Room Blocks, Rental Cars, and a Plus-One: Smarter Wedding Travel for Savvy Guests

Megan, how many weddings are you going to again this year? Eight. Wait, who are you? And where's Sally? I'm Tess, your producer.
And Sally donned a red and white knit cap and left to travel the world and tell us about it. And from now on, the show is going to be called Where's Sally? I'm kidding, of course.
I kind of love the idea, though. Why does she get to have all the fun? I'd like a spinoff called Where's Megan? Probably at a wedding.
Yeah. Oh my goodness.

Eight weddings. idea, though.
Why does she get to have all the fun? I'd like a spinoff called Where's Megan?

Probably at a wedding. Yeah.
Oh, my goodness. Eight weddings.
That's a lot of travel to figure out, Megan, especially if it involves flight and what's likely to be at least two nights in a hotel,

maybe a rental car, all to celebrate someone else's love story. And you're doing it eight

times. Certainly makes me qualified to talk about how to budget and plan travel specifically for weddings.
Welcome to Smart Travel, a deep dive into the tips, tools, and tactics to maximize your travel dollars. I'm Megan Coyle.
And I'm Tess Vigland, in for Sally French. And we're the travel nerds, ready to help you plan your next big trip.
At least we're one half of the travel nerds. Welcome to the front of the microphone test out from behind that virtual production booth.
Thank you. Thank you.
Yeah, Sally will be joining you for the back half of the show to talk wedding travel. But right now, she's on a giant boat sailing away.
And I mean, you know, it is a travel show after all. You both should be hosting from parts near and far every week.
I did just bring my mic to Sequoia National Park this weekend to check out the new Auto Camp Sequoia location. I can't wait to hear what the trees had to say.
We'll have to do a follow-up episode to the National Parks one. But first, a bit of news.
For our cruisers out there, MSC Cruises just cut the ribbon on the world's largest cruise terminal at Port Miami. And when they say largest, they are not kidding.
This four-level terminal spans nearly half a million square feet and can check in 36,000 passengers a day for their cruises. In fact, that's why Sally's not here.
She went to check out this new terminal for herself. We'll be doing an episode on cruises, and I'm sure she'll tell us about this once she's back.
Some dispatches she sent me from the cruise, though. This new terminal is high tech.
It's the first cruise terminal in the world to get you through security using all biometrics. You check in online, you drop your bags right from the parking garage, and breeze through security and boarding just by scanning your face at the face scan pods.
And you only need to show your passport once. Yeah, creepy and Unconven convenient.
I do have to say, though, if airports are stress-inducing, this specific cruise terminal sounds like the exact opposite, a calm, tech-powered welcome to your vacation. I do have to say, though, that our new airport here in Portland, Oregon, is pretty calming, too.
It's gorgeous. It's like being in a forest.
There are so many real trees. Speaking of trees, I love the trees.
It is, you know, and it's this new crown jewel here in the arboreal Pacific Northwest. And they did design it to sort of feel like a forest and it does.
Well, they did a great job. And speaking of air travel, we've got some turbulence ahead.
Yeah. Delta Airlines is pulling back on its growth plans for the second half of 2025, citing, quote, broad economic uncertainty.
Translation, bookings aren't coming in quite as strong as expected, especially from cost-conscious travelers and cautious corporations. That's according to Delta's earnings report released last week.
Consumer and corporate confidence is dipping. In the March quarter, the airline reported $13 billion in adjusted revenue.
That's up 3.3% from last year, but that's less growth than the airline previously projected. So the airline is withdrawing its financial forecast for 2025, lowering revenue projections for this quarter, and reducing some of the capacity growth they had planned in the second half of 2025.
Delta says demand for international bookings and tickets in premium cabins are doing all right, but the domestic cabin demand is meh. So what's a smart traveler to do, Megan? Well, if you're planning to fly Delta later this year, book sooner rather than later, especially for fall and holiday travel.
Capacity won't be increasing, so you might want to reserve your seat now before limited availability can push those prices up. Interesting.
And we'll have to keep an eye on whether other airlines follow Delta's lead. But for now, it is a reminder that the skies aren't just shaped by jet fuel and weather, they're shaped by Wall Street, Washington, and global confidence too.
What is it? And last news item today, well, I saved the best for last. Good news is the best news.
So get this, according to NerdWallet's latest travel price index, lots of travel prices are dropping across the board. Airfares are down 5.2%, hotel prices have dropped 3.7%, and rental cars are down nearly 9% year over year.
Geez, in this economy,

where we're usually watching grocery bills balloon, tip screens pop up literally everywhere, it's kind of wild to think that travel, of all things, is the one category that's actually becoming slightly more affordable. And here's another interesting fact.
Airfare is actually 12 percent cheaper than it was 10 years ago. That's not something you usually see in consumer categories.
Now, what about the listeners who are thinking, wait, flying still feels expensive. You know, I get that base fares are down, but airlines are really leaning into those ancillary fees, you know, the bag fees, seat selection charges, the boarding zone upgrades, all those extras that are not factored into the sticker price.
Flying might still feel pricey, but if you know how to play the game, use points, pack lights, skip seat selection, you can absolutely come out ahead right now. I also recommend frequent flyers look to airline branded credit cards.
Some offer benefits like free checked bags if you hold their credit card and that can help keep your prices lower. All right.
Well, Megan, I'm packing my own free checked bags to go back behind the scenes so you and Sally can talk weddings and how to pay for them, both as the happy couple and as friends and family celebrating the big day. Yeah.
Tess, are you going to any weddings this year? No, but I am heading this week, in fact, to one of the most romantic places on the planet, Paris. Does that count? Oh, well, it depends if you get married.
If I do, I'll let you know so you can talk me out of it. I think the extent of my relationships in and with Paris should be limited to, let's say, cheese, baguettes, and fashion.
Oh, can't knock that plan. Tess, thank you so much for helping us out today.
On with the show. Wedding bells are ringing.
You, Sally, are the pro here since you're getting married this September. You're also the most wildly frugal and free food obsessed person I know.
So I'm excited to hear how your wedding planning is going and what you have in store for your guests. So by now, listeners may have gathered that I am a budget traveler through and through.
And yes, I am absolutely bringing that energy to my own wedding. So I will say I'm not one of those totally budget people who are like, I threw a wedding for $1,000.
I have mad respect for you people. But I also think if you made a Venn diagram of people who plan budget weddings and people who are super crafty, the overlap, that part in the middle is where you find the successful budget weddings.
And I am definitely not in that overlap. I am not crafty.
Megan, you know those photos of Pinterest fails? Yeah. That's me.
But you know what? You know yourself. You know your limits.
I respect that. So our wedding is not a super budget wedding, but I also don't want to waste money either.
Our venue allows us to bring our own alcohol, so we're going to load up on alcohol at Costco. We also have a super fancy cake, but it only serves 12.
We do have more than 12 people at our wedding. We have more than 200, actually.
So we're serving the people Costco sheet cake. I would eat Costco sheet cake any day.
Okay, good. I also got my wedding dress off Craigslist.
So I tried on a bunch of $3,000 dresses, and I'm just having nightmare visions of me spilling teriyaki sauce on my dress. So I found a dress from the exact same designer, worn once on Craigslist for $500.
I bought it. And in fact, I negotiated down to $450.
Yes. I love this tip.
I remember you're supposed to negotiate things like your wifi bill, but I never thought about doing this for a wedding dress. Oh, definitely.
And I fully realize how expensive weddings are for the couple. By the way, that makes it a great time to apply for a new credit card if you can put some of those big expenses on a new card to earn the signup bonus.
And make sure to refer your partner so you two can get two signup bonuses. Ooh, two-player mode.
Plus a referral bonus. Yes.
And those points could go a long way towards a nice hotel for the honeymoon or those business class flights. Let's do a honeymoon episode after your wedding, Sally, because I know you have this really fun idea for that.
I do. And so I mentioned weddings are expensive for the couple getting married, but they are definitely expensive for everyone attending too.
Yes, me. Okay, so let's set the stage with some numbers.
According to a new NerdWallet survey conducted by the Harris Poll, nearly one in 10 Americans, that's 9%, are attending a wedding this summer that requires at least one night away from home.

If you're not going to a wedding this year, you may very well be going to one next year.

Which means you might need to start saving now. NerdWallet study also found that guests estimate

they'll spend $1,989. That's almost $2,000 on average just for transportation and lodging.
That's not including the dress. That's not including the gift.
Oh my goodness. That high? I mean, that's four times my wedding dress budget and like 20 times my Costco sheet cake budget.
And here's the thing. 87% of Americans say they'd be willing to travel for a wedding, but 46% say travel costs are one of the biggest factors in deciding whether to go.
Between the flights, hotels, rental cars, rideshares, possibly needing to take time off work or get childcare, that's all a lot of money. The other big reason that people decide to go to weddings is the location.
42% say the wedding destination is a top consideration, which makes total sense. I think that probably goes hand in hand with the travel costs.
And I know you're going to not one, but two weddings in a vineyard, not in our home state of California, but in fact, in Italy. Yes.
I got so lucky that two different couples that don't know each other decided to do weddings in Tuscany. That's incredible.
10 days apart. So yeah, I'm going to stay there the whole time.
It's going to be great. One of them is one of my best friends from college, and she and her fiancecé knew that her wedding would be mostly like a friend's wedding.
Some of my favorite memories with her and my college friends is traveling together. So this couple chose Italy because we all get to stay together on the same property, a castle in the countryside, and the cost of her four-day, three-night wedding in Italy was going to cost the same as if she'd had a nicer end wedding in the U.
Yeah, I've heard that. I thought it was really sweet.
She even linked to some of our NerdWallet resources on points travel on her wedding website. It's so cute.
Now, I'll say this as a bride. If someone cannot attend my wedding because of travel costs, I totally understand.
Weddings can be meaningful for both the couple getting married and you as a guest, but you should not go if it's going to derail your financial goals. That's why planning ahead is key.
Okay, let's talk strategy and actually planning ahead for wedding travel. That's up next, so stay with us.
So Sally, for Airfare, NerdWallet recommends booking domestic travel one to three months in advance and international travel two to eight months ahead with weddings you probably get to save the date months in advance so use that lead time to set your price alert and book flights exactly for our wedding we sent out invitations about nine months early for that reason often though more important than how many months in advance you book is what day of the week you fly. We got some data from travel booking app Hopper showing that Saturdays are the cheapest day to fly of the week.
They are, but it's generally not a good idea to fly out day of for a can't miss event. Flight delays are surprisingly common.
In fact, across 2024, 22% of flights in the US were delayed. Yeah, I know.
I would be sad if a guest booked a flight and missed my wedding just because of a delay. So if you're on my invite list and are listening to this podcast, please do not book a Saturday flight.
The next best thing you can do if you're going to a wedding over the weekend is to extend the trip. So the second cheapest days to fly are Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
So if it's the kind of destination that you can make a trip out of it, I'd recommend extending your stay a few days if you can. Of course, you have to calculate whether your savings on the airfare by flying midweek will be washed out by paying for extra nights of lodging.
But if you have free lodging, this might work out. Yeah, and I'm glad you say that because we actually want our guests to fly in early to our wedding, both to avoid the panic of missing their flight and also to get lower airfares.
So for our guests, we're actually hosting a welcome bonfire at the beach on Thursday, really just so we can see the people who flew in early. And then the single most expensive day to fly is Sunday, usually the day after the wedding.
Of course. So I'm like, to my guests, do not fly out on Sunday.
Extend the fun. We are doing a brunch at my fiance's parents' house.
Well, I guess he'll be my husband at that point, but we're doing that brunch the next day. And we're also coordinating a drinks and fun hangout Sunday evening.
You're such a travel planner. And I think this makes you good at planning parties too.
You know, the two things go hand in hand. All right, let's talk lodging.
Sometimes couples offer room blocks at a hotel, meaning they ask the hotel to set aside a group of rooms specifically for wedding guests so guests can book those rooms at a reduced rate, but those don't always guarantee big savings. This is something I learned when planning my own wedding.
Our wedding block is at Hyatt and the discount was only about 5% to 10% off the standard rate. Yeah, it's not nothing, but it's not amazing either.
I expected it to be more. Yeah.
We are not even booking in our own room block. We are booking at that hotel, but instead of booking with our room block, we're paying with Hyatt points transferred from Ultimate Rewards.
Highly recommend doing this if you're sitting on points. Oh, yes.
Hyatt is the best Ultimate Rewards transfer partner, hands down. Nice work.
Thank you. It's so nice being on the travel team at NerdWallet and seeing the numbers get crunched and saying, yes, I did just book the best hotel room for my wedding on points.
That is NerdWallet approved. Yes.
If you aren't sure what points are actually worth, NerdWallet has the values of how much your points are worth. So you can actually compare whether the room block rate or using points is a better deal.
In the description of today's episode, you can find a link to an article where we analyze the value of the points and miles of 16 different loyalty programs. My boyfriend and I use that

to determine whether we should use Marriott points instead of booking a room with the room block at

a wedding hotel. Oh, nice.
I have to say we love the convenience of being able to stay at the

wedding hotel and just walk upstairs to your room at the end of the night. But if the cost is too high, the points might make more sense.
For you, Sally, you're not getting married at a hotel and you don't seem too concerned about guests using the hotel room block. So should guests stay at your wedding hotel anyway? I'm glad you asked.
They totally do not have to. I really only decided to even make a room block because so many guests were asking about it.
What I like about a room block is it takes away the decision fatigue for people who don't want to research the best hotel, especially if they have no strong feelings about using points. And sometimes it's just easier to stay together, like I just said.
I know my role at weddings since these are my friends usually getting married. I got to be out on the dance floor.
You do. I'm going to be at the hotel bar for the after party.
Yes. If you don't feel that pressure, where else should guests stay? The one bummer about our wedding venue is there are no hotels within walking distance.
I do kind of feel bad about that. And we're not offering shuttles either.
It was just too complicated with guests staying all over the place to even know where to send these shuttles. So we're encouraging ride shares, Ubers to the venue.
We recommend our guests stay wherever is in your budget. I say stay at the cheaper place down the road if you can.
For that Marriott hotel we booked on points, we stayed at a cheaper place a little further away, also on points a few days before the wedding. So it just cost us less points, and I thought that was a great alternative.
Even I'm going to a friend's wedding, and their wedding block is at this super fancy hotel, and I appreciated my friend flat out told us, do not feel pressure to stay at this fancy hotel. We are not.
We are totally staying at a cheap Hilton Garden Inn down the road. Good reminder to comparison shop even when you're going to weddings.
And also consider some of those other expenses you might not think of like parking. So if you're driving to and from the wedding and you need to park overnight at your hotel, how much is that going to cost? Can you carpool? Or should you just share an Airbnb with a bunch of people? I know that you, Sally, have worked on a bunch of data for us around the prices of hotels versus vacation rentals.
I have. I have dug into the data by hand and found that the average Airbnb for six people was 33% cheaper than booking three hotel rooms.
But the average hotel room was 29% cheaper than booking an Airbnb for two. So basically, what does that mean? If you're traveling solo or with just one other person, a hotel is generally better.
Meanwhile, if you're traveling with a group and you can split the costs across everyone, a vacation rental is generally better. Just make sure everyone in your group is actually invited to the wedding because awkward.
It's so awkward when you message the whole group of college friends trying to book a vacation rental and you find out only half were invited. I mean, I would say ask the bride and groom who is invited.
You can totally ask them. That alone is not awkward, but it is worse when you ask your friends and then someone in the group is not invited.
Yeah. Okay.
Another awkward situation. What about gifts? Like if you're already spending $2,000 to attend a wedding, are you off the hook with getting a gift? Okay.
So Megan, you know that disclaimer that we say at the end of every episode that we are not financial advisors? Yeah. I want to add a disclaimer here.
We are not friendship advisors either. So true.
I'm just going to add my own hot takeoff early. I think other couples getting married might hate me for saying this, but in my opinion, I'd much rather a guest skip the gift and show up if it's a trade-off between sending a gift and spending all this money on travel.
Quite frankly, I will say it is always okay to skip the trip entirely if it's a financial burden. Yeah, I agree.
You shouldn't go into debt for this. And for what it's worth, I don't think that this is that much of a hot take.
Many etiquette experts agree that when it comes to destination weddings, or really any wedding requiring travel, your presence is the present. If you still want to give something, a card or a thoughtful gesture goes a long way.
We're just excited to have all our friends under one roof. So whether you're the one throwing the wedding or just trying to be a good friend with a manageable credit card balance, remember, travel smart, plan ahead, use your points, and don't be afraid to say no if it's not in the budget this year.
And please, no one go into credit card debt to come to my wedding or anyone else's. Let's just get dinner together when we see each other.
So for real, it's hot takeoff time now. Do you have one this week? Okay, I have a second one.
All right, let's hear it. So you know me well, and you know I love free food.
Here is my hot take. Most weddings have absurd amounts of leftovers.
I am concerned mine will too. It's definitely better to have too much food than not enough.
Oh, that's not the hot take. That is a fact.
But my hot take is every wedding should have a pile of to-go boxes. For people whose hotels don't have free breakfast, bam, free breakfast.
I love it. Thank you.
And finally, a listener question. This one comes from someone also named Megan.
Great name, Megan. Hello, Megan, the listener.
Here's what she writes. I started listening to the Smart Travel podcast because I'm curious about using points for the trips that I go on with my family.
It seems like a lot of the accounts are showing how you can use sign-up bonus offers to pay for a trip or two. That's great.
But my question is, how do you make traveling off of points sustainable over multiple years? There are only so many credit cards and bonuses that you can get. I'd love some advice on what happens after that to keep taking trips and using points.
Love this question. And you're absolutely right.
Sign-up bonuses are the flashy first date of Points and Miles. They woo you, they whisk you away on one or two dreamy trips, and then what? You're left wondering if it's all just a fling? Megan, that's great.
If we're going to go with this, then I would say that there is good news, and that's that long-term love is possible with points. You've just got to shift from honeymoon phase to sustainable relationship.
I'm loving this wedding love analogy. Okay, beyond our pros, Megan, let's tell listener Megan what we mean by this.
First, you should use cards that actually reward you for your lifestyle. So if you spend a lot on groceries or gas or dining, there's a certain points card for that.
Yeah, and NerdWallet has guides to individual common spending areas. If you're always dining out, you might search best card for dining.
Sometimes you can even pay your rent with a credit card. You know I do.
You're such a built stan. For listeners who don't know, the Built World Elite MasterCard lets you charge and earn rewards on your rent payments, and those payments are transferable.
We'll talk about that in another show. What I would say is that if you don't travel enough and you want that long-term relationship, don't sleep on the recurring travel benefits that come as annual perks on some of these premium travel credit cards.
I'm talking about things like automatic elite status, statement credits, lounge access, or free night certificates. And you can also be smart about how you spend your points.
Brands like Hilton help you stretch your points further with things like fifth night free deals, but only when you book on points. Okay, so Megan, with this, I'm going to slip in with one more hot take.
I'm sorry. Oh my gosh, how many are there? Okay, so I actually applied for the platinum card from American Express without even getting the welcome offer.
Really? I know, this is kind of unhinged. But I wanted to get the card even if it meant not getting the massive windfall of points tied to it.
I am shook. Amex approved you for the card but not the welcome offer? With the Amex cards, it's possible to qualify for the card, but not the welcome offer.
For example, if you had the same card previously and closed it. If that happens, you'll get a pop-up message letting you know you're ineligible to earn a welcome bonus.
I had never had this particular card, but I have had many other Amex cards that I have held onto for just about a year and then closed. Yeah, you do have dozens of cards.
I can't keep track. Yeah.
So anyway, when you get that pop-up, you can then choose to cancel your application if you

really only want it for the points, or you can decide to continue knowing that if you do get

approved for the card, you won't be eligible to earn a bonus. So Megan, in my case, I decided,

you know what? I'm still going to go for it. Whoa.
I know. Even without the welcome offer

that listener Megan is talking about, I still think the card is worth its $695 annual fee based on my travel habits. You know I went to 37 lounges last year.
So if you break that down per lounge visit, that's like $19 per visit. I mean, you can barely get an airport coffee and a bagel for that price.
All that to say, cards with recurring statement credits like that one can be valuable even without the intro offer or sign-up bonus. My anecdote is proof.
Okay, amazing. That card is not for everyone, but can work for you if you're a frequent traveler, which is definitely you, Sally.
And with that, I think that's our show. If you're not already doing it, you can follow the show on your favorite podcast app, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and iHeartRadio to automatically download new episodes.

This episode was produced by Hilary Georgie and Tess Biglin.

Claire Soce helped with fact-checking.

And a big thank you to Nick Karisimi for editing our audio.

And here's our brief disclaimer.

We are not financial or investment advisors or relationship advisors.

This info is provided for general educational

and entertainment purposes and may not apply to your specific circumstances.

Thanks for listening. We hope you're inspired to keep your passport full and your wallet even

fuller. See you next episode.