Group Rate Negotiations

[Oryx]

This has been a source of stress for me also.  Often times people can find things cheaper online because might only be 4 or 5 seats at that rate, but the group rate (average price over 10+ seats) might be higher.  I didn't believe my TA when she explained this to me, so I called around for different group rates and this was often the case (i.e. the group rate for WestJet was more expensive than the seat sale online).

 

I was lucky that Sunquest was offering a deal where you can reserve 30 seats for 90 days and you only have to pay two deposits.  After the 90 days, they just release the seats that were not sold.  We also got price drop protection so that if the group rate went down, we'd get a partial refund. 

 

The deadline for my group to book was October 15th -- and let me tell you, I had plenty of people tell me that it was way too early to book and that the price was too high.  Our group rate was $1610 (taxes included) for the Majestic Colonial, departing Toronto on January 29th.  We checked the prices again last week and also got everyone a $110 refund, making our rate $1500 per person!  Not bad for January/February, I think.

 

Anyways, a couple of people were still dragging their heels and said they will wait until 2 months before the wedding to book.  No one believed that the hotel might sell out.  I decided to check the rates yesterday and found that there are no packages left online!  So here we are, still 11 weeks until departure and our hotel has sold out.  I feel bad that at least 2 good friends will now have to miss our wedding or stay at another hotel, but I'm happy I did go with a TA in the end.  I'm just barely containing my "I told you so" comments to my groomsmen, who complained until the very last minute before our deadline....

 

Good luck ladies!  And don't let your guests wait too long to book....

[cookiemunchkin]

Ahhh I totally feel your stress!  We had a similar situation, but thankfully almost everyone did end up booking by the deadline in the end.  There were still a few people who said they would wait to book though -- no idea why!  If they couldn't afford it at the time, it would make sense... but they openly told us it wasn't the money and just chose to wait.  And now rates are $1000 higher than the group rate we had and they say its too much.  Grrr thats why I went through the trouble of getting a group rate!

 

haha sorry to rant... I totally feel what some of you are going through, and it is frustrating.  But ditto to what Oryx said, dont let your guests wait too long to book because you never know if rates are going to go up, flights are going to fill up, resort is going to sell out, etc

 

We booked through Sunwing and they also had a similar arrangement where you book 2 seats and they will hold 20 for you, and we get the price-drop protection.

 

Originally Posted by Oryx 

This has been a source of stress for me also.  Often times people can find things cheaper online because might only be 4 or 5 seats at that rate, but the group rate (average price over 10+ seats) might be higher.  I didn't believe my TA when she explained this to me, so I called around for different group rates and this was often the case (i.e. the group rate for WestJet was more expensive than the seat sale online).

 

I was lucky that Sunquest was offering a deal where you can reserve 30 seats for 90 days and you only have to pay two deposits.  After the 90 days, they just release the seats that were not sold.  We also got price drop protection so that if the group rate went down, we'd get a partial refund. 

 

The deadline for my group to book was October 15th -- and let me tell you, I had plenty of people tell me that it was way too early to book and that the price was too high.  Our group rate was $1610 (taxes included) for the Majestic Colonial, departing Toronto on January 29th.  We checked the prices again last week and also got everyone a $110 refund, making our rate $1500 per person!  Not bad for January/February, I think.

 

Anyways, a couple of people were still dragging their heels and said they will wait until 2 months before the wedding to book.  No one believed that the hotel might sell out.  I decided to check the rates yesterday and found that there are no packages left online!  So here we are, still 11 weeks until departure and our hotel has sold out.  I feel bad that at least 2 good friends will now have to miss our wedding or stay at another hotel, but I'm happy I did go with a TA in the end.  I'm just barely containing my "I told you so" comments to my groomsmen, who complained until the very last minute before our deadline....

 

Good luck ladies!  And don't let your guests wait too long to book....

[SusanJeff2008]

Thanks for all the great info girls! It will really help. I don't have any experience with TA's yet but I will post everything that I think might be helpful.

[richarsd]

I totally know what you mean! We had Oct. 13 as our booking date. Most people trusted us that our group rate through the TA was a good one so they went ahead and booked (and I've been checking for over 6 months and the rate really is the best I've seen). However, like you, there were a couple guests (who were quite rude about it actually) who told us it was way too early and the resort won't sell out and they basically think they know better than my TA who told us that historically our resort sells out a couple months in advance. Anyway, those guests have missed out on our deal and now are complaining because everything they see online is more expensive. I'm totally stifling the "I told you so's" as well!

Originally Posted by Oryx 

This has been a source of stress for me also.  Often times people can find things cheaper online because might only be 4 or 5 seats at that rate, but the group rate (average price over 10+ seats) might be higher.  I didn't believe my TA when she explained this to me, so I called around for different group rates and this was often the case (i.e. the group rate for WestJet was more expensive than the seat sale online).

 

I was lucky that Sunquest was offering a deal where you can reserve 30 seats for 90 days and you only have to pay two deposits.  After the 90 days, they just release the seats that were not sold.  We also got price drop protection so that if the group rate went down, we'd get a partial refund. 

 

The deadline for my group to book was October 15th -- and let me tell you, I had plenty of people tell me that it was way too early to book and that the price was too high.  Our group rate was $1610 (taxes included) for the Majestic Colonial, departing Toronto on January 29th.  We checked the prices again last week and also got everyone a $110 refund, making our rate $1500 per person!  Not bad for January/February, I think.

 

Anyways, a couple of people were still dragging their heels and said they will wait until 2 months before the wedding to book.  No one believed that the hotel might sell out.  I decided to check the rates yesterday and found that there are no packages left online!  So here we are, still 11 weeks until departure and our hotel has sold out.  I feel bad that at least 2 good friends will now have to miss our wedding or stay at another hotel, but I'm happy I did go with a TA in the end.  I'm just barely containing my "I told you so" comments to my groomsmen, who complained until the very last minute before our deadline....

 

Good luck ladies!  And don't let your guests wait too long to book....

[natalie7]

Has anyone gotten a lower rate at the Majestic Elegance than $236.00 per night for DOUBLE occupancy (2 ppl)?????

 

If so, WHEREEEEE??!??!? I have approximately 100 ppl for my wedding and no one seems to be giving me a deal for booking all those darn rooms....

 

Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I can get a lower rate???

[TammyWright]

if you fill out the form here
 

one of the TA's on the forum can see if they can find a lower rate.

 

Originally Posted by natalie7 

Has anyone gotten a lower rate at the Majestic Elegance than $236.00 per night for DOUBLE occupancy (2 ppl)?????

 

If so, WHEREEEEE??!??!? I have approximately 100 ppl for my wedding and no one seems to be giving me a deal for booking all those darn rooms....

 

Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I can get a lower rate???