As a honeymoon destination, Paris is an oldie but a goodie!  Known internationally as the city of love, honeymooners from all over the world flock to Paris to celebrate their nuptials. 

There are several ways to explore Paris, no matter what your budget is.  Sure, you have the mainstream hotels like the Ritz, the Hilton, and the Westin, but these hotels usually start at about $400USD a night, while not offering the space that you would expect in the USA.  Instead, try a fab boutique hotel that will offer you a little French flair.  At places like the Opera Cadet, the Duminy Vendome, or the Le Six hotel, you will get an intimate feel for half the price.  And these smaller hotels often have the best locations for exploring the city, without too much noise.  Another great option, especially if you are thinking a nice long getaway of 8 nights or more, is renting an apartment.  Our company, AMT American Express Travel, offers the comforts of an apartment, such as kitchen, living area and separate bedroom, and combines them with hotel comforts like daily maid service, concierge service, security and breakfast.  You can rent an apartment for as little as $900 a week!

And don’t forget, there are a lot of little known tricks to seeing all of Paris that your friendly neighborhood travel agent (ehem…) can book for you to save time and money.  One of the best examples are the Paris Viste Metro Pass, available for 2 or more days, that will allow you unlimited access to the Paris metro system.  Let me tell you from personal experience that this will be your best friend while touring Paris!  Another important pass is the Paris Museum Pass, offering you access to the BEST museums in Paris, including the Louvre.  This is nice because it saves you time, in that you will not have to wait in long lines to buy or pick up tickets, and money, so that you pay less for the pass, allowing you unlimited access for 3 or more days.

And again, remember that there are a lot of little experiences that can really turn your honeymoon into a trip of a lifetime!  I always recommend our Paris tour, City of Lovers.  This tour starts with dinner at the exclusive and hard to get Le 54 Restaurant at the Eiffel Tower.  Dine by candlelight with your new spouse, while viewing the sights around the Eiffle Tower.  After dinner, board our City of Lights cruise down the Seine, which passes the glories of the lit Muse de O’rsey, the Louvre, and Notre Dame.  After the cruise, a bus takes you for the late show at the Moulin Rouge, and includes a half bottle of champagne each!  This tour, a full 7 hours out  on the town starts at $350 per person, and includes all your food, a selection of beverages, and all transportation!

In recent years, there has been a lot of buzz about last minute travel deals.  In the last few weeks, we have been dealing with a lot of people calling our office to see what kind of last minute specials they can get.  Unfortunately, in the last two years or so, last minute travel has become a myth.  It almost never exists.

The first reason is simply that if flights are not full, airlines are canceling flights rather than offer radically discounted seats.  The airlines are in trouble, and this is their knee-jerk response to tightening the belt.

Although hotels will occasionally run last minute summer specials, it is usually for weekday travel, for Tuesdays, Wednesday and Thursday.  They also mean last minute as in the next 10 days.  Unfortunately, where the hotels slash prices, you will still pay through the nose for airline tickets.

The only last minute deals that are still around are the last minute cruise deals.  These cruise ships are leaving, end of story.  Therefore, the ships will go crazy trying to fill up the  ship.  If you leave in Texas, Florida, California. Organ or Washington, this is great news for you because you can get a hold of a last minute cruise deal without paying for air.  Last minute cruise deals can be good for other state residences too, it is just important that you choose a deal from your closest port.  If your in New York, try going out of Florida instead of California.

The key in planning a last minute is to be flexible.  You cannot have a strict budget of $800 and only be willing to travel to one very specific place.  And although you can get great last minute deals, you should not expect a five star property at a two star price.  Specials are available, but think more like 25-40%.  $500 a night for a five star suite is pretty good when it normally costs $950.  Think in terms of VALUE not bottom line.  If your main concern is paying as little as possible, you are better off booking at least 6 months ahead.

Hello everyone!

I know it has been a while since I have made a post.  With so many people trying to book summer honeymoons and with 5 bridal shows in the next 10 weeks, it has been a bit crazy in my office.

I just thought I would do a quick post about an Italian honeymoon I am putting together for some clients of mine, Amanda and Angelo.  With three whole weeks to spend in Italy, this pair want to see and do as much as they can without being too rushed.  Here is the Itinerary I built for them, and let me tell you, I would go on this honeymoon myself!  By putting them in some excellent 4 star hotels, the cost of this honeymoon with all you see below (except for the air and train tickets), this honeymoon is only going to cost a little over $7,000 total for two.

October

10
Depart LAX

11
Arrive Venice
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Gondola Ride
Venice

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Train to Milan
Milan

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Last Supper Tour in Milan
Train to Florence in the afternoon
Florence

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Morning Visit to Accademia to see David
Day at leisure
Florence

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Morning visit to Uffizi
Day at leisure
Florence

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All Day trip to Chinque Terra
Evening at leisure
Florence

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Afternoon trip to Pisa
Evening at leisure
Florence

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Train or Taxi to Tuscany area
Evening at leisure
Tuscany

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Maybe wine tour from hotel
Evening at leisure
Tuscany

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Day at leisure
Tuscany

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Taxi to nearest station.  Train to Rome.
Evening at leisure
Rome

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Vatican tour
Evening at leisure
Rome

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Tickets for open city bus for day at leisure
Rome Night walking tour
Rome

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Tickets for open city bus for day at leisure
Rome

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Train from Rome to Naples
Evening at leisure
Naples

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Pompeii and Herculeam tour
Evening at leisure
Naples

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Capri and Anacapri excursion
Evening at leisure
Naples

29
Taxi or bus from Naples to Sorrento or Positano
Sorrento/
Positono

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Sorrento/
Positono

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Sorrento/
Positono

November
1
Train/Taxi to Naples.  Fly Naples to Rome, Rome to  LAX

If you are planning an Italian honeymoon, and are not sure what to do, where to go or how to make it fit into your budget, give me a call or send me an email!

Hi everyone!

Sorry I have not updated in FOREVER, but we lost a few people in our office and things have been crazy! December through March is high honeymoon booking season.

Anyways, I thought I would do a quick post about an upcoming bridal show that we are participating in…

From 11 am to 3 pm, join us for an upscale bridal show at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. Famous for its golf tournaments and for its famous clientele, this is the first time the Riviera Country Club will be allowing non members to contemplate having a Rivera Wedding.

And did I mention you will have a chance to enter into our Hawaii Honeymoon drawing? That’s right! You could win a 4 night honeymoon at a five star resort.

All you have to do is register! The first 300 brides are free and get a free bag of goodies.

Register Here: http://www.rccla.com/arivierawedding/

For more info, visit our website and click on the link in blue at the top of the page.
www.amtweddings.com

Next week, I am going out on assignment.  For one week, I will be sailing down the Sine river on a Uniworld River Cruise.  The itinerary is called Paris to Paris, and we start and end in Paris.  My goal is to write a blog every day about the sights, with recommendations about what to see, what to do, where to eat and more!  I will scope out the best of the best for all travelers, especially honeymooners!  I am also going to write up a full, no nonsense, honest to goodness report on Uniworld cruise line.  If anyone would like me to answer a specific question, simply leave a comment on the blog before, and I will do my best to answer it in the next blog.

So bon voyage and au revoir!  Look for my first Paris post on November 4th!

October and November are the unofficial beginning of the new travel year.  This is when pricing is available for the most popular travel months of June through August.  To promote products, resorts and travel consolidators will offer what is often called the early booking discount.  This could be anything from a free night, a special amenity such as free breakfasts, or up to $100 off the hotel stay a night!  This is just one benefit of booking any travel early. When it comes to booking travel for a honeymoon, it is even more important to book early, especially if you are planning to travel between May and August.  These are the most popular wedding months, and honeymooners must compete not only with regular travelers high season, but an increase in other honeymooning couples.  This means that special room categories, such as honeymoon suites and oceanfront properties, will sell out quickly.  And with such an important trip, you do not want to leave it to the last minute chance.

Booking early also gives you the ability to get you air fare at a lower price as well.  Air usually gets more expensive the closer you get to a departure date.  And with air pricing changing on a daily basis, the first price at the earliest time is usually the best.

Once you have a deposit on something, there is no worrying about what could happen.  So weather you are traveling for your honeymoon, a destination wedding or any other type of vacation or getaway, book early to avoid the stress of loose ends!