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WHEN IT COMES TO beach getaways, it doesn't get much more exclusive than Mustique. The 1,400-acre privately owned Caribbean island has long been a playground for boldface names like Mick Jagger and Tommy Hilfiger. The posh retreat has no traffic lights, one food market and a single hotel: the five-star Cotton House. The airy former cotton plantation, whose 20 rooms and suites include muslin-draped four-poster beds, private decks with plunge pools and stunning ocean views, was just the kind of high-end hideaway that had been on Connie and Michael Beck's vacation wish list for a long time. But while the Lancaster, Pa., couple travel to luxury spots at least four times a year, their recent resort getaways have never topped $350 a night, and certainly, none had the VIP vibe of a celebrity-studded private island. They said they'd always thought of Cotton House as "out of our range."

Maybe not.

For more on luxury trips for less, including bike tours, spas and small-ship cruising, see the July issue of SmartMoney magazine.

Call it a silver-lining steal. With the dollar still in the doldrums and the credit crunch melting the financial markets, now might seem like the worst possible time to splurge on a luxury trip. But high-end-travel companies are quietly beginning to offer the kinds of discounts usually associated with the bargain-basement side of the industry. The old deal-hound standby, the buy-one-get-one, is going upscale, with venerable outfitter Abercrombie & Kent offering two-for-one river cruises. And online booking sites are muscling into the five-star market: SkyAuction.com has increased its luxury-package offerings by about 25 percent in the past six months. For their part the Becks used LuxuryLink.com to score five nights at the Cotton House-in a hillside cottage with a private veranda-for less than half the usual $800 per night.

But with occupancy rates at U.S. luxury hotels taking their first significant slip in five years this past winter, according to Smith Travel Research, and developers throwing up fancy new hotels at blistering speed, keeping properties packed and rates sky-high is only getting tougher.

Companies hoping to woo upscale travelers have to offer far more than the standard penthouse room and five-star dinner. Today a "luxury" trip can take almost any form, with high-end providers specializing in everything from private islands to wilderness "tent suites." To help unleash your inner VIP vacationer, we've polled travel agents, tour operators and, of course, luxury globetrotters themselves about how and where to find the best deals.

Safaris

These days we tend to take it for granted that luxury and adventure travel go together like PB & J, but in reality we owe this dream team to one thing: safaris, which have been pitching posh tented camps and serving cocktails on the savannah for decades. In recent years they've only gotten fancier and more popular: Tourism to Sub-Saharan Africa is up almost 60 percent since 2000.

Contributing to the safari boom is the growing number of lodges now welcoming children. Outfitter Micato Safaris says families now make up about 40 percent of its customers, up from about 5 percent in 2001. But families sometimes pay a penalty, with many outfitters still requiring those with small children to book private game drives rather than go with the group. Opting for a kid-friendly trip, like CC Africa's 10-day Sea & Safari Family Fun, for $3,358, can help families dodge those price bumps.

Bypassing the big-name outfits can also help keep safari costs in check.

While rooms at the company's South African Lebombo Lodge start at more than $1,000 a night, you can spot the same "big five" animals over at nearby rival MalaMala's private-game resort (starting rate: $575) and enjoy high-end touches like the infinity pool and fully stocked wine cellar. And since Kenya's political unrest has adversely affected bookings there, visitors are now more likely to get "extras and upgrades" thrown in by appreciative lodge owners.

The biggest rate drops come during the "emerald" season, which typically runs from April to early June. Named for the vivid foliage brought on by seasonal rains, these months bring discounts to trips like Abercrombie & Kent's 11-day Signature Botswana, which drops more than 30 percent from its high-season rate of $9,435. Of course, there are tradeoffs beyond the weather; after the rains, water is plentiful, making animals tougher to spot since they don't need to gather at drinking holes. For those who prefer cuddly to majestic, Africa's other shoulder season, October and November, is worth considering. Not only will you find reduced rates, but it's also prime time for baby-animal viewing, giving a whole new meaning to the term "family safari."

Epicurean Tours

Jeffrey Ward rarely takes a vacation that doesn't involve serious consumption, and last winter was no different, with the Washington, D.C., executive coach and his partner jetting away for nine days of wine buzzes and decadent alfresco dinners. But where the couple is used to scrumming with other oenophiles for a prime spot in the tasting rooms, on this trip they were given intimate private tours by vineyard owners, who offered samples straight from the barrel and would happily chat for hours.

What changed? This time Ward wasn't quaffing Bordeaux in France or Chianti in Tuscany. He was in Mendoza, Argentina, famous for its Malbec wine and a newbie on the gourmet travel scene. With one in six U.S. travelers now enrolling in a cooking class, touring a vineyard, or otherwise including food and wine activities in their vacation since 2004, epicurean travel is no longer just for foodies and wine snobs. Clearly, the unabashed gluttony and hedonism of some of these trips doesn't hurt. Ward's trip, for example, was at the Cavas Wine Lodge, a tony Relais & Ch teaux property where he and his companion ate succulent Argentine steak under the stars and had massages on their private patio in the shadow of the snow-peaked Andes mountains. Indeed, guests there who don't get their fill of grapes by imbibing can drop $450 on a "wine therapy" spa package, which includes soaking in a giant tub of Malbec and wine-yeast body wrap.

But despite all the indulgence, gourmet travel is feeling the impact of the fading dollar, with culinary hot spots like Italy and France taking the biggest hit. The International Kitchen, a cooking-vacation outfit that does more than 70 percent of its business in Europe, saw bookings drop about 20 percent this year. Some companies have responded by dishing out new deals. Chicago-based travel agency Select Italy, for one, which used to offer tours like its daylong Chocolate, Wine and Cheese of Piemonte ($537) exclusively on a private basis, now allows travelers to join groups of up to eight, reducing prices by about 25 percent. And new destinations are jumping into the market, with companies like Poland Culinary Vacations hoping to turn pork rolls and pierogies into the next gourmet superfoods.

Also See:

• Also See: Slideshow: 5 Luxury Trips for Less

• 6 Vacation Spots Threatened by Global Warming

• 4 Ways to Travel Abroad Despite the Weak Dollar

• 10 Things Your Airline Won't Tell You