How To Make Your Inexpensive Honeymoon Feel Like A Luxury Getaway

Everyone wants their honeymoon to be one of the awesomest trips you’re ever going to take, but sometimes the spectacular getaway you have in mind doesn’t quite line up with your budget.  After all, you just paid all that money for the wedding itself, so there may not be much more you could reasonably spend on the honeymoon if you want to be able to pay for minor things like food and rent when you get back.

According to The Knot, the average cost of a honeymoon is $5,342, which is more than many people will have available after paying for the wedding (and that’s if you could even afford what you wanted for that!).  It’s absolutely understandable that you might need to be a bit frugal with your honeymoon, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be a good one, because there’s plenty of ways to have a great honeymoon without spending money you don’t have.

You might be skeptical, but let’s look at some of the best ways to have an amazing, inexpensive wedding that will feel like a luxury getaway.

Book Your Flights Well in Advance

You’ll find a million and one tips on how to get the absolute best deal on the flights you possibly can.  Most of these involve using certain discount services, or shopping for flights at specific times of day, or looking for non-direct flights and just suffering through the layovers, and there is some validity to all these things.

However, the general consensus across the board is that you will get the best value by booking your flights well ahead of your planned trip.  Generally speaking, anywhere between 3 and 15 weeks ahead of time is the sweet spot for the absolute best prices, so keep your eyes open, just don’t wait too long or you’ll miss out.

Understand the costs of honeymooning internationally.

One thing you might not think to consider while working out the costs of your honeymoon is that many credit cards charge additional fees for international transactions.  This means that if you do decide to honeymoon abroad, you could wind up paying as much as 3% extra on top of what you’re already paying, which is typically already inflated with tourists in mind.

If you absolutely have to travel out of the country, two things to remember: one is that there are credit cards that don’t charge fees for international usage, so those would be your best bet in this case.  Also, some countries (especially ones that don’t have a great relationship with the United States) won’t honor American credit cards at all, and you’ll have to have cash on hand for anything you do there.

Take your honeymoon during the off-season.

There are a lot of good reasons to take your honeymoon (or any vacation, for that matter) during the offseason, but saving money is definitely one of them.  Hotels need to do what they can to make money during those off-peak months (which generally lasts from early April to mid-June. and again from early September through mid-November). They will usually lower prices at those times, so while you may be dreaming of that July wedding, shifting it (or at least the honeymoon) to these times will be a more cost-effective alternative.

Look into free activities and entertainment.

Stuff costing a lot of money doesn’t necessarily make it better than things that don’t, and stuff costing nothing doesn’t always have to mean it’s no good.  There are plenty of low- or no-cost options available, especially if you’re staying at an all inclusive resort which includes activities as part of the overall vacation package.  Even if you decide to strike out on your own, there are plenty of walking tours, landmarks, concerts, and active, outdoorsy things you should be able to do that won’t cost you a penny.

Take advantage of member benefits you may not realize you already have.

You’ve probably seen the flyers and pamphlets that came with your credit card, car insurance, AARP membership, and other services proclaiming the many things you can get discounts on by your membership, and if you’re like many folks, you probably forgot about them almost instantly.

Well, it might be worth revisiting these benefits and seeing what’s available to you.  Many hotels, rental car companies, and other stuff you might find useful on your honeymoon offers discounts to members of those services, so why not make use of them since you have them already?

Conclusion

As you can see, there’s many ways to save big time and still have an amazing honeymoon, so don’t break the bank, and make it the trip of your lifetime at a fraction of the cost!