What Is the Difference Between Half Board and Full Board?

What is the difference between half board and full board?

The difference is how many daily meals are included in your rate. Half board includes two meals a day, normally breakfast and dinner, leaving you to arrange and pay for lunch on your own. Full board includes three meals a day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, so all your main meals are covered by the hotel. Both are meal plans that add dining to your room rate, with full board including one more meal than half board. The choice affects both your cost and your flexibility: half board leaves your days free to eat lunch out while exploring, whereas full board covers all meals but ties you to the hotel for lunch. Neither typically includes drinks beyond perhaps water, which distinguishes them from all-inclusive packages.

What is half board?

Half board is a meal plan in which your room rate includes two meals per day, almost always breakfast and dinner, sometimes referred to as a modified American plan. You start the day with breakfast at the hotel and return for dinner, but lunch is not included, so you buy it yourself, which suits travelers who are out sightseeing or at the beach during the day and prefer to grab lunch wherever they are. Half board is popular at resorts and in Europe because it offers the convenience and value of covered breakfast and dinner while leaving the middle of the day flexible. Drinks with meals, especially alcoholic ones, are usually not included and are charged separately. Half board is a good balance of savings and freedom for many travelers.

What is full board?

Full board is a meal plan in which your room rate includes three meals per day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, all provided by the hotel, sometimes called the American plan. With full board, all your main meals are taken care of, which is convenient at remote resorts, on cruises, or where dining options outside the hotel are limited or inconvenient, so you never have to think about where to eat or pay separately for each meal. The trade-off is less flexibility, since you are expected to return to the hotel for lunch, tying you to the property in the middle of the day, and you may feel less inclined to explore local restaurants. As with half board, drinks are generally not included beyond basics. Full board suits travelers who value convenience and all meals covered over daytime flexibility.

How do these compare to other meal plans?

Half board and full board sit in the middle of a range of hotel meal plans. At the basic end is room only, sometimes called the European plan, where no meals are included and you pay for everything you eat. Next is bed and breakfast, which includes only breakfast. Then comes half board, adding dinner, and full board, adding lunch as well, covering all three meals. At the top is all-inclusive, which includes all meals plus drinks, often alcoholic, and frequently snacks, activities, and more, for one upfront price. So the plans escalate from no meals to breakfast, to two meals, to three meals, to everything included. Choosing depends on your trip: room only or breakfast for flexible city trips, half or full board for resorts, and all-inclusive when you want everything covered without thinking about extra costs.