We may have to hitchhike with our miniscule budget. Since FI and I are paying for most of our wedding, we don't have a lot of cash to throw towards a honeymoon.
I have been dreaming of my honeymoon for so long now, and I hate the thought of not having one. FI has been lucky enough to get to travel a lot, I have not. With the economy the way it is and more couples footing the bill for their nuptials, I somehow feel I am not the only bride in this boat. So, I've decided to write about how I've been trying to throw together a honeymoon. First things first, narrow down your destination choices.
We decided to narrow it down to New Orleans and Phoenix. If you're on a tight budget, you should probably pick spots in the U.S. Also, do some research on your picks and find out when peak travel season is. If your honeymoon falls during this time, it will cost you quite a bit more money. If any of your choices are within driving distance, you stand to save lots of money! Unfortunately for us, none of them are.
New Orleans is around 12 hours from us...technically we could drive it, but we don't want to. The main reason is that there isn't a lot of free parking available in N.O. and we would end up paying about $25 a day to park at the hotels. That adds up very quickly. So, our plan is to fly there and stay in the French Quarter. This way, we can walk or take a trolley everywhere we want to go and don't have to rent a car.
Phoenix is a 24 hour drive....nope, not gonna happen. :) Our plans for Phoenix is to fly in and rent a car. That way, we can pick a hotel outside of Phoenix. Plus, we can drive to Sedona, the Grand Canyon, etc.
One of the first things I have done is check with online booking sites. Priceline, Travelocity, Orbitz and Hotels.com to name a few. Also, I found out that there is an airline that flies out of Peoria, Il. to Phoenix and every now and then they have $29 flights!! Right now, they are not booking as far out as October, but I keep checking the site to look at their rates.
Next, I created a spreadsheet on excel with each honeymoon location and 4 of the cheapest (but nice) hotels in the area. Then, I have the prices for a 4 night/5 day stay and a 3 night/4 day stay. I never use excel and if I can do it, trust me, so can you. It makes it so much easier to have the spreadsheet as a frame of reference as opposed to looking all the information up every time I want to look at it. The next thing I do is check out websites for the prospective areas.
I went to the visitors bureau websites and requested travel information. I then searched the net for "cheap phoenix (or N.O.) vacations". You'd be surprised how much information you can find. I save it all to a folder titled 'Honeymoon' for easy access. I have also utilized Trip Advisor (T.A.) as well.
The great thing about T.A. is that you can read reviews of hotels, shops, restaurants and all the touristy stops in the area. This can be a tremendous resource. I always check this site out before booking any hotels for our vacations.
So, this is where I'm at now. I am patiently waiting for my travel brochures to arrive in the mail and in the meantime I keep checking the net for valuable information. I plan to keep updating you on all of my resources and tools and how they have worked out.
What websites have you found that really help you with traveling?
I have been dreaming of my honeymoon for so long now, and I hate the thought of not having one. FI has been lucky enough to get to travel a lot, I have not. With the economy the way it is and more couples footing the bill for their nuptials, I somehow feel I am not the only bride in this boat. So, I've decided to write about how I've been trying to throw together a honeymoon. First things first, narrow down your destination choices.
We decided to narrow it down to New Orleans and Phoenix. If you're on a tight budget, you should probably pick spots in the U.S. Also, do some research on your picks and find out when peak travel season is. If your honeymoon falls during this time, it will cost you quite a bit more money. If any of your choices are within driving distance, you stand to save lots of money! Unfortunately for us, none of them are.
New Orleans is around 12 hours from us...technically we could drive it, but we don't want to. The main reason is that there isn't a lot of free parking available in N.O. and we would end up paying about $25 a day to park at the hotels. That adds up very quickly. So, our plan is to fly there and stay in the French Quarter. This way, we can walk or take a trolley everywhere we want to go and don't have to rent a car.
Phoenix is a 24 hour drive....nope, not gonna happen. :) Our plans for Phoenix is to fly in and rent a car. That way, we can pick a hotel outside of Phoenix. Plus, we can drive to Sedona, the Grand Canyon, etc.
One of the first things I have done is check with online booking sites. Priceline, Travelocity, Orbitz and Hotels.com to name a few. Also, I found out that there is an airline that flies out of Peoria, Il. to Phoenix and every now and then they have $29 flights!! Right now, they are not booking as far out as October, but I keep checking the site to look at their rates.
Next, I created a spreadsheet on excel with each honeymoon location and 4 of the cheapest (but nice) hotels in the area. Then, I have the prices for a 4 night/5 day stay and a 3 night/4 day stay. I never use excel and if I can do it, trust me, so can you. It makes it so much easier to have the spreadsheet as a frame of reference as opposed to looking all the information up every time I want to look at it. The next thing I do is check out websites for the prospective areas.
I went to the visitors bureau websites and requested travel information. I then searched the net for "cheap phoenix (or N.O.) vacations". You'd be surprised how much information you can find. I save it all to a folder titled 'Honeymoon' for easy access. I have also utilized Trip Advisor (T.A.) as well.
The great thing about T.A. is that you can read reviews of hotels, shops, restaurants and all the touristy stops in the area. This can be a tremendous resource. I always check this site out before booking any hotels for our vacations.
So, this is where I'm at now. I am patiently waiting for my travel brochures to arrive in the mail and in the meantime I keep checking the net for valuable information. I plan to keep updating you on all of my resources and tools and how they have worked out.
What websites have you found that really help you with traveling?
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