group booking or not?

[karenk77]

I spoke with 3 family friends/members that are in the travel industry, and they themselves told me let everyone do it for themselves when they themselves could have done this..I just kept reitterating that my main concern of this entire wedding planning is having my guests pay as little as possible, and they all said let everyone do it for themselves, maybe its different depending on where you are flying from? but from NY the consensus seems to be every man for himself.

[aprilmay]

If you have a group booking for a week, can one person staying less nights still be included in this? Did that make sense? Haha

[TammyWright]

Quote:

Originally Posted by karenk77 I spoke with 3 family friends/members that are in the travel industry, and they themselves told me let everyone do it for themselves when they themselves could have done this..I just kept reitterating that my main concern of this entire wedding planning is having my guests pay as little as possible, and they all said let everyone do it for themselves, maybe its different depending on where you are flying from? but from NY the consensus seems to be every man for himself.

or they may have chosen to not work with your family or friends.

i hope you don't take this the wrong way but my sister is having a DW this year and i did not want to deal with booking my family. they drive me nuts.

also, for some resorts you would be stupid NOT to do a group block because of the perks you get like free private events, upgrades, free nights, free anniversary nights, etc.

[Angela139]

Be careful with group bookings - we did it, also supposedly got an "early booking bonus" - but rates for our resort dropped within months, and are now a full 7 hundred dollars cheaper per person!!! If we hadn't done the group booking we wouldall have paid substantially less. As it is many of our guests bowed out of the group booking, even forfeiting their deposits,and booked through expedia etc to save money. The people who booked early are totallyscrewed because they had to pay sooo much more than everyone else!

[RCBlondie]

thanks for the input! My FI says the same thing as many of you say, "every person for themselves". Travelling to the Mayan Riviera during June will probably not be an incredibly busy time of year so we are not likely to have to worry about the rooms being fully booked. Plus, as far as I am concerned, one of the main selling points the TA's use for group bookings is to have everyone in the same area of the resort...and I mean this in the nicest way possible, but I am already spending a full week with everyone, I do not need to have a joining room too! hehe...

 

Think we will skip the group booking for now. Our TA did not seem to offer any perks with the group booking except the early booking bonus, and it was $2200 (cad pp) which is a little high as far as I am concerned.

 

Thanks everyone!

[inspiredfyre]

....funny, I was just reading this thread about that, a reason you may not want to group book!

 

http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t48161

 

Really read through the contract, because you may not be able to get out of it later if you find a better rate for your guests!

 

Best of luck to you!!

[mitzy7]

We decided to do a group booking for our wedding party, family and closest friends only (basically all of the people who will for sure be attending). Instead of us putting down the deposit on my credit card and then having the stress of trying to fill the rooms, I am having each person pay for their own deposit. My TA first said I needed to put it on one credit card, but I asked if I could submit her a list of all of my guests credit cards by the quote deadline, if that would that be ok, and she said yes!! Currently, it will be saving $400 per person of the regular rate, which is a lot of money.

 

But here is the best part... for those people that did book with the group rate, the tour operator is offering a one time price adjustment from now til the wedding. So if in like 5 months, I find out the rates have gone down by $400, I am allowed to rebook my group quote at the new lower price. But they will only allow this once, so if it does down again, I would be out of luck. I think this is a real bonus, so I don't have to worry about prices going way down and my guests who booked early being upset.

 

As for the rest of my invites, they will have to book themselves. I agree that it is way to hard to coordinate a group rate with everyone. My advice is go with only those people who are willing to commit their deposit early. Makes the planning so much easier:)

[angie8119]

I love this thread, this discussion alone is the reason I ended up switching my resort. Trying to figure out what is the better deal for the guests! I did not do the group booking, simple because everyone would have to arrive and leave from the same airport on the same dates. I didnt see how this would be feasible. Of course the one good thing my travel agent mentioned was that I can get a refund for any rooms not booked 90 days before departure. As I go back and forth trying to decide if I made the right decision I read this thread. I am going to stick with no group booking but really it is hard to say what is the better road to take.

[RCBlondie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mitzy7 We decided to do a group booking for our wedding party, family and closest friends only (basically all of the people who will for sure be attending). Instead of us putting down the deposit on my credit card and then having the stress of trying to fill the rooms, I am having each person pay for their own deposit. My TA first said I needed to put it on one credit card, but I asked if I could submit her a list of all of my guests credit cards by the quote deadline, if that would that be ok, and she said yes!! Currently, it will be saving $400 per person of the regular rate, which is a lot of money. But here is the best part... for those people that did book with the group rate, the tour operator is offering a one time price adjustment from now til the wedding. So if in like 5 months, I find out the rates have gone down by $400, I am allowed to rebook my group quote at the new lower price. But they will only allow this once, so if it does down again, I would be out of luck. I think this is a real bonus, so I don't have to worry about prices going way down and my guests who booked early being upset. As for the rest of my invites, they will have to book themselves. I agree that it is way to hard to coordinate a group rate with everyone. My advice is go with only those people who are willing to commit their deposit early. Makes the planning so much easier:)

wow! That is great about your contract. I have not heard of any tour operator allowing you to receive a refund on the rooms that are not booked (granted I have not looked into that either). Or providing the one time price adjustment.

[RCBlondie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TA Maureen I just wanted to add to this conversation and say that this is why it is soooo important to use a TA that is very familiar with booking DW's and group travel. There are several different ways to handle a group booking. You need a TA that will advise you of the pros and cons of booking each way. Some resorts offer wedding amenities and incentives that make group bookings really worth while. Other resorts like RIU's do not offer much as far as incentives to book as a group and they run really great seasonal sales so it makes sense to book individually to take advantage of those sales. So there is no one answer that is right for everyone as far as group bookings vs. individual bookings go. You need to evaluate the pros and cons with an experienced agent. The other thing I wanted to add for those that choose to book individually. It doesn't have to be "every man for himself". You can still retain the services of a TA and have your guests contact them on their own when they are ready to book. That TA can then customize packages to suit their needs and keep track of all your guests and their travel dates for you.

Very good point about using one TA for everyone that would like to book through the same person, even if not doing group booking. Do you know much about the Dreams Resorts and if it is better to do a group booking through them? It is hard to know if the TA you choose has the experience you require to get the best rates possible. Any suggestions about questions I should ask a TA? Or someone you can recommend for me (out of Canada, preferably in BC)? Thanks!