Guests Not Booking Through Travel Agent

[Kayla88]

My sister is really upsetting me. My family lives in a border town, his does not. I have my family the option of a flight from a airport two hours away or the bigger one four hours away to fly out of. My sister had decided that she doesn't like the flight times for the closer one, and she doesn't want to travel to the further one, so she wants till cross the border and book entirely on their own.

My sister in law just told us she probably can't come because they're hoping to get pregnant. Then my dad and two of my siblings aren't planning to bring a plus one, so we just lost 6 people on our booking. Our booking was quoted at 20 ppl and we need 16 to get one free to split between our younger guests who are less financially secure. With all the dropouts we are now in the position of counting on people to bring a plus one to make our numbers.

I'm too upset to even talk to her right now. She actually said that she should be able to go outside the booking because our guests from another country who CAN'T fly Westjet are allowed to book separately. I told her that we had a quota to make in order to get a discount for our younger sibling and she said she should be able to give our brother $200 and book separately.

 

I feel your pain with not being able to get the right amount of guest to get the traveling perks. When I first decided on a DW I crunched numbers and confirmed with people that they would be attending. I felt very confident that we would have enough people to be able to get the 1 free person. Then one of my bridesmaid's and her family of 3 chose a different TA and few guest dropped out. At first I was disappointed but sadly it's out of our control.

On the plus side I know have a smaller group of people coming to we will be saving money in the end.

 

It will all work out

[Guest]

Thanks, @@calgarybride2015. I'm totally ok with my sister in law not being able to come if she's pregnant or has a newborn. It's understandable.

[babykuki]

i am just about to start this process... have done my research and think ive found a good group rate .. reading all this is already starting to stress me out lol 

[TinkerSofi]

i am just about to start this process... have done my research and think ive found a good group rate .. reading all this is already starting to stress me out lol

Keep in mind that no matter the amount of research you do you mind up with the same problem at some point, some people don't want to spend all that money, others don't want to use the group rate, etc. it really isn't about you, you could have found the best deal ever and some people will still complain or decline to go. Just be prepared. hopefully you won't have to deal with this but I think most of us do at some part of the planning process.

 

 

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[beckys98]

Our deposit deadline is Friday so we'll see where we end up! (People can still book after that but rates aren't guaranteed.) As of last week only 1/3 who have said they are coming had put a deposit down - including my family. So hopefully they were all getting busy this week! I'll start my stalking next week...

[calgarybride2015]

Our deposit deadline is Friday so we'll see where we end up! (People can still book after that but rates aren't guaranteed.) As of last week only 1/3 who have said they are coming had put a deposit down - including my family. So hopefully they were all getting busy this week! I'll start my stalking next week...

 

You can't start your stalking next week if your deadline is Friday, you gotta start now!!!   I would get on the phone or email/text everyone who has said yes and remind them.  We had everyone book in the last 2 days but we reminded them twice.

[beckys98]

Haha! Our TA said she has a BUNCH of bookings in progress and people who have called and emailed with questions, so I want to see where that ends up. We did an email reminder last week and we've been doing *some* outreach already. She think pricing will still be the same next week. At some point, I just don't feel bad for people if they end up paying a little more. I'll just smile and say "Well, I warned you."

 

Okay maybe I'll just smile and keep that last part to myself. Ha.

 

You can't start your stalking next week if your deadline is Friday, you gotta start now!!!   I would get on the phone or email/text everyone who has said yes and remind them.  We had everyone book in the last 2 days but we reminded them twice.

[TinkerSofi]

Haha! Our TA said she has a BUNCH of bookings in progress and people who have called and emailed with questions, so I want to see where that ends up. We did an email reminder last week and we've been doing *some* outreach already. She think pricing will still be the same next week. At some point, I just don't feel bad for people if they end up paying a little more. I'll just smile and say "Well, I warned you."

 

Okay maybe I'll just smile and keep that last part to myself. Ha.

that's kind of what we did haha. Not my fault people procrastinate. 

[calgarybride2015]

that's kind of what we did haha. Not my fault people procrastinate. 

 

We got lucky, all but 3 couples booked in our group!  

2 couples were last minute, but we had a heads up this would happen (last minute meaning they booked in November)... then the last couple lived in Mexico.

[Beachybride2016]

Our wedding is in February 2016 and have guests coming from all over the world and haven't had an issue with not booking together as a group? It was just too hard given the variance of our guests financials, use of their travel points to travel and time restraints. My own personal thoughts are to just be thankful they are willing and able to spend money just to share your special day with you!!! As long as they let the resort know they are there for your wedding it shouldn't be an issue?