Ratgeber
When should you book your honeymoon?
Honeymoon plans honeymoons to long-haul destinations such as the Maldives, Bora Bora or Mauritius best four to nine months before departure. That keeps your preferred villa and flight available, and leaves time for passport, vaccinations and entry. Prices depend on the date, depending on season and category.
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Schritt für Schritt
- Note down your wedding date and preferred travel period.
- Twelve to eight months before departure, roughly clarify budget and destination.
- Four to nine months before departure, book flight and accommodation bindingly.
- Enter payment deadlines and cancellation conditions in your calendar.
- Check passport, visa and health information for the current status at the FDFA (EDA) and the FOPH (BAG).
- Take out cancellation cover shortly after booking.
- Two to four weeks before departure, confirm documents, transfers and wishes.
Checkliste
- Wedding date and travel date fixed
- Destination and villa category decided
- Payment deadlines entered in the calendar
- Cancellation conditions read
- Passport valid and matching the name in the booking
- Health and entry information checked
- Cancellation cover taken out
- Transfers on site confirmed
For most long-haul destinations, couples book their honeymoon around four to nine months in advance. For popular villas and preferred dates, the upper end applies. If you only book late, you get less choice and little room to negotiate.
Why booking early carries more weight for honeymoons
Honeymoons have a fixed time window and usually a specific destination. Overwater villas in the Maldives or Bora Bora in particular exist only in small numbers, and they are quickly taken in high season. This applies especially to weeks with public holidays or school holidays in Europe, when many couples search at the same time. If you know your time window, you should not wait.
If you book early, you have better chances of the category you want and suitable flight times. The price level fluctuates depending on season and category, but the choice shrinks with every month.
A second reason is flight availability. Direct connections are scarce on some routes, and cheap connecting flights on key dates are quickly fully booked.
Which lead time suits which destination?
For the Maldives, Bora Bora and other island destinations in high season, six to nine months are recommended. For Mauritius, the Seychelles or Bali, four to six months often suffice, unless you want a particular villa in a peak week. For Bora Bora, there is also the long journey, which links several flights. That is another reason an early start makes sense.
European destinations such as Santorini or the Amalfi Coast can also be organised three to five months ahead. Here too: summer weekends in June and September fill up early. If you travel with flexible dates, though, you can still find good offers at shorter notice.
Book your honeymoon before or after the wedding?
Many couples book before the wedding, because the date is then fixed and the choice remains greatest. That makes sense as long as the booking is flexible enough in case the wedding date still shifts.
If you only book after the celebration, you usually have to compromise on date and destination. In return, name questions on the passport are settled and the mood is calmer.
One solution: reserve early, pay in stages and have the cancellation conditions confirmed in writing. That leaves room to manoeuvre without losing your preferred villa.
What can still be booked at short notice?
A lot is possible at short notice, but with compromises. You then choose between destination, category and date and rarely get all three as you wish. If you are flexible, you can score with off-peak dates or weekdays. Whether payment in instalments is possible depends on the provider, so ask about it.
A last-minute offer mainly suits couples who have no fixed destination. For a honeymoon with a preferred villa, it is the riskier model.
If you still have to book at short notice, you should have a plan B, for example a second destination with a similar mood.
Factor in payment deadlines, passport and vaccinations
On booking, a deposit is usually due, with the remainder a few weeks before departure. Note down both dates. Also check the cancellation deadlines before you commit. For enquiries, date, budget and your wishes for the villa help.
After the wedding, some couples change their name. The passport must match the booking. Establish in good time which documents your destination country requires, and check the current status at the FDFA and the FOPH. Discuss health questions with your doctor.
One tip: put all deadlines in a shared calendar, so neither of you sees anything too late.
What planning looks like step by step
Start with a conversation in which you state date, budget and wishes. From this conversation comes a proposal with a price, which you can review without pressure.
Honeymoon is a Swiss travel agency with video consultation. Consultation takes place exclusively by video call. That saves travelling, and the two of you can hold the conversation whenever it suits you. Discuss whether changes are possible in case your date shifts.
Ask what services are included before you commit. Transfers, breakfast and airport pick-up are not included in the price everywhere. That eases the time before the wedding, when there is already plenty to organise.
