Travel plans for Fiance's family!!!

sklebba

Hey all,

So my fiance's family is from Puerto Rico and we have a lot of people that are planning on traveling to the wedding (in Michigan where I'm from originally).  Currently we have estimated about 60 people who will be flying up to Michigan and I'm not really sure how to go about helping all these people out with the cost of the travel.  So I have two questions:

1. If you book like 50 people under one airline is their a large discount?  I've seen that you can get about 5% for over 10 guests but I feel like there should be more for 50-60 people.

2.  About transportation to and from the wedding.  The airport isn't close to the church or venue so I was thinking about booking like a van or a bus or something that can drive a lot of people to the hotel and then to the church and venue.  I was hoping that there is something that you can do for an hourly rate with a driver and just have them loop through the different locations so that everyone doesn't have to rent a car.  Has anyone done this?  Knows how much it costs?  suggestions?

Thanks!!

Steph

Cynthia1207

For question 1, I would suggest asking a travel agent.  Different airlines may have different discounts and I believe some start at around 20 people as a group.

Question 2 - It depends on your area for pricing.  Call local companies that rent buses and check with them.

Sorry I can't give more definite answers

Avion22

I've never heard of airline discounts, but you could call an airline or travel agent to find out about this.  It's possible that if you book a lot of tickets far enough in advance, and pay for them all together, that you'll get a discount. 

If all of your guests are arriving on the same flight, and staying at the same hotel, then I think it would be nice to have some kind of shuttle to get them to the hotel.   THe hotel might have a shuttle, but it probalby wouldn't be big enough for that many people.  If they arrive on separate flights or are staying in different hotels, this might work.    For ceremony/reception transportation you can definitely get a shuttle to make the rounds of the different hotels.   Just make sure that your guests know what time/where to meet the shuttle, and that the shuttles are clearly marked "Smith-Jones Wedding."  I've almost boarded the wrong shuttle before....

lyndausvi

airlines do give group discounts.  It depends on the airline, but I would think 50 would give you a decent discount.   

I would contact a TA for this, planning a wedding is hard enough, let alone trying to book 50 people airline tickets.  My heads spins just thinking of it.

GL

Sarahkayfa

Call the airlines for starters, but I'd go with a TA for this whole thing.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

We booked a shuttle from the hotel to the ceremony and the reception locations for our OOT guests. I picked up my parents at the airport and I think my in-laws rented a car, but some other people booked their own airport shuttle. However, by booking the wedding shuttle and invited people to dinner the night before and breakfast the day after, I think we saved our OOT guests some money. Good luck.

Truffle2011

About point #2, my friends recently had a near complete OOT wedding (but not DW exactly).  They decided to have uncles rent multiple vans.  Each van was then used to drive a group (12-15 people) from the airport to hotel (which was also the ceremony/reception venue), anywhere they wanted for the few days, and back again.  Since they only had it for 4 days for like 12-15 people, it was pretty cheap rental and they didn't have to rely on another provider.

Generally I've found airport shuttles (not associated with hotels) to be $20-$40 per person one way, not sure about your area though.  Van Taxis might be cheaper with lots of people from the airport to hotel.  Ditto PP about talking to a TA about this, they will be able to know the best deal for an area.

And its very common to provide transportation from hotel to ceremony/venue through limo/transportation companies.  Sometimes a hotel can also provide this.  Also, I looked into renting a trolley for fun.  Trolleys can actually hold ~40 people, so that might be another option when comparing with vans from a limo company.