When did you book your honeymoon?

[tlew12778]

Our wedding isn't until April 21 and this is actually the last thing I thought I would book. But I've been bored at work lately so I've been researching package deals and I found a package for a good price (~$1100 for 14 days in Thailand, not incl. airfare). I want to try to upgrade using miles to get there but the fares are outrageous still, so I want to put off buying the flights until we get closer to the date (maybe 3-4 months out). Then again, I don't really want to purchase the tour package until we have our flights either.

So anyway, when did you book your honeymoon? Thanks!

[AllyLeigh]

I booked our HM in January, but wish we would have done it sooner (we are getting married in 2 weeks and are going to Hawaii on Oct. 2). The only advice I have is that if you are flying to a place that is usually spendy, I'd book it as soon as you can. The rates go up everyday. Ours jumped $300 within a 2 week span.

Good luck in your planning! :)

[MandyMaloo]

My father and his wife actually purchased our honeymoon. We are going on a caribbean cruise. We're not getting married until July of 2006, but he's already booked it. I know he was going through AAA and because he booked so early he was able to get super good deals and even upgrades/bonuses! Now- for what he paid for a standard inside stateroom, we've got a delux with a veranda!

He's also purchased our plane tickets and hotels for the night before and after our cruise and is still finding great deals on everything.

I know it seems so far in advance, but there are definate benefits for doing it early. You really get terrific prices and incentives.

Have fun and happy planning! :)

[Marie]

As early as possible! It was one of the first things we did - about 7 months before the wedding date.

[ADSigMel]

I really wanted to book ours at least six months out, but my FI is a terrible procrastinator, so he didn't do it until about three months out, and prices went up A LOT in that three-month gap. I recommend doing it as soon as possible, especially if you're going to be travelling during a peak season. It didn't occur to us until too late that we'll be returning at the end of Thanksgiving weekend, and return flights were hard to come by. We ended up having to change our return so that we come back the Monday after Thanksgiving instead of that Sunday. I don't know of any major holidays or anything around when you're getting married, but it never hurts to book early.

[QueenofCA]

We didn't book our honeymoon until 30 days before the wedding. I know, it was crazy. But I delegated that task to DH, and of course, he kept putting it off and putting it off. But we lucked out and got a great deal for 8 days in Maui.

[PG-rated]

We got married the first week of April, and booked the HM (Galapagos land tour) in late November. If I could do it over again, I'd do it earlier - we lost out on our first choice of tours because it was booked, so we paid more than we had to, plus flights went up while we were searching for a replacement tour. If you have a good deal in front of you, book it.

[Freckles]

We lived in New England---we purchased our flights 3 months ahead of time, and then our resorts & local flights 2 months ahead of time. {Tahiti Islands}.

[tlew12778]

Oh! So these wedding timelines that say do it 3-4 months before the wedding are smoking crack basically. Gotcha.

Well my main issue is that I can book the tour right now, but the flights are outrageously expensive still. An upgradeable coach fare will cost us about $1750 per person :o. So I am thinking about asking the tour ppl if it's ok to change the date by a day or two once we know out flight details. Hopefully they'll be ok with that since I should be able to confirm with them maybe 3 months before arriving anyway.

Thanks everyone for your input :).

[Quartercentury]

Tiffany, the flight I recently booked to Thailand, London to Bangkok, booked in August and departing in December, with the option to change dates, was £550 - just over $1000. I think you should be able to find a better deal on arifare than $1750 each, even if it means flying via London!

[tlew12778]

QC - Yeah I definitely think so too. I think I will find better prices 3-4 months before departure. I have never bought intl flight tickets more than 4 months early. I was once told by a travel agent that most airlines set prices in quarters bc they have a better idea of how full certain flights are and whatnot. Obviously they are going to ask for full price bc it's too far away I think. Likewise my parents are looking into booking their flights for our wedding and they are being told NYC-Milan $700-900 which is nuts. I can fly in peak season (like July 4) and pay $500 r/t. I actually did consider going though London or even NY but since I am looking at star alliance flights mainly, most of the routes are changing in Frankfurt (Lufthansa) anyway. So I guess I could look at flights going directly from Frankfurt as well and just take a cheapie flight there the night before.

[SusieQ]

QC - Yeah I definitely think so too. I think I will find better prices 3-4 months before departure. I have never bought intl flight tickets more than 4 months early. I was once told by a travel agent that most airlines set prices in quarters bc they have a better idea of how full certain flights are and whatnot. Obviously they are going to ask for full price bc it's too far away I think. Likewise my parents are looking into booking their flights for our wedding and they are being told NYC-Milan $700-900 which is nuts. I can fly in peak season (like July 4) and pay $500 r/t. I actually did consider going though London or even NY but since I am looking at star alliance flights mainly, most of the routes are changing in Frankfurt (Lufthansa) anyway. So I guess I could look at flights going directly from Frankfurt as well and just take a cheapie flight there the night before.

Hi, I'm getting married April 28, 2006. We are planning our honeymoon in Italy flying into Milan and out of Rome leaving NYC on April 30th. Right now the prices are about 740-900$ like you posted above. Flying into one city and out of another doesn't seem to affect the prices much b/c I've tried a bunch of different combos. Do you think if we hold out we'd be able to get a better rate closer to the date? Or should we snatch up the $740 now? I'm so confused since I haven't bought tickets internationally for a few years and the last time I flew was after 9/11 when everything was ridiculously low. We are on a pretty defined budget so if the tickets end up increasing by $2-300 per person that really throws off our budget. Any suggestions would be appreciated. ~Sue

[lil_geek]

We are planning on booking only a month - 6 weeks ahead.

That said, we are 'planning' a last minute trip with the thoughts that we will go somewhere that looks good when the time comes! We figure we can save about 1/2 the cost (all inclusive in the Carribean)

When we went to London last year we booked about 3 months out.

[Atlanta_eBride]

You mean I gotta book the honeymoon too?

That has taken a definate back seat in my planning. I have three months to go and we just decided on where we are going. I still hve to research the area, but we are just driving about 5 hours away for three or four days.

[tlew12778]

Hi, I'm getting married April 28, 2006. We are planning our honeymoon in Italy flying into Milan and out of Rome leaving NYC on April 30th. Right now the prices are about 740-900$ like you posted above. Flying into one city and out of another doesn't seem to affect the prices much b/c I've tried a bunch of different combos. Do you think if we hold out we'd be able to get a better rate closer to the date? Or should we snatch up the $740 now? I'm so confused since I haven't bought tickets internationally for a few years and the last time I flew was after 9/11 when everything was ridiculously low. We are on a pretty defined budget so if the tickets end up increasing by $2-300 per person that really throws off our budget. Any suggestions would be appreciated. ~Sue
I would wait. Like I said, I have never paid more than $700 for r/t Milan-NY and that was during peak season. January-end May is not peak season for Europe (with the exception of Easter week, which you will be missing). I flew last February Milan-Boston for 450 EUR I think. Maybe less... I think it was 265 plus taxes (Euro). Open jaw tickets (going into one city and out another) can be more expensive but I still would not pay $700-900. I would rather fly back up to Milan rather than pay that high of a fare. I would not buy your tickets until late January or even February. There are always sales at that time of year bc the season is soooo slow. Just to give you an example, I am planning on returning to NY for Christmas and have yet to buy my tickets. I looked today and they want 700 euro which I refuse to pay. I will wait until at least October, if not November to purchase them.

Do keep in mind that May 1 is Labor Day in Italy so I don't know what kind of public transport you will find in the city when you arrive. The train btwn the airport and the city will be running (it runs even during strikes), but the public transport system will shut down early and there will be only a few taxis available. Last year we made the horrible mistake of returning from the Cinque Terra on May 1 only to find a line 5 blocks long for taxis (easily a 2-3 hour wait) and no public transport since it was past 8PM (normally it runs until midnight).

[SusieQ]

Do keep in mind that May 1 is Labor Day in Italy so I don't know what kind of public transport you will find in the city when you arrive. The train btwn the airport and the city will be running (it runs even during strikes), but the public transport system will shut down early and there will be only a few taxis available. Last year we made the horrible mistake of returning from the Cinque Terra on May 1 only to find a line 5 blocks long for taxis (easily a 2-3 hour wait) and no public transport since it was past 8PM (normally it runs until midnight).

Thanks for the info. I am going to pass this info on to my FI and see what he thinks. I think I'm going to wait and hope that the prices go down a bit. Thanks so much for that info on Labor Day...I noticed that in a guide book and was wondering about that but it somehow slipped my mind. Since we are getting married in Vegas, planning to fly back to NYC on the 30th and then flying out to Italy on the 30th perhaps it makes more sense to just fly out in the evening of the 1st and arrive there on the 2nd. Thanks again for the info...it was very helpful. ~Sue

[Tonysweetie]

my DH and I booked our honeymoon May 2004 and our wedding wasn't until March 2005. We stayed 2 night sin a hotel on the beach and then went on a 4 day cruise. HaVe fun!