How far in advance did you book your DW?

[Lucky_Girl]

How far in advance did you get prices for your DW?

 

I'm working with a TA who specializes in DW's, but I'm getting a little bit frustrated. We met for the first time in December. We told her the resorts we were interested in (Ocho Rios, Dunn's River and Montego Bay), told her we were thinking of April 2010, and gave her a rough idea of how many people we were expecting (15-20+).

 

It's almost the end of February and I still don't have prices. She did come back with some tentative prices, but they are all over the $2000pp limit we set. She said she'll see if there's anything she can do about that.

 

Is this how it should be? How far in advance did you find out how much it would cost for you and your guests? And if it isn't too personal, what kind of prices did you get?

[futuremrsp]

My TA had told us we couldn't get a set price on anything more than a year in advance, because of the airlines, promotions, etc. (we then decided to move our wedding up a year, and booked only 5 months in advance!! But it's only the two of us going).

 

We got the 60% discount at Sandals, and are in the 3rd room category (pretty low on the totem pole, lol). It was about $3500 U.S. (a little over $4000 CAN) for the 2 of us. That discount was only for Sandals Grande Ocho Rios. (I think it's still on, but not sure when you have to book by). So yes, about $2000pp.

[jamaicabride09]

We booked our wedding in March 2008 for November 14, 2009. We were unable to lock in airfare until 300 days out. Once Sandals started their sale, our TA worked with Sandals to get their promotional rate. It's costing each couple a little over 2K for three nights including airfare.

 

Due to the promotional sale, we upgraded our room to Butler service for 3K less than the original rates we first booked!

 

I suggest working with TA Jennifer on this site. She specializes in Sandals resorts and has been very helpful to all of us Sandals brides!

[tylersgirl]

We booked about a year in advance. Even though the prices were higher, it was worth it because we got the honeymoon suite like we wanted and we could really start our planning. Now, my guests are getting way better prices. I think they are paying around $1300 pp for 4 nights and 5 days (most of them work).

[Jess]

We booked ours 10 months in advance which we thought was too short at first, but it ended up being just right.

 

AI hotel rooms at Dreams PV - we got $114-$156 per person per night depending on the room type....flights are all over the board but they are about $400 round trip per person from LA ( a little more since it is Thanksgiving weekend)

 

A lot of times pricing does not come out until a year in advance which is probably why you may not be getting as much info as you would like

[JCrosby]

We're getting married in February 2010 and have been working with our TA since November. Right now the prices are still high but should be better in April or May so we're - sort of - patiently waiting. We're sending out our STDs next month so that people know the month and location at least. The STD will have our website which says that we'll let people know as soon as we've chosen a resort. The waiting game is so hard but I've been engaged for almost 4 mths and it's flown by! For your April wedding, I'd say that the good pricing will come out in June or July....maybe before then though??

[Jennifer Davis]

I am getting married in December 2009. I booked the wedding directly with the resort about 1.5 years out to be sure I would get the date and time I wanted. I got Jennifer (our travel agent) on board about 14 months out even though she told me that fares would not be available until about 10-11 month out. I booked the room with Jennifer about 2 weeks ago and the flight today because I found a GREAT deal on a nonstop Continental Flight leaving out of Newark that she was able to get for us.

[Jamaican_Smile]

We just booked our DW in February, 14 months in advance of our date. Ours guests are starting to book now- we have a group code until April 30th- and the Sandals rates are awesome! Also, our TA said that if the price goes down that Sandals will do a price adjustment. Can't complain about that!!

 

What we can't see right now are the airfare rates... hoping those are reasonable when it comes time to book!

[Jamaican_Smile]

We just booked our DW in February, 14 months in advance of our date. Ours guests are starting to book now- we have a group code until April 30th- and the Sandals rates are awesome! Also, our TA said that if the price goes down that Sandals will do a price adjustment. Can't complain about that!!

 

What we can't see right now are the airfare rates... hoping those are reasonable when it comes time to book!

[mfry]

Last May we went to Beaches Boscobel and loved it so much we booked a trip for beaches Turks and Caicos May 2009. My FI proposed to me in August and I remembered Beaches does free weddings, so I called them and they set everything up. I personally didn't go with a TA, I went through the website and they are so helpful. Also if you see the price drop after you book they will price match. I actually ended up getting 500 off a few months later because it went on sale. We just bought our plane tickets in feb for our trip.

 

 

Michelle