How to Book the Perfect Honeymoon
After the wedding ceremony and reception comes the most awaited part for the couple is… the honeymoon, of course! Hopefully, you can start your married life on a romantic footing where you have each other all to your love-struck selves, away from family and friends. The perfect honeymoon, however, will only be perfect when you start to plan for it well in advance.
After all, you have to attend to many things from your ideal destinations to booking the flights, to booking the honeymoon suites at the chosen resort. Yes, booking your honeymoon can be stressful if you don't know how to go about it. Fortunately, you can follow these four easy tips below.
1.Decide on the Location
For obvious reasons, this is the first step towards the perfect honeymoon. For one thing, you will both have definite ideas of what constitutes a perfect honeymoon – say, sun, sand and sea for you while snow, mountains and crisp air for your mate – so finding a compromise is vital. For another thing, you have to consider your available budget and time for your honeymoon. First, you can list all your ideal destinations even when these are within the same state or country or continent. For example, if you want a Hawaiian honeymoon, listing down all the possible resorts in Hawaii is a good idea. Keep in mind that each destination within Hawaii will require a different set of booking flights and each resort will have its own honeymoon suites. As can be expected, costs will differ, too. And if you are watching pennies, it pays to do some early comparison shopping.
2.Do Your Research
Yes, the internet can be a wealth of information. Unfortunately, some of this information carried by resort companies can be nothing more than false advertising meant to lure unsuspecting honeymooners with their slick marketing slogans and shiny pictures. As such, it pays to do more in-depth research into the ideal destinations you have pointed out. You can do a Google map search of the resorts, ask family and friends who have been to these destinations, and maybe even ask your friendly travel agent for more information.
While you are at it, also ask for rates and dates in booking flights as well as the rates and availability of the honeymoon suites. At the very least, you can narrow down your choices depending on your honeymoon budget, time and accommodation preferences. For example, you may like the honeymoon suite with the magnificent view of the ocean during sunsets but the price range may not be within your budget. With your research, you can look for a more affordable suite without sacrificing too much on quality. Think discounts and off-season rates, too!
Speaking of discounts, you can actually save money on your honeymoon when you go during the off-season. Your research should yield information such as this one. Or you can let your travel agent do it for you. Or better yet, ask your family and friends for frequent flyer miles, car rental points, hotel points, cruise points, and time-shares that they can give you as gifts instead of the regular home appliance wedding gift.
3.Determine Your Style of Booking
Storefront travel agents are not your only choice to booking your ideal destinations. You can also try for an online travel agent over the internet. Each option has its advantages and disadvantages that you must carefully weigh since you do want a perfect honeymoon, not one that is marked by mini-disasters upon arrival at the resort.
If you opt for an online travel agent, always make sure that you call the resorts where you will be staying in to confirm your reservations as well as validate the rates and dates provided by the agent regarding the honeymoon suites of your choice. Also, you have to call the airlines for booking flights to and from your destinations.
If you choose a travel agent with a storefront location, you must visit it to confirm your arrangements. Usually, your passports and other travel documents will be taken care of by the staff plus you will be reminded of other travel essentials like vaccinations before your departure. If possible, you may also want to call the resorts and the airlines for your booking flights – just to be on the safe side. Take note, however, that with experienced travel agents, you can just pack your bags and go to the ideal destinations you mapped out for them.
4.Prepare to Travel
When everything has been set in place, from the resorts and honeymoon suites in the different destinations to the flights, you must then prepare to travel. These preparations will include (but are not limited to) packing your bags to suit the weather, going for check-ups and immunizations, filling your prescription medicines, notifying your family and friends about your destinations, taking out travel insurance and exchanging your money, to name a few.
Through all these preparations, always keep in mind that the perfect honeymoon is one where you and your beloved can get to know each other in a dream-like, romantic setting – which is the perfect start to forever!