Save Money on Your Honeymoon

So for the last few months I've been focusing on wedding planning and since that is coming to a close, I thought I'd offer a little help on saving money for that special trip after the wedding . . .  the honeymoon! 

Of course this information can be used to help plan any trip, but I'm going to focus on destinations associated with honeymoons.

Choosing a Location
Obviously the closer you are to a destination, the cheaper it is to travel there.  So think about where you are in relation to where you want to go.  For instance, someone living on the west coast is going to be able to go to Hawaii much cheaper than someone on the East Coast.  Just like someone on the East Coast can get to Europe for less, and those in the Southern region can get to the Caribbean the cheapest.  That extra couple thousand miles to fly across the entire United States can add a couple extra hundred or even thousand dollars.

Searching for Deals
I search around a lot before making any major purchase.  While I have a few sites I often rely on, I still check other places before buying just to make sure I am getting the best deal.  Sometimes another site can be having a sale!  Here are some of my favorites:

General Travel Deals

 
Most of you have probably heard or even use Groupon to get great local deals, but you can also find deals on vacation packages.  They offer highly discounted complete packages, often with hotel and airfare and even activities!  If they don't have a package for the place you want to go, they also have discounted hotel rates at virtually every major city. 










This is basically the same as Groupon Getaways.  Make sure to check both sites as they can have very different offers at the time!

*Make sure you read the fine print for all these offers, there can be specific dates that you can use it and often the deal is only for specific airports and you will have to pay extra to get to one of those airports.  But the savings can still be worth it!


Caribbean Packages and Cruises


This site has great deals for Caribbean resorts and cruises!


Europe


This is a fantastic site that I actually ended up using to create my honeymoon to Ireland.  I love that it is totally customizable: you get to chose what cities to go to, you can chose your mode of transportation, you can upgrade hotels, and you can even opt out of their hotels for one or two nights if there's a specific place you want to stay and they don't offer it.  Plus you can buy excursions here too (though do check to see if there are better deals).  And it's all in one place!


Cruises


This site must be run by the same people as Cheap Caribbean because it has a very similar layout.  Look for good deals on cruises!


Paying for Your Honeymoon
Use a new credit card for just your honeymoon expenses.  Find a travel credit card with a nice signup bonus that maybe you can use!  (See my article Using Credit Cards to Pay for Your Wedding and Honeymoon for more information)  This is a good one for travel: BankAmericard Travel Rewards Credit Card

Honeymoon Fund

Instead of a traditional wedding registry, some couples are now asking for money for their honeymoon.  Honeyfund is a popular website to help this.  I personally think if you are having a regular registry that it's too much to also ask for honeymoon money but that's your choice!

Have Fun!


P.S. Make sure you have your passport if you're traveling internationally (even Mexico & Canada)!  This is an expense too if you don't have one already and it takes a few months, so plan ahead.