Has anyone tried to organize a group rate for guests' flights to DW?

keywestkat-2

My wedding is going to be in Key West. My fiance and I want to make it as easy and affordable as possible for our guests to get there. Many of our guests will fly out of the same airport. I'm wondering if anyone has tried getting a group rate for a flight from Delta, American, United, etc? If so, were you able to get a good deal? Were your guests happy to get a discount, even if it means they have to take a specific flight? Thanks!

LondonLisa

Knottie5d697e2d3ff042a0 said:

My wedding is going to be in Key West. My fiance and I want to make it as easy and affordable as possible for our guests to get there. Many of our guests will fly out of the same airport. I'm wondering if anyone has tried getting a group rate for a flight from Delta, American, United, etc? If so, were you able to get a good deal? Were your guests happy to get a discount, even if it means they have to take a specific flight? Thanks!

If you go this route, definitely get a travel agent to coordinate and manage it. This seems like a logistical nightmare. What happens to the group rate if Uncle Bernard needs to change his flight last minute? Or Cousin Bertram initially says yes but then finds a cheaper fare and wants his money back. 

Do not try to organise and manage this yourselves. 

climbingsingle

I agree that this kind of sounds like a disaster. 

I'm flying to Italy next year with 3 other people. My MIL (who's joining us) wanted to use her travel agent to book the flights. The travel agent emailed us a flight she found and I thought the price was high. I went onto Expedia and booked the same flight for all 4 of us for $100 per person cheaper! So, a travel agent isn't always the cheapest way to get flights. 

I think you're better off letting people book their own airfare. I doubt everyone will be able to take the same exact flight. 

STARMOON44

I think it's a nice thought but practically a hassle. What about people with frequent flier miles to use up, wanting different dates etc?

Jells2dot0

I've worked with various agencies to attend DWs in the past. One thing is that group airfare requires a certain number of reservations in order to get blocked space. When the space is booked, it may be higher than what you can find online because they are reserving those seats at a set rate specifically for you, so obviously they block it at a higher rate.

I would also never book airfare only through a travel agent. They will tack on booking fees to the ticket prices because the airlines don't pay them commission. No one wants to work for free, you know? 

And as everyone stated above, there is a good chance that people will want to travel at different times. Having blocked space at a hotel would still work, as people can book any number of nights within your block (if you block 5 nights, people can stay the whole 5 nights or just 2 of the 5 at the special rate), but airlines require you to block specific flights on specific dates. 

lovesclimbing

Sure, you can try but people will probably be able to find better deals on their own. Fares change so much and people can probably find better deals by booking early, using miles, flying on different days or at different times, frequent flyer discounts, etc. 

The one time my family tried to use a travel agent, my mom found better flight deals searching on her own. 

Additionally, when I worked at a hotel, usually arranged discounts were off the highest price we would sell rooms for during the busy season or when we were full. So unless it was the weekend in the summer, the price for everyone was $30-$40 less than the military discount or the room block rate for that conference. 

I haven't had good experiences with arranged rates for much of anything. 

SaintPaulGal

My previous job was in group travel bookings, and I agree with all of the above. Unless it is super important that everyone is on the same flight there is no reason to do a group air block.  So pretty much student group/organized tour: yes.  Virtually all other situations: no.  

Unlike accommodations, where you typically get a better rate for filling more rooms (to a point), airline ticket sales function more or less on system where a limited number of cheap fares are available before the price jumps.  So for example, 3 tickets are available at $500.  Those are purchased and then the cheapest tickets are $550, of which 5 are available.  Once those sell, the best deal is $600.  So if you want 10 seats on a group basis, you are essentially just spreading the rising costs out over everyone.  In the example above, the group tickets would be about $545 (the average cost of 10 seats with escalating fares), probably plus a $25 ish service fee from the travel agent who makes the arrangements.  It's a slightly good deal for the procrastinators in the group, but you will have trouble filling the block since people who are more on the ball will find cheaper fares early.  

SP29

I looked into this for our wedding (3 years ago) with a Canadian airline (WestJet). They do offer a group rate, and they give out a code so guests can book individually. But it did require a minimum of 10 guests to book. Thus we did not go this route.

We had more than 10 guests flying in from out of town but all of our guests flew out at different times (some stayed in town longer than others) and on different flights.

I'm always in favour of a discount, but honestly, finding one flight that is going to work for all your guests is pretty unlikely. You're looking at guests potentially having to request more time off work, or staying in a hotel longer/shorter than they'd like. *maybe* if the discount was AMAZING, but I doubt you'll get a discount that good.