Ashhtayy's Planning Thread - Azul Fives - June 7, 2016

[ashhtayy]

Our travel agent also suggested we either pay for some extra holds or if we had people who wanted to put their deposit down right away like we did. In the end we took the gamble and it worked out for us. We were at a mega resort though with over 1000 rooms. It did sell out though near the end!

 

Hahha although I say I'm shy, I am a Leo and would love the onboard announcement!! Someone will buy you a drink maybe

 

 

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We also paid extra to hold more rooms/seats. I think it was $500 for 5 extra rooms/10 extra seats. The entire amount was applicable to our trip, whether or not we ended up using the extra rooms/seats, so it wasn't a gamble. In the end, I think we used an extra room or two and most of the seats. 

 

I also LOVE spreadsheets. I have them for the guest list, budget, boat excursion companies, photographer options, etc., etc. 

 

@@calgarybride2015 & @@vancouverpetunia i posted on here asking whether we should put down the extra money and if i remember correctly, no one else had! nice to hear you both did and that it worked out. perhaps ours was applicable to our trip whether we used the rooms or not but my understanding was we used it or lost it...BUT there have been many discrepancies with our TA so she likely didn't say and i likely didn't ask the right questions.

 

i am trying to post what i would have done differently with each topic because how is a girl to know when she has never planned a wedding let alone a DW before?

 

good point about the free drinks - maybe having the announcement IS worth it haha

[calgarybride2015]

We didn't put the money down -- I meant we took the gamble hoping that the price would be honored over the 15 rooms/30 seats and that the resort wouldn't fill up  

 

Aside from @@vancouverpetunia, I know a few ladies who have, but it's not many!

 

If we did that, I am not sure we would have lost the money -- but it would have been a nightmare getting reimbursed from our friends/family, so for us it couldn't be taken off our trip.  The people had to reimburse us directly. 

[ashhtayy]

@@calgarybride2015 ah! sorry, i mistook the gamble for actually putting the money down. getting the money back from friends and families does sound like a nightmare. i can picture it now - "oh, here i'll buy this drink for you...take it off my tab".

[yycbride2016]

@@ashhtayy

 

Those are great perks and I think you have very valid reason for jumping on the price drop guarentee already! Thats a great drop and I agree  you really want to make sure you have enough rooms/seats open to rebook everyone. I should really start keeping an eye on it closer. Our price was $2054 from Calgary to Cancun and that really stopped a lot of our friends from being able to afford to come unfortunately. But we really struggled to get any cheaper than that at a resort we liked. Its tough.

 

We are also with transat and get the following perks:

• A future travel voucher of $500 for the wedding couple
• Deposit of only $150 instead of $250
• $100 credit for a pre-booked excursion for the wedding couple
• The 16th guest stays free (up to 3 free tickets)
• Priority check-in at the airport and priority luggage tags
• Complimentary advanced seat assignment
• An extra 10 kg baggage allowance per couple free of charge
• Two 200 ml bottles of sparkling wine on the departure flight
• A reserved overhead compartment for your wedding gown
• On-board announcement, if desired

All of it just gets me so excited to want to fly out tomorrow haha.

[ashhtayy]

@@yycbride2016 great perks! jealous of your travel voucher, $100 credit and 1 in 16

 

i know what you mean - i'm ready to go away (and get married) NOW!

[TinkerSofi]

@@ashhtayy

 

Those are great perks and I think you have very valid reason for jumping on the price drop guarentee already! Thats a great drop and I agree  you really want to make sure you have enough rooms/seats open to rebook everyone. I should really start keeping an eye on it closer. Our price was $2054 from Calgary to Cancun and that really stopped a lot of our friends from being able to afford to come unfortunately. But we really struggled to get any cheaper than that at a resort we liked. Its tough.

 

We are also with transat and get the following perks:

• A future travel voucher of $500 for the wedding couple
• Deposit of only $150 instead of $250
• $100 credit for a pre-booked excursion for the wedding couple
• The 16th guest stays free (up to 3 free tickets)
• Priority check-in at the airport and priority luggage tags
• Complimentary advanced seat assignment
• An extra 10 kg baggage allowance per couple free of charge
• Two 200 ml bottles of sparkling wine on the departure flight
• A reserved overhead compartment for your wedding gown
• On-board announcement, if desired

All of it just gets me so excited to want to fly out tomorrow haha.

hm, maybe I should ask about these perks as well. We're also flying Transat but I didn't hear about any of this. My main one would be getting a place to store the wedding gown and the extra suitcase would be nice too. 

 

How are you guys bringing the suit down? We also have to bring two bridesmaid dresses with us, so I feel like a wedding dress +veil, a suit and two bridesmaid dresses would be too much for one garment bag. What do you guys think? 

 

@@ashhtayy I think you made the right call in claiming the price drop guarantee. Our trips were higher for most of the year until a couple of weeks before payment deadline (also your price drop guarantee deadline). I sent an email to my TA when they dropped about $100 but they didn't have the amount of rooms available at the time for us to claim it. Then little did we know, about 10 people cancelled last minute, so now the hotel did that the amount of rooms we needed, but the price had already gone up again. In the end it was a very small difference that we were able to claim but that's still something . 

Edited July 14, 2015 by TinkerSofi

[ashhtayy]

@@TinkerSofi @@yycbride2016

 

i just checked the website and it says we should receive:

 

Promotions*

Enjoy our Group Price Promise!

Should your Transat Holidays group package become available at a lower price than the one paid, we’ll honour the new lower price.

No deposit weddings

We’ll book and hold space for the wedding and 30 passengers or less for up to 90 days without a deposit.

Wedding couple future travel voucher

For the bride and groom to celebrate their first anniversary in the same style they got married, they will receive a $500 voucher to be used towards future travel.

Cloud Nine

Airline Wedding Advantages

• Priority check-in at the airport and priority luggage tags
• Complimentary advanced seat assignment
• An extra 10 kg baggage allowance per couple free of charge
• Two 200 ml bottles of sparkling wine on the departure flight
• A reserved overhead compartment for your wedding gown†
• On-board announcement, if desired

I booked in 2014, maybe 2013 was different? Either way what it says here is not what I got either. We still paid our deposits and we didn't get a $500 voucher. I'm emailing my TA re: the voucher now. 

 

To be honest I have no idea how I am transporting anything...probably because I haven't bought anything yet. Call your TA; I bet you do get that overhead compartment.

 

happy to hear you still got SOME price drop. better than nothing. and 10 guests backed out? i mean, i figure a few might but 10 sounds like a lot. i'm sorry that happened. 

Edited July 14, 2015 by ashhtayy

[yycbride2016]

@@TinkerSofi & @@ashhtayy

 

Se my TA never told me about these perks, only the $150 deposit and the 16th guest free (up to 3 free guests). And after being on this site I was doing some research and found that list of perks, so I emailed my TA and she told me I get the Cloud 9 package with booking. I was mostly concerned about how much luggage I could bring so this is a huge help.

 

As for how we are transporting the suit and dress, i'm hoping to put them into one garment bag but we will have to see once we get Kyle's suit. I think you could manage a suit and dress but not sure about adding in 2 bridesmaids dresses as well. i'm pretty sure that when my sister did a destination wedding 3 years ago she had only her dress in her garment bag and I think the suit was just in a suitcase. They had both sent out for steaming when the got there though so you couldn't see that his suit had been in a suitcase. You should check your wedding package @@TinkerSofi because a lot of packages include dress/ suit steaming in them. (maybe you could get the bridesmaids dresses steamed... or bring a travel steamer).

[TinkerSofi]

@@ashhtayy yeah, well that was 25% of our wedding, which is a lot. In the end it was good because we were able to get some money back, and then use that to offset the bill that some of our guests left us with (I won't get into that here haha). This is why I'm not planning any excursions before we leave. Getting people to make their final payment was just a nightmare, and I don't want to go through that stress anymore. We will just reserve something while over there and whoever wants to come is welcome and whoever doesn't is ok too. 

 

I'll ask my TA and see what she says! Both Juan and I have been wondering where we're going to put all this stuff on the plane haha.  

[ashhtayy]

@@yycbride2016 okay, I spoke to my TA and we do get all the perks. here is the final list:

 

Transat Holidays Group Offer:

• Bride and groom receive a $500 voucher to be used towards future travel
• Cloud Nine Bonus: Priority check-In at the airport, Priority luggage tag, Complimentary seat assignment for the bride and groom,  An extra 10kg baggage allowance, Two 200ml glasses of champagne on departure, A reserved overhead compartment for the bride’s wedding gown, Onboard announcement (if desired).
• Bride and Groom receive a $100 credit to be used for a pre-booked excursion!

Free Passenger Credit:

• Every 21st adult passenger is free, minus taxes and surcharges, based on the least expensive package booked.  A maximum of 4 free passenger credits will be provided.  Land Only packages do not count towards this amount.   Total credit amount will be provided at final payment.

@@TinkerSofi i briefly read about your situation in your thread. i cannot believe you had to pay for people (or one person i think?) that didn't cancel. insane. so angry for you. BUT, you're 30 days out...can't focus on that anymore. time to just get SO EXCITED!