Our rates from Canada have gone up! What should we do?

[DEH83]

So I'm sure many of you have been through something like this or have some good advice for me I hope! I am completely new to this travel stuff, so I don't know what to really do...

 

We received a quote that was valid for 7 days to use kind of as a pricepoint to determine the resort we are staying at. Once we had our Save the Dates out, and everyone knew about our wedding, we had to get it requoted, then people need to book within the next 7 days.

 

Well we received the new rates from the 3 cities we have people coming out of, and all of them went up about 100 dollars. Now I know it's not a huge difference, but still, it's so frustrating! We are getting married at the Grand Palladium Punta Cana in April 2010, and the company the quote is through is Sunwing..

 

So what is your advice? Our TA is trying to get them to go back to the other rates, since we can guarantee 20 people book right away. but if that doesn't work - should we wait it out?

 

I don't know, I'm not a gambler, so the whole thing scares me, but I don't want to feel like a I got a bad deal either...

[Amarillis]

First off... Sunwing sucks.

 

Secondly, I don't think you have a very good TA --- you need to find yourself a TA that specializes in destination weddings. The one I used was fantastic, and secured rates for a much longer period than 7 days.

 

We knew (100%) sure that we had 30-40 ppl going to Cuba -- this was our immeadiate family that had guaranteed us. So we put the deposit down for them (yes out of our own pocket), and our TA managed to double the space with Air Canada vacations. We paid deposit for 40 ppl, ACV held 40 more spaces, and by the end of the booking process we actually ran out of secured spaces.

 

What I am suggesting is this, secure the number of spaces you KNOW you will be utilizing, get your TA (or find one that will) increase the hold on extra spaces so that you may secure a rate for your guests.

 

Ciao A.

[DEH83]

I don't think I have a bad TA either, Maureen! She is actually my cousin, and I know she is doing everything she can for me. The 7 days is a Sunwing policy. i think I will see what else she has to say, and get her to also look at other oporators as you mentioned. Also, I guess I'm just wondering, too, might it be best for us to wait a bit to have it requoted, will the prices come down? My TA says it can go either way, and she would advise me on this one way or the other because it's kind of a gamble, which I understand from her point of view.

 

Amarillis, were you really happy with ACV? i have heard great things about them, but I believe they are more expensive, and I am trying to keep this affordable for my guests. My fiancé and I were thinking of putting down the deposits ourselves, too, but we had to wait to get a better read on the number attending.

[~Nicole~]

That 7 day crap is exactly why I went with a TA that specializes in destination weddings. I had 2 TA's give me that option which I didn't feel was fair to the guests. I basically did was Amarillis did and secured a certain number of spots which the TA then matched. Good luck!

[Jen_S]

I would not panic yet, you still have a good amount of time. After we sent out our std our price also went but then about 2 months before the wedding it came down $300 so we were exactly where we wanted the price to be.

[ashey063009]

I have to say I'm with Amy on this one. We just got back from our wedding in Cuba-- a location we ended up defaulting to after the H1N1 drama.

 

HOWEVER, with that said-- SUNWING SUCKS. They are typically lower in price, however they economically shaky right now. Our entire group was initially booked with Sunwing, and in April (three weeks BEFORE Swine Flu even became a conversation) they cancelled all flights to West Coast Mexico. This left us totally , but ended up being a blessing in disguise.

 

ACV actually matched the initial Sunwing quote after the cancellation in order to accommodate our group. Now, the trip ended up getting cancelled in mid-May (yes nerve wracking) but we were fully refunded EVERY cent, and ended up re-booking our Cuba trip through ACV at $300 less/ pp than we were initially spending for Mexico!

 

I definitely think you should consider putting down the deposit personally for those that are guaranteed to attend. Sell off Vacations Group Booking was who we did our final bookings through, and they were able to give us an ACV quote that was valid for three weeks-- giving out guests ample time to confirm.

 

I'm so sorry that this has turned into such a hassle, and just remember-- worst case scenario most people won't mind forking over the extra hundred dollars as it is likely only a small percentage of the total cost anyway.

 

The best of luck my friend, I'm sure it'll all work out in the end.

[arubabride]

I also booked with Sell Off Vacations Group and they have been awesome. After my fiance and I flew down to Aruba in January to check it out. We decided on the Riu and mailed out our Save the Dates after we returned. Than our travel agent at that time (not Sell Off) said the price went up $1000 per person. I just about lost it! Not only is Aruba expensive, now it was going to be $1000 more!!! I actually was crying because we didn't know what to do.

 

We found out that when we travelled, the Riu still had introductory rates and that the rates would be going up, something our travel agent neglected to tell us. Anyways, the price went down $200 with this travel agent. Still not enough. So I went shopping around. Sell Off Vacations got it down to $600 cheaper, not perfect but we were extremely happy.

 

What I did was put a deposit down for 10 people because I knew they were coming and the rate got extended to October 31, 2009. So now people have tons of time to confirm.

 

And I'm also trying to find another hotel for the people that still can't afford to go.

 

Sorry to hear that the booking is so crazy. I went through it myself but it will all turned out! Trust me!

[itsfinallyhere]

when I went to confirm the price it had gone up $100! I could not believe this. We too had a week but I told her I would be unable to come in with the deposit until Monday (end of the 7 day quote was on a Friday). She said no problem. After compaling she contacted the company (Nolitours) and they were willing to reduce the price $50. So only an increase of $50 not too bad. She did warn me away from Sunwing and so far has done a great job. I choose Marlin Travel because they had the hotel I wanted and were able to get me quotes when others did not seem to be able (I had four travel agents working on this). I put the deposit down for the required 10 people and when others cal in to take the seats the deposit will get rerouted to my tickets. Also anyone over the 10 (We had 22 booked) will be able to get the reserved price. I had not expected this courtesy, as the price ahs gone up. Good Luck

[Dmitri_Markine]

I wouldn't panic yet. Prices go up and down. Chances are, they'll go down in a few months,but that resort may not be able to accommodate the number of people you desire.

I actually like Sunwing. They've been very good to me a few times. I'd rather travel with than than with Air Canada any day of the week

[crazyldy]

They same thing happened to me and I can't even get a hold of my TA and I am so tired of trying to figure this out. I told my FI today that if I didn't get this figured out soon I am going to take him and we will get married in Vegas. I am ok with paying more for the actual wedding but I just can't stand the idea of telling my guest one price and then it increasing 1000.00 (yes that is how much it increased.) So now I have to send out the dates and I have no TA