May 4th, 2009
Here’s a service I thought might be good for some of you planning your honeymoon and looking for low airfare. Southwest Airlines has a program called Ding! that may save you some money on your airline costs.
Ding! is a program that you install on your personal computer. It then notifies you (possibly several times a day - you’ll hear a “ding”) whenever there is a deal at one of your selected airports.
You may download the program and find out more information here: www.southwest.com/ding .
Make sure the rate you get is better than you can find elsewhere, but beware that the offers are usually for a limited time only.
Has anyone out there used this program? Did you find it useful? Please leave a comment and let us know!
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May 1st, 2009
We’ve mentioned the advantages and convenience of the travel online travel agencies (Orbitz, Expedia, etc.) but did you know that you might be able to find great deals on the website of your favorite airline? Many airlines now have vacation packages available that include not only airfare, but also hotel, cruise, car rental activities and more.
Here are some links to some of the top airlines’ travel packages pages. Check them out and see if you can find a bargain:
Alaska Airlines:
http://www.alaskaair.com/vacations/
American:
http://www.aavacations.com/
Continental:
http://www.covacations.com/home/index.do
Delta:
http://www.deltavacations.com/
Frontier:
http://www.frontierairlines.com/frontier/plan-book/vacations-more.do
JetBlue:
http://www.jetblue.com/traveldeals/
Midwest:
http://www.midwestairlinesvacations.com/
Northwest:
www.nwaworldvacations.com
Southwest:
http://www.southwestvacations.com/
United Airlines:
www.unitedvacations.com
US Airways:
www.usairwaysvacations.com
Make sure to research all of your options carefully, check out all fees and restrictions, and read the fine print before you make any reservations! We hope this helps!
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April 28th, 2009
A great website for finding the best deals on airfare is sidestep.com. Instead of you going to the many travel websites that are out there, this site searches and compares the rates of over 200 travel websites for you to find the lowest prices. They search such sites as Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity, Priceline, and many more. Sidestep.com also compares rates for hotel and car rental.
After entering your departure & destination info, it does take a while for the search results to load. You will find, however, that it is still faster than visiting all of those travel websites yourself.
If you and your sweetie have not decided on a honeymoon destination, or you would just like to find a location that is a great deal, you can click on their “Buzz” link at the top. Just enter your departure location and the month you would like to travel, and the site will show you the top 25 most recent airfare deals found on their site.
Sidestep.com is also a partner of Kayak.com. These 2 companies were founded independently, but have now become one company.
Of course, you will want to read all of the fine print. Make sure that the rates that you find are still available, and always do your research to make sure you’ve found the lowest price to fly to the honeymoon of your dreams!
Tags: airfare, honeymoon planning, travel websites
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April 15th, 2009
Here are a few ways to find low airfare:
Use the web – you can often find better deals when you shop online.
Websites like Expedia.com or Airfarewatchdog.com are great places to find low fares. Airfarewatchdog.com checks for low airfares and posts them on their site. They also feature their top 50 airfares of the day, and you can sign up for free email alerts when rates drop or low rates are found for you. Expedia.com has many tools that help you find the lowest airfare, including hotel rate and flight calendars to help you find the best time to travel as well as fare alert and RSS feed alerts to let you know when a great deal is available for you.
Look for an airline or travel website that offers a low price guarantee.
That means that if your airfare rate drops (which many do, some even several times a day), or you find a better rate somewhere else, you could get the difference more and then some. Expedia.com will even refund the difference and give you a travel coupon worth $50.
Check out other nearby airports.
If you can fly from another airport that is not too far a drive for you, you may be able to save on airfare.
Watch out for airline fees.
Many airlines are looking for new ways of finding revenue. One of the methods they are using is to charge fees for services that used to be free. For example, fees for checking bags (not just extra bags, either, some airlines are charging for every bag you check!) pillows, blankets, drinks and snacks, and even reserved seating. You will want to look into all of the fees and airline charges ahead of time so that there will be no surprises on your honeymoon.
Do your research and you will be able to save money on your airline tickets.
Do you have a tip on saving money on flights? If so, please leave a comment and let us know your secret!
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April 14th, 2009
When a couple is getting married, they want to choose the perfect spot for their honeymoon. Lots of couples go for a warm, tropical climate - others prefer the mountains or traveling in Europe. Some may even stay at or close to home. There is one thing that everyone will agree is most important when it comes to planning the perfect honeymoon: location, location, location.
So where are TheHoneymoonGift.com’s registered couples going? Here are our top 5 locations:
1. Hawaii
2.Mexico (mostly Cancun and Mayan Riviera)
3. Caribbean (especially the Bahamas and Jamaica)
4. Las Vegas
5. Florida
So, where are you going for your honeymoon? Or did you and your spouse find a great place on your honeymoon that you would like to share with other couples? Please leave a comment and let us know where your dream honeymoon is!
Tags: honeymoon destinations, honeymoon planning
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April 6th, 2009
One of the first steps in planning your honeymoon should be setting a budget. Knowing how much you can spend will make all of the planning easier. Budgeting is not fun or easy for many people, so this article is aimed at helping you through this process. So grab some paper, a calculator, and your sweetheart and get ready to plan the honeymoon of your dreams!
Decide how much money you want to allocate for your honeymoon. Then fill in your expenses on a piece of paper. If they add up to more than you want to spend, start looking for bargains and ways to get things cheaper. After you go as low as you can for all the items, you may have to cut some things out. (This is where a honeymoon registry comes in great, you can request all of the things you need for your honeymoon, and if you don’t have the funds yourselves, then friends and family can give them to you for a wedding present)
Here is a sample budget (Let’s say this couple has $3500.00 to spend on their honeymoon). They list all of the expenses they can think of for their honeymoon:
Items needed:
Plane tickets
Hotel
Breakfasts, lunches & dinners
New clothes
Souvenirs
Cameras and developing
Sightseeing
Miscellaneous
Next, they look into prices for their top several honeymoon destinations (it’s good to make a list of your top 5 or so choices). Start with your ideal location, and see how the budget looks. If the price tag is way too high, then move on to #2 on your list. You may even make a budget for your top 3 destinations, and see which one works the best.
Here is their sample budget filled in for their #1 destination choice:
Plane tickets $900.00
Hotel $1323.00
Breakfasts & lunches $420.00
Dinners $420.00
New clothes $300.00
Souvenirs $200.00
Cameras and developing $100.00
Sightseeing $400.00
Miscellaneous $200.00
Total Estimated Cost $4263.00
As you can see, they are a little over budget, so they need to cut some costs! Next we will cover ways to find great deals and cut expenses, so they (and maybe even you) don’t have to go with honeymoon destination #2!
By April Pratt
http://www.thehoneymoongift.com
Tags: honeymoon budget, honeymoon planning
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