From Canada - When Is The Best Time To Book Flights?

[kcole123]

HI there,

I seem to be having trouble getting reasonable rates right now with flights for our guests. It seems all the quotes I get back are high right now. I am getting married April 2015. Would any of you suggest booking the resort wedding date, and the La Barcaza boat( this is what I am having for my reception) and then book the flights? I would like to wait it out to see if prices get lower but I don't want to miss out on the dates at the resort either to book everything else. Also what happens if I book the wedding date and then I can't get the flights times with the airline if I wait it out. God this is nerve wrecking. HELP me please. I just need some suggestion as to what other brides have done or are doing?

[acw271011]

Not sure where you're travelling from, but March and April are both expensive times to travel from Canada. Most people seem to book, or set their fare about a year in advance, so if you're looking for April, you're almost there. The other thing you can look into is a one time price drop. It will allow to lower your fare just once for your group, within a certain time frame. Not all operators offer it, so shop around, and definitely get the services of a travel agent! They'll work on your behalf.

 

Good luck!

[kcole123]

Thanks so much. I do have an awesome travel agent. I did get a price back with Air Transat and so far it's the lowest. I don't know if waiting it out will drop the price or am I risking it.

 

Most of my group are flying from St. John's - $1690 per person based on double

From Toronto - $1450 per person based on double

 

those are the prices I received. St. John's is a pain to fly out of because it's always so expensive. Some of my guests (of who I have told so far) said that this is expensive.

 

I am getting my travel agent to check on that one time price adjustment.

[FutureMrsMichaud]

Hi there, 

 

I am getting married in May 2015 and have already booked my wedding date, ceremony and reception with the resort. They held our wedding date for a week until we sent our deposit. Once we sent the deposit, they sent back our confirmation within 48 hours. 

 

We tried to get our group rates and booking through our TA but it is too early with AirTransat. They were able to give us a quote of $1760 all inclusive for 7 days with flight out of Toronto but we decided to hold off until the end of April of this year and try again for better rates.

 

Good luck, if you have any questions feel free to ask away  

[kcole123]

HI,

FutureMrsMichaud,

So you have the resort and everything booked besides the actual flight times? So you have a specific date that you have to fly now? what if you can't get the flights you want or doesn't work around the date you already booked your wedding? is this common to do this? I have thought about it but was thinking if I did that and I couldn't get the flights to work around that date, then I would lose my deposits? Have anyone else done this also?

[FutureMrsMichaud]

HI,

FutureMrsMichaud,

So you have the resort and everything booked besides the actual flight times? So you have a specific date that you have to fly now? what if you can't get the flights you want or doesn't work around the date you already booked your wedding? is this common to do this? I have thought about it but was thinking if I did that and I couldn't get the flights to work around that date, then I would lose my deposits? Have anyone else done this also?

 

Hi kcole123, 

 

Yes, we have the wedding resort location with our ceremony, reception location with times as well. Our deposit has been paid and we have our confirmation. Unless we have questions we won't hear from them now until 3 months before our wedding. The thing with destination weddings is that you have to be prepared for the unknown, unexpected and not as much control as you would have planning your wedding at home. 

Know that wherever you pick there is usually a requirement to be in their country for a certain amount of time before you can be married. In Jamaica it's 24 hours, which gives our travel dates flexibility when we need to book. If you pick a big enough resort and start early enough, which it seems you are, there should be no problem needing the travel dates for your actual wedding day.

My sister did a destination wedding at the same resort I am going to last April 2013. I did look into other resorts but found in the end, The Grand Palladium was our best choice and have already seen their weddings through my sister (an advantage). Also having her 50+ wedding party agree that we all had a great time which leaves with me with no doubt that our guests will also enjoy it.

[kellymiller]

I also booked my date, ceremony and reception without looking into airfare. It is my belief that flights will go in and out of Punta Cana fairly frequently in March, so it shouldn't be that much of an issue.  To be honest it didn't even cross my mind that we might not be able to get flights any day we wanted.

 

I am getting married on a Friday and have to be at the resort by Monday at the latest. If we can't get a flight on the Monday we will just have to fly in the Saturday or the Sunday, but really, would being at the resort a few days early really be that terrible!

[kcole123]

@@FutureMrsMichaud,

Have you checked into rates and able to get any within your guests budget?

 

Also when you sent your deposit, did you have to pay the fee at their end for in order for them to receive it. I have never sent a wire transfer so I am not sure what I had to do. I sent my transfer for the hotel and the La Barcaza but the bank teller wasn't sure if I had to pay that or them. I paid for the wire transfer to send it but I didn't pick it up at their end? was I suppose to?

Sorry I should have asked too how long do it normally take for them to receive the money?

[kmk2016]

The way our "block" worked with our Travel Agent was that we were able to secure "48 seats" with the tour operator that would be held with a guaranteed package rate for the first 48 people who booked within a 90 day window. This was a negotiated rate with the tour operator for everyone in our group (some were flying from different cities, or wanted different room types- all which were negotiated and "reserved" for us by our TA)...

 

In order to hold this block for 48 days, my FI needed to put down our deposits ($200 each) and then the 90 days commenced for our guests to book under that rate. In order to secure the deal, our guests also needed to place a $200 deposit down at time of booking, and then had up until "x" number of days prior to departure to pay in full.

 

In addition, for every 8 people that booked, we got credit on file for 1 with our TA, so it will allow us to use this credit to pay our room, or our bridal party... or split it between everyone and deduct it off their balance owing... or have the TA cut us a cheque after the wedding to go toward expenses.

 

If the 48 seats were not filled by 90 days, we no longer were guaranteed that rate- and if we needed more seats, we could go back to the tour operator and request more. (they could either honor the same rate, or re-quote based on availability at that time.)

[tygrrlily]

@@kcole123 - Our TA told us we wouldn't be able to get rates for April until April hit - so you are very close! She did tell us though that the rates around that time are good.

 

My fiance and I are dealing with this right now as well. It's been a bit frustrating because we're hesitant to lock in our date until we have the group booking reserved and ready to go. We chose a small hotel, and our TA has told us that inventory might be a problem, hence why we haven't locked in our date yet. We are aiming for a December 2014 wedding, so we feel like the prices are probably as low as they're going to get at this point

 

We have a similar booking as @@kmk2016. Our TA is going to reserve us a block of 15 rooms and 30 airline seats and our price will be locked in for 90 days. Guests will pay a deposit with the balance due 60 days before the trip. My fiance and I will be putting a $400 deposit total to reserve this. If we need more than this, we are going to request for more rooms and seats and just hope they have them available!

 

@@kmk2016 - the Azul Sensatori was my dream hotel!! I love how the weddings look there. But the prices are a bit too high for our guests, so we decided on Beach Palace instead. I chose it solely because the Sky deck reminds me of the Sky terrace at the Azul! You are going to have a stunning wedding