YAHMT: Need a cheap honeymoon idea in Dec/Jan, not vegas

[Ns1]

Need cheap honeymoon idea for Dec or Jan, preferably not more than $2500 for 2 and somewhere warm.

Hopefully I'll have a lot of frequent flier points/hotel points I'll be able to use, so somewhere along United flightpaths with Marriott accommodations would be preferred.

All I got for ideas that would fit these requirements are hawaii or cruise. What say you ATOT?

Trips to Asia are $1400/ticket, so that's out unfortunately.

 

[DesiPower]

Dec, warm, has to be one of the topical destinations...
with $2500 budget including flight, well, one of the all inclusive deals might work out just fine.

How many days/night?

 

[z1ggy]

Does it matter? Just go someplace warm and bone a bunch. That's pretty much all a honeymoon is.

 

[xochi]

New Orleans

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Disney World. Choose a moderate hotel that Disney runs and start 4-5 days.

 

[Ns1]

New Orleans

Disney World. Choose a moderate hotel that Disney runs and start 4-5 days.

Good suggestions. Thx.

 

[KeithP]

Might want to check out vrbo.com for lodging wherever you end up.

-KeithP

 

[Rakehellion]

Rent an Escalade and fog up the windows. Boom, I just saved you $2400.

 

[Exterous]

How long are you going for?

Airfare makes a big difference so what are the major airport(s) in the area?

If you are looking to use airline miles you will run into availability problems to some\many areas Dec 20th - Jan 5th as those awards go fast if any are released.

I believe after the first week of January its low season for a number of Caribbean locations so you can likely find reduced pricing there. It seems United charges 35,000 miles RT so 70,000 miles to get there. If thats doable you can easily stay at any number of islands for $2500

How many Marriott points? Marriotts get expensive points wise quickly so those may be quite hard to use.

 

[Ns1]

How long are you going for?

Airfare makes a big difference so what are the major airport(s) in the area?

If you are looking to use airline miles you will run into availability problems to some\many areas Dec 20th - Jan 5th as those awards go fast if any are released.

I believe after the first week of January its low season for a number of Caribbean locations so you can likely find reduced pricing there. It seems United charges 35,000 miles RT so 70,000 miles to get there. If thats doable you can easily stay at any number of islands for $2500

How many Marriott points? Marriotts get expensive points wise quickly so those may be quite hard to use.

I'm getting married second week of Dec. I know those will probably be "hot" dates as people will be traveling around to get home, so I'm willing to push out the HM until Jan to get lower airfare. I'm flying out of LAX, so lots of options.

With a budget of 2500, we're probably looking at < 1 week. I'll take a look @ Caribbeans, I think we'll have 70k miles by then and I know they got a lot of all-inclusive packages. I'll probably be at ~70k Marriott points by the time the HM comes around too.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[JulesMaximus]

New Orleans

Disney World. Choose a moderate hotel that Disney runs and start 4-5 days.

I'd rather go to Vegas than either of those places... in fact, I'd rather chop off a finger than go to Disney for 4-5 days.

 

[OlafSicky]

Mexico is the obvious answer.

 

[RagingBITCH]

All Inclusive Mexico. We'll be laying on a beach here later this week with a drink in hand.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Mexico is the obvious answer.

Great recommendation!

Cancun
Cabo
Cozumel

 

[Ns1]

All Inclusive Mexico. We'll be laying on a beach here later this week with a drink in hand.

What site did you use to book/research?

 

[Krazy4Real]

Another vote for AI Mexico.

 

[Ns1]

Really liking this Mexico idea. Close by, good exchange rates, warm, great food. Just need to make sure we don't get raped/kidnapped/beheaded.

 

[purbeast0]

if you all like to party, cancun. if you want to just chill, mayan riviera.

or if you can fit it in your budget, aruba.

and tripadvisor is great for research.

 

[cabri]

What type of entertainment will you desire.
Scenery.
Mexico/Costa Rico/Bahamas/Bermuda or some of the Caribbean islands if you want to just relax and avoid crowds.

 

[Exterous]

Mexico is the obvious answer.

Yeah - from LAX there will be a lot of easy options to Mexico. Haven't been to Los Cabos but I've heard good things. Mexico is a bit tough on United miles as they charge 35,000 RT PP but I would think airfare would be fairly cheap to a number of locations from LAX.

If heading to Cancun I would look at Le Blanc and Secrets Maroma. Secrets on the Vine recently opened and while its in the hotel strip and a bit more squished than Maroma they've been running sales. It is $287 per night for 2 for the dates we are looking to go in November so its a bit cheaper than the other two. Those tend to be a bit more calm than other party locations but there are plenty of those too

Out of curiosity I looked up United award flights to some areas in the Carribean from LAX. They have shit availability to Barbados and St Kitts and marginal to St. Maarten, Turks and Cacios. Some dates here or there but some trips were upwards of 36 hours and that was just getting down there. Jamaica was a bit better but Punta Cana definitely looks the easiest to get to of the ones I looked at

It might be worth some of your time to figure out where you could go on United miles and then work back from there. Some people don't like doing that as they get so focused on the destination that they don't want to go anywhere else. We approach it as a 'Where could we actually fly?' first and then select interesting locations based on our available flight options

What site did you use to book/research?

I have found Kayak and Costco to be the best two options. There are a ton a different Mexico\Carribean websites you could book through all running various different sales on different places at different times and Kayak will cover most of them. Costco will often have nice bonuses like resort credit and\or costco cash card

 

[vshah]

definitely use airbnb or vrbo for accomodations. you can find really nice/unique places that will make your honeymoon memorable vs. a plain jane hotel room. costs are comparable/better as well.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

coming from west coast id look for something along pacific mexico. cabo, puerto vallarta, acapulco etc.

coworker just came back from zihuanatenejo and enjoyed it. my parents had nice things to say about troncones (near there) as well. i cant recommend anything first hand.

also IMO you cant go wrong with HI if it fits the budget.

 

[Ns1]

What type of entertainment will you desire.
Scenery.
Mexico/Costa Rico/Bahamas/Bermuda or some of the Caribbean islands if you want to just relax and avoid crowds.

half chill/do nothing, half tourist adventure stuff.

thx Exterous, you holding down the fort today.

 

[CLite]

Pick an all inclusive, adult-only resort in Riviera Maya, Mexico. Chill on the beach, sprinkle in some Mayan ruins, and some Cenotes all for less than the amount you listed.

 

[Ns1]

Pick an all inclusive, adult-only resort in Riviera Maya, Mexico. Chill on the beach, sprinkle in some Mayan ruins, and some Cenotes all for less than the amount you listed.

*furiously googles this*