During Booking, Should you bring up Honeymoon?

dragonavicious

I have heard mixed reports on this one. Everyone says you should mention that you are on your honeymoon to the airport, hotels, etc because they might throw in an upgrade for free. 

However, I'm not sure if you are supposed to do this while you are booking them or after you arrive (at the airport or hotel or whatever). In my experience it seems that when the people find out it's for a honeymoon, (well some romantic trip) they try to sell you on extra stuff you don't need. For example one time when my fiancee and I went away for the weekend the hotel tricked him into an upcharge of $45 for a plate of fruit delivered to our room. It wasn't fancy at all. Just some strawberries and grapes on a plate that they charged 45 for. They called it the romance package. Seriousl? 

So what did everyone else experience? Did you ever get an upgrade for your wedding and if you did how did you phrase it? 

mlg78

I mentioned it to the cruise line but it didn't do anything other than get us a "honeymoon" notation on our booking.  There were two times when it was a perk... Upon checking into our pre-cruise hotel I mentioned it and the guys said to come back down after we get settled in and the first drink at the hotel bar was on them.  Then on our flight back home we were flying first class because of a long story (which is just so sweet I'll include it below this post) and I mentioned it to the flight attendant and she sent us off with a bottle of champagne.  So in the big picture -- no, it's not worth it.  I think it also depends on the type of honeymoon though but I wouldn't expect a lot of perks, especially not free ones.

So the cute story...  My dad died 16 years ago and he traveled a great deal for work so he racked up a ton of frequent flier miles. Unbeknownst to me, when he passed away in '98 my mom was able to turn them into a certificate with no expiration date.  She never thought she'd have to wait 15 years for me to get married...but when we were engaged she gave me the certificate as a gift from my dad despite him being gone for so long.  My dad was able to send us on our honeymoon.   So, he flew us to Puerto Rico for our cruise which included flying first class on the way home and we still have enough left over for a domestic flight as well

PineapplePopsicles

@mlg78 aww, that is really sweet.

Jells2dot0

There are some resorts that will provide honeymoon packages for free. It's usually those geared toward honeymooners (Secrets comes to mind.) I think some places do this because if you make the guests happy, they'll be more apt to spend money on extras while there. Plus, the mentality of the wedding industry sways people to splurge.

Anyway, It's easier IMO to have the special note secured up front. However, it never hurts to price something without mentioning it's your HM and then when you are ready to book, say that it is. If the price changes, then it may not be worth it. And it never hurts to mention it again when you are checking in!

ashleyep

We went on a cruise and stayed in a hotel the night before. When I booked the cruise, there was a dropdown if you were celebrating anything special. Honeymoon wasn't an options, I picked anniversary and we got a card for a free cake at dinner. Which was cute, but it's not like you pay for dessert anyway.

I made a comment on my hotel reservation when I booked it. Since it was a Sunday during the off-season, when the person saw my note he upgraded us to a suite. He mentioned he was going to send something up for us, but I think he got side tracked and it never happened.

delujm0

One of our hotels had a special "honeymoon package" which included a lot of stuff and a 40% discount on the room. We just had to show our marriage certificate when we arrived. This had to be arranged by our travel agent before we left. She had also told the other hotels that we were on our honeymoon and when we were on safari, they left us a bottle of champagne in the room one day as congratulations. DH mentioned to them when we checked in that our second day there was my birthday, and they left more champagne. Considering the room (all inclusive, excpet for booze) cost over $1k/night, i'm not surprised though - places like that tend to be very focused on customer satsfaction because they're after repeat visitors. You don't need to mention anything while booking your flight, but if you tell the gate agent it's your honeymoon when you check in, you might get an upgrade if any are available. None were for us (because people are actually willing to pay for first class on a 17 hour flight), but SIL and BIL did that successfully on their honeymoon and on a trip to Europe that they took about 6 months later. Just be sweet and polite and mention that it's your honeymoon in passing. A nice gate agent might hook you up. (you should always be nice to gate agents and flight attendants, their jobs are rough, people yell at them all day for things they can't control, and they have the power to make your flight more comfortable). :-)

CMGragain

My daughter was given an upgrade when she mentioned it while checking in at her hotel in Vancouver, BC.

lyndausvi

We booked the HM package at the safari lodge. That gave us an upgraded room, champagne, private dinner in our room 1 night and a massage for 2. DH hates champagne and it was swapped out for vodka. DH hates massages so I got them both. We liked all the people staying at the lodge we opted out of the private dinner and ate with everyone else (dinner at the lodge was a community event).------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's rare these days for HM upgrades on airlines. Those normally go to frequent fliers. If you are going to places in Mexico or the Caribbean half the plane is also on their HM, so it's rare to get bummed up.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A lot of hotels will throw in champagne or a special dessert during your stay if they know. Not always, but I would say often.

delujm0

lyndausvi said:

We booked the HM package at the safari lodge. That gave us an upgraded room, champagne, private dinner in our room 1 night and a massage for 2. DH hates champagne and it was swapped out for vodka. DH hates massages so I got them both. We liked all the people staying at the lodge we opted out of the private dinner and ate with everyone else (dinner at the lodge was a community event).------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's rare these days for HM upgrades on airlines. Those normally go to frequent fliers. If you are going to places in Mexico or the Caribbean half the plane is also on their HM, so it's rare to get bummed up.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A lot of hotels will throw in champagne or a special dessert during your stay if they know. Not always, but I would say often.

Our beach hotel in Mauritius had a similar deal.  We loved the private dinner, but the massages were a disaster.  You are smarter than me.  I should have taken them both.  DH HATED it.  And subsequently ruined it for me as well.  I made him buy me a solo massage while we were on safari to make up for it. :-)

RedJacks25

When we booked our honeymoon, the agent asked us if it was for any special occasion. When FI said it was our honeymoon, she got really excited and told us to make sure we bring a copy of our marriage license with us and we'll get a complimentary room upgrade, as well as a honeymoon package when we arrive. So at least for us, so far it seems to have been a good thing.

indianaalum

I went to Europe and booked most my hotels online. I wrote in "honeymoon" and two of the hotels upgraded us for free (One gave us a room with a balcony and a free bottle of champagne with strawberries)

txbandwife

mlg78 said:

So the cute story...  My dad died 16 years ago and he traveled a great deal for work so he racked up a ton of frequent flier miles. Unbeknownst to me, when he passed away in '98 my mom was able to turn them into a certificate with no expiration date.  She never thought she'd have to wait 15 years for me to get married...but when we were engaged she gave me the certificate as a gift from my dad despite him being gone for so long.  My dad was able to send us on our honeymoon.   So, he flew us to Puerto Rico for our cruise which included flying first class on the way home and we still have enough left over for a domestic flight as well

This is soooo wonderful!  I teared up reading it. What a blessing!

dolewhipper

As someone who works in a hotel, I think the reservationist that your Fi spoke with was just a good sales person; she didn't trick him into anything. It's not the hotels fault that your Fi didn't ask what it all included, she was just doing her job.

Other than that, definitely let the hotels know that you're celebrating. Let everyone know. You never know what may come your way (we usually do strawberries & champagne and a card, the bartenders might throw in a free drink here or there if you let them know, and front desk will upgrade the room if available)