March 2010 Archives

For many brides and grooms, honeymoons are the one trip planned well in advance. However, after speaking with a couple last week, this isn't always the case. 

Rob and Joan decided to delay their honeymoon because the groom had lost his job about 6 months before the wedding.  Despite having a honeymoon registry, they didn't feel comfortable taking a honeymoon immediatley because they were now struggling to save enough money for the wedding.  The good news? With 1 month to go until the wedding, the groom found a new job with a better salary and a flexible manager.  Rob's manager was willing to grant one week of vacation after the wedding despite only being on the job 4 weeks. So with only 4 weeks to book a honeymoon - what were Rob's options?

There are several last minute travel websites that can be a life saver, especially in terms of cost.

1) Travelzoo - Travelzoo's website states that more than 2,000 travel companies from around the world list their very best offers with them. Their weekly Top 20 is a list of the week’s best travel deals after evaluating airfare, hotel, vacation package, cruise and rental car deals.

2) Jetsetter.com - While this website is 'Member Only', it only took a day to receive an invitation to join after providing my email address. This site provides deals on 5 star properties throughout the world. If $2-400 a night is in your budget, you might come across some amazing properties that are typically $5-900 a night. After becoming a member, you'll receive an email each week with the latest discounts.

3) Kayak - A new addition to the popular search engine is their Private Sale service. Accessible to anyone, the Private Sale experiences are exclusive deals on hotel packages. They're outstanding properties at unbelievable values, sometime up to 50% off retail rates.

With any of these three sites or others like TabletHotels.com and Ruelala.com, keep in mind there is limited time to book.  Be sure to discuss your plans with your partner before booking or you may not have a honeymoon at all :)

Members often ask us about the top honeymoon destinations they should consider for their honeymoon. This is a hard question to answer because so much depends on the personality of the couple, budget, and their travel history. I came across a story from Forbes Traveler last week that reviewed a number of sources to come up with the top 2009 honeymoon destinations. The great part about this list is that it came up with national and international destinations.

I've listed them out below or you can click here to see a slide show and commentary for each destination.

Europe: Italy, France
North America & US: Mexico, Hawaii, Napa Valley, New Orleans, Walt Disney World, Niagra Falls, Las Vegas
Caribbean: Bahama, St. Lucia, Jamaica
Central America: Costa Rica

Do you have a honeymoon recommendation? Did you honeymoon in Niagra Falls or Walt Disney World? If so, we'd love to hear about your honeymoon.

Where are you planning to honeymoon in 2010 and why?

Congratulations to Caitrin and David, our 2009 Honeymoon Story contest winners of a 1st Anniversary trip!  We will be posting their Italy honeymoon story and photos this summer within the Real Member Stories section of Traveler's Joy. Our outside editors had a hard time narrowing down the winner from over 500 submissions. Thank you to everyone that contributed!

We had a great time working with our outside editor on selecting the 2009 Honeymoon Story winner. We can't believe how many amazing writers we have as Members!  We'll have more information on the winner once we finalize details with them. 

In the meantime, read our 2008 Honeymoon Story winner...it makes me want to jump on a plane to Sicily and spend time with Rob's two elderly cousins!