedia guests weren’t so lucky – just 66% got local alcoholic drinks and 48% got premium drinks. First Choice was the least likely to include premium drinks - just 37% of guests reported that they were included.

Your choice of restaurants also varies wildly between companies and resorts. Many companies only allow you to eat at a single restaurant - usually a buffet - as part of your all-inclusive rate. They then charge you more if you want   to visit other a la carte restaurants if you pay extra. Less than half of Love Holiday customers told us they had included access to a la carte restaurants. But those on holiday with Kuoni (78%) and Sandals (97%) had much more choice, at no extra cost. 

With which holiday companies did guests spend the most on extras?

Budget online travel agents (OTAs) like Expedia and Lastminute.com offer some of the cheapest all-inclusive holidays on the market. But our research shows that booking with these companies can be a false economy.

Faced with limited food and drink, and restrictions on when they could have them, guests reported spending extra in the resort. 

Expedia’s customers spent an average of £117pp per day on their short-haul holidays, but in resort extras added an extra £24pp/day on top of that. Lastminute’s up-front price was even cheaper - just £109pp per day on average, but holidaymakers need to budget an extra £19pp/day to spend in the resort. 

For the best value for money on your all-inclusive holiday, find out the all-inclusive holiday providers Which? recommends.

How we researched all-inclusive holiday companies

In August/September 2024, we asked 12,119 Which? Connect panel members and members of the public to complete an online survey about their experiences of booking and going on holiday in the past two years. Our results are based on 19,958 holidays. We only reported on companies in any given category when we received at least 30 relevant responses.