Group Rate Negotiations

[SonyaR]

I'm not sure who your travel agency is but I had put down a deposit for 20 people and we had one available spot/room and we got our money back for the one not booked.

[richarsd]

 

 

Originally Posted by MsClarke724 

 

Anyone know what happens if I reserve 20 rooms and only 15 rooms book?  My TA says nothing, but I am skeptical.

 

MsClarke724 this may depend on whatever deal your TA negotiated with the travel company. For us, we did not have to put down any deposits for the rooms we had reserved. We had a 30 rooms reserved and there were a couple left over by the booking deadline...nothing happened. They just ended up getting released to the public after the deadline. So don't be skeptical...this could very well be the same for you too.

[MsClarke724]

thanks!

[islandbride8]

I'm trying to figure out if a TA is the way to go.  We are getting married June 29, 2011 at Magestic Elegance in Punta Cana.  We will have around 20 guests, but not everyone will be traveling the same days or staying at the resort the same days.  All the group packages I've seen online say your group has to travel together and stay the same and stay the same # of nights to get the group rate.  Are there any group rates out there that don't require this??? 

[MsClarke724]

For us, the number of days will also be different, BUT most of our guests will stay four days, so the group rate will apply to those four days.  Our TA said for guests wanting to stay longer, she could still negotiate a discounted rate for the other nights, but as far as our "free nights" - it would be based on the four majority nights.  Did I make sense??

[natalie7]

OMG, ladies.... I'm so glad I'm not alone--- I thought I was BY MYSELF IN THIS SITUATION!!!

 

Travel arrangements is THE most stressfull thing EVER... I'm sitting here everyday strategicially trying to figure things out for my guest.

 

My TA sucks.... I actually made her cry about a week and a 1/2 ago because she wasn't doing her job... and she was crying like a baby on the phone.... what is that all about???

 

HOW DO YOU FIND A GOOD TA.... I mean business can't be that good that you are neglecting my 100 person wedding. I would think they are clawing eachothers eyes out to handle my wedding.... isn't it their dream to book so many ppl???

 

HELP!! Anyone from Long Island, NY that could suggest a good travel agent??

 

NATALIE

[richarsd]

Most travel carriers do require that the wedding guests travel together in order for the wedding couple to get any "perks". However, if you have a really good TA that specializes in destination weddings, it's amazing how the carriers will bend over backwards for them and relax some of their expectations. For example, we have guests leaving from three different cities and a couple are travelling a day later than everyone else...normally, this would mean we wouldn't have enough people leaving on the same flight, from the same place to get our free room. However, my TA is awesome and there was no problem negotiating the free room for us because we had 20 rooms booked by guests. So shop around for a good TA!
 

Originally Posted by islandbride8 

I'm trying to figure out if a TA is the way to go.  We are getting married June 29, 2011 at Magestic Elegance in Punta Cana.  We will have around 20 guests, but not everyone will be traveling the same days or staying at the resort the same days.  All the group packages I've seen online say your group has to travel together and stay the same and stay the same # of nights to get the group rate.  Are there any group rates out there that don't require this??? 

[KitCat77]

You should be able to get the best deal with a TA.  Distributors give travel agents prices that are not available to the general public.  However, a travel agents may deal with multiple distributors so the lowest group rate they can get for you depends on what their distributors offer.  Some distributors are also not very quick to respond to travel agents.  My TA is my brother so he's been giving me a play by play.  I'm still in the process of getting my group rate for July 2011.  My TA has been making calls for over a week now.  And the distributor he suspects will be the cheapest hasn't responded to his calls yet.  So we're holding out a bit.

[jana297]

I stressing a little about this. I hope my travel agent can get my guests the best deals and hope we get a group discount!!

[KitCat77]

Whatever your TA gets has to be better than what's available online.  That's the whole purpose of a group rate.  Your guests should not be able to find anything cheaper online, etc.