You think you’ve found “the one”, then you find out they don’t collect points…
As one of the world’s largest travel blogs, we hear from a lot of people about a variety of travel-related issues. One constant: honeymoon planning. From when and where to go to how to get there and where to stay, people have questions and ultimately the answers boil down to one thing: you need to have awkward conversations to start planning perfect honeymoons.
Step One: Be Real
Honeymoons are short, but life is hopefully very long. It’s never worth compromising your future for a few days of gratification on a beach. Try not to borrow money, try not to overextend and do start the honeymoon process by having a really really honest conversation with your significant other.
A honeymoon doesn’t have to be the day after you get married. It can be years later and if you start off with a high level of financial honesty, it makes the rest of life a lot easier. If the other half can’t handle it.
Side Note: If you or your other half hasn’t had a perfect financial journey, support them. Bad credit is temporary if managed with care and on the flip side, so is good credit if not managed properly. Credit is about time and smart decisions, so even if you’re not in a place to travel or unlock benefits now, it doesn’t mean you won’t be within a couple years time. Don’t rush.
Step Two: Unlock Aspiration
Thanks to points and miles, many of the most aspirational honeymoons can be done on the most frayed shoe-string budgets. If you responsibly manage your credit, that can still ring true even if you’ve never actually traveled. Never overextend to meet a credit card welcome bonus and never buy what you can’t immediately pay off, but if you follow that advice and logic, welcome bonuses and ongoing credit card benefits can bring 100,000’s of points, free nights and more in as few as three months.
Talk to your partner about what’s realistic. The sooner you start putting together these plans about who will get what, and what benefits can pay off, the better. They may dictate where you go, and when. If you already have points, here are some aspirational ways to use Capital One miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards points, Amex Membership Rewards points and Citi ThankYou Points.
Step Three: Zero In
With honest conversations about cash budgets and how many, if any credit cards can be helpful in your accumulation of points and great travel benefits, you can start to get a feel for how far the world can be stretched.
Best advice: avoid peak seasons and start learning. A lot.
You want to tie the big knot in beautiful July weather, but for many destinations, you’d do best not to honeymoon right that moment. Peak summer travel raises cash prices, decreases availability using points and means too many people will be posing behind your happy faces. You want to learn the best ways to use points before you cash them in. Make sure to consider seasonality with each destination, and look into coordinating some time off work at a date when fewer people can.
Step Four: Learn Endlessly
First class for 50,000 points instead of 110,000 can be done – if and only if you know the best loyalty programs for what you want. Five-star hotels can cost the same cash or points as three-star hotels in other cities if you know where to go. Going “further” abroad can help too…
You get the point. There’s no rush to actually go on the honeymoon, so start the conversation early and use the time to figure out which cards, which loyalty programs and which destinations offer the very best value. Hong Kong is a crazy expensive city to stay in, but Kuala Lumpur is one of the cheapest. We’re not saying it’s not worth it though!
