Weddingbee Blog

[...] Leaving on a Jet Plane | Weddingbee weddingbee.com/2011/02/01/hotel-blocks/ – view page – cached Like most brides and grooms I knew to set up a couple hotel room blocks at discount, but I was happy to discover that you can set up group discounts for air Tags [...]

I think it’s a very thoughtful gesture when brides take the time to set up group discounts with airlines and hotels. While it’s ultimately up to the guest (budget and time), I appreciate it as a guest and wanted to offer it to my guests when it was my turn. Plus, most groups (relatives or friends who know each other) like the convenience of staying in one hotel, especially during downtime/sightseeing. I don’t know why sometimes I come across other message boards and people make it sound like a big hassle to organize–it’s not.

We tried to set up a group discount with American Airlines (5%), which allows guests the flexibility of departing and leaving when and where they want to within a week’s window of the wedding date. Unfortunately, though, American does not fly direct from many places anymore, we couldn’t get the discount (10 people minimum). Did anyone have this set up with another airline? Delta, JetBlue and United all required that passengers fly together on a specific flight on a specific day and a specific time. I kinda gave up on the others (the wedding’s in New Orleans so not many carriers fly nonstop there anyway).

Yes, I went to each airline’s website, and there is usually an email address that you can email your inquiry to about group rates. Sometimes there is a simple form that asks you about your wedding date, etc. They typically contact you within 2-5 days (American takes the longest). If you need answers right away, you can always call!

The key is getting 10 guests (since our guests were traveling from everywhere, the only airline that would have worked for us would have been American–but they don’t fly nonstop, and that’s a dealbreaker for most guests).

I’m also taking advantage of those free wedding websites so that I can give our guests weekend itinerary info, group discount info (hotel/airline), sightseeing info and emergency phone numbers, email addresses and useful links. It would have been nice to include this in our invitations, but then it might become too bulky (and I would prefer that guests have this information sooner than we can acceptably send out the invites).

Good luck, and let me know if you have more questions!