How late would you leave it to book your honeymoon? You may be surprised by how many people leave their honeymoon arrangements til the last minute... or perhaps you're one of them, and you're feeling a bit tense right now! Fear not - the Selective Asia team are old hands at putting together a perfect honeymoon with a couple of weeks notice. In one case we even did it with two days to spare! Although we don't recommend leaving it that late, here are our top tips for getting what you want from a lastminute honeymoon in Asia...
Have a chat
First things first - time is of the essence, so you may want to ditch spending hours browsing the internet and just speak to someone on the phone. Emails can be useful for some things, but chatting to your consultant on the phone is by far the quickest and best way of getting to grips with what is needed, and going through your options.
Be flexible with your dates
At Selective Asia we pride ourselves on being able to pull the most incredible last minute honeymoons out of a hat, but we do need you to be fairly flexible - are your dates, destination and budget completely set? Being flexible with dates, for example, can mean the difference between the honeymoon you want, and a compromise.
Would you be open to an alternative location?
If your ideal destination is unavailable, we can help you find an alternative location that may give an equal or better experience, and work more efficiently with your requirements. A relatively small increase in budget can also sometimes open up some wonderful possibilities, so do be specific about your actual budget rather than just rounding down to the nearest thousand pounds. Your flights will inevitably be higher when booking at the very last minute, because airlines close any discounted fare deals within three weeks of departure. Remember - this is the date when the tickets need to be paid for and issued by, and not the date you need to enquire by. Take into account your spending money, too. Luckily Asia is generally one of the best value areas of the world for this, so you shouldn’t have to stretch your budget too much.
Be clear
What do you both feel is the most important aspect of your honeymoon? Do you fancy a bit of wildlife-spotting and a dash of idyllic beaches? Sampling local culture, or perhaps you’d rather hit the mountains? Or do you just need a romantic beach resort? It’s important to have a conversation with your other half, and focus on one main honeymoon ‘must-have’. Taking this into consideration, your consultant can give you personalised ideas of locations and experiences in order to create your perfect honeymoon.
Be realistic
We certainly don’t want to be negative, but not everything will be possible at the last miniute, just because things get booked up by other people who prefer forward-planning. So (depending on how flexible you are) you may feel some compromises must be made that don't give the perfect solution, but that are necessary for your honeymoon to work. We will of course do our utmost to minimise these and ensure that your trip still has the overall feel you are looking for.
Be honest
If something we suggested doesn't feel right, or you are looking at other destinations, do let your honeymoon specialist know as soon as possible. All of Selective Asia’s Destination Specialists have spent time in their destinations of expertise, and can advise you on the benefits or drawbacks to each.
Be prepared
Being prepared to relinquish a bit of control and to make decisions quickly will ensure that you don’t miss out. This will mean putting trust in the (highly experienced!) Destination Specialist who's helping you to plan the holiday, rather than spending endless hours researching everything on your own…
All our holidays are individually and privately created, so we can find ways around the inevitable availability issues of booking within a month or two of departure. Once you’ve reached the week of departure, it can be very difficult for us to get a Selective Asia style trip fully together, due to the time restraints of talking with our partners in Asian timezones.
If you find yourself in this situation, here are a few things to consider:
Hotel reservation teams close over the weekends, which means it is usually too late for us once you get within a week. We will always do our best, of course! At such a late stage you may find your best solution is to simplify your plans as much as possible and book flights and hotels using online booking engines. This will not give you the full experience of the destination, which a Selective Asia itinerary can offer, but with such a tight deadline your priority is to get something firm and in place within a day, and move onto the next item on the list.
Call our Honeymoon Specialists to discuss your own Asia honeymoon plans, whether they're last minute or well in advance!
by Guest author on 16th October 2017