What price is acceptable?

[Princess J]

Hi everyone, I had a look at prices from Vancouver to Jamaica 1 week AI at Iberostar Beach and it is about $1600 pp + tax (approx $1800 total), my TA's (I currently have 3) are giving me quotes of $2200

Debb what are your quotes?

Does anyone else find when looking at prices in advance their TA's quotes are a bit high??

[krishna69z]

We've booked with Air Canada vacations for the end of November 2010 for $1410 including taxes from Toronto for ILA with air add-ons from a number of different departure points (Vancouver is 1605 with taxes at the highest point) so depending on where you departing from you're within the typical price point for Iberostar Laguna Azul

[lalanyc]

I didnt price it by week since I didnt negotiate a package deal (my guests are coming from all over the US). Instead, I looked to make sure the non-AI hotel prices offered by my resort were comparable to hotel prices that we had paid for recent domestic weddings.

 

My FI and I are from opposite coasts so I figured at least 1/2 of our guests would be paying a few hundred $$ for flights. I didnt think it was fair to do the wedding in a hometown giving one family the travel advantage so that's why we chose a midpoint. When I compared bicoastal flight prices to the prices to Cancun, I realized they were very comparable (as compared to flights to Cabo or Puerto Vallarta).

 

So in my mind, our guests are paying the same amount (in terms of hotel and flights) to go to our Riviera Maya wedding as they would have if we had made our wedding in NYC or SF or LA! If any of them express shock over the travel expense, I simply say "You would have paid at least as much if not more if we were having the wedding in NY!" And then they promptly quiet down. LOL!

[midnight24]

Quote:

Originally Posted by debbmach i can't believe it was more with a group rate, i always thought you were suppose to get a deal that way! any idea why it was more expensive?

yeah i thought it would be cheaper too. this is what i found out from a travel agent friend and through some research of my own. that most group rate quotes are based upon 10 or 20 guests. they will offer you a perk as an example for every 10 guests 1 goes for free. so say 20 people book 2 guests go for free. meaning that most likely the bride & groom go for free. well when they offer those type of deals they actually raise the price to pay for that 'free' guest. so in the long run your guests end up paying more money to go. in my opinion i don't think that is fair. if you are planning a DW you shouldn't expect people to spend all this money to be there and pay for you. especially when over half of the people who do these things aren't even getting married legally (they do it before). but like i said that is my opinion.

i contacted about 10 different places and got price quotes and i referenced them all with the same travel companies websites online...and everytime is was at least $300-600 more per person.

also, another issue with booking group rate quotes is putting down a $200 non-refundable deposit for guests to hold the spot. that is a lot of money to shell out for people in advance who may or may not book.

[frannkie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by midnight24 yeah i thought it would be cheaper too. this is what i found out from a travel agent friend and through some research of my own. that most group rate quotes are based upon 10 or 20 guests. they will offer you a perk as an example for every 10 guests 1 goes for free. so say 20 people book 2 guests go for free. meaning that most likely the bride & groom go for free. well when they offer those type of deals they actually raise the price to pay for that 'free' guest. so in the long run your guests end up paying more money to go. in my opinion i don't think that is fair. if you are planning a DW you shouldn't expect people to spend all this money to be there and pay for you. especially when over half of the people who do these things aren't even getting married legally (they do it before). but like i said that is my opinion. i contacted about 10 different places and got price quotes and i referenced them all with the same travel companies websites online...and everytime is was at least $300-600 more per person. also, another issue with booking group rate quotes is putting down a $200 non-refundable deposit for guests to hold the spot. that is a lot of money to shell out for people in advance who may or may not book.

The Perk we got was if we got the 21st person booked we would get a $1000, with that money (if we got it, which I doubt because I am only expecting 17) we were going to make it appox. $50 dollars cheaper for everyone.

[natashakc]

The best/cheapest way for you and your guests always to book is last minute!!!

 

Travel agents try to tell you to book early/group booking but the only person that benefits is the TA! Ours tried pulling the whole "running out of room at hotel/flights,etc" thing with us, and of course as an anxious bride I panicked and booked the whole lot of us!We booked 6 months in advance with a group rate ($1510 for 7 nights out of Toronto). By one month before the wedding, the trip was down to $1147 Cdn.

 

Don't be a bridezilla!

Let your guests book last minute and you and your fiance book early to guarantee the date! Believe me, when people pay more than they could have they are NOT happy

[Mallory57]

I searched for the best deal possible for everyone (I'm on a budget, too!). For our 4-day wedding weekend and airfare, our guests will probably be spending around $1,000 per person...I thought that was amazing! Generally speaking (I know there are some financial exceptions), The people that want to be there will find a way! Good luck