The latest figures put the average honeymoon cost at around $4,500, Brides.com reports, adding that the average honeymoon lasts eight days.
There are plenty of ways to save on or save for a honeymoon, though.
Here’s what you need to know about the average honeymoon cost and paying for a trip you’ll never forget.
The Honeymoon Tab
The Knot, a wedding-planning platform, cited a pre-pandemic average honeymoon cost of $5,000, based on an internal study of more than 27,000 couples who married in 2019. That is atop the average cost of a wedding, which The Knot put at nearly $34,000.
The average cost of a honeymoon has increased in the past few years, reflecting couples’ desire for more experiential travel, The Knot says, with more than 60% of American couples traveling outside the continental US for their honeymoon.
Of course, the honeymoon outlay could be much higher if a couple goes on a luxury getaway, an extended journey, and other factors.
Big-Ticket Honeymoon Items
The cost of a honeymoon can depend on location, amenities, and even the season couples decide to travel. Typically the cost will include:
• Plane, train, or automobile travel
• The accommodations
• Any excursions
• Food and beverages
• Taxes, tips, and fees
Essentially, it’s the same as any other big trip. The only extras may come because you want to make this trip the best it can be (and we don’t blame you).
Ways to Cut Honeymoon Expenses
There are still plenty of ways to save money on a honeymoon. As mentioned, location can play a major factor in the cost of the trip, but there is a secret a lot of travel insiders know and don’t share: Shoulder season.
Shoulder season is that awkward time between the high and low seasons of different destinations. It’s not necessarily that a place is less desirable to visit but merely a less popular time to go.
The shoulder season in the Caribbean is the early fall (in the Northern Hemisphere, September to November), which is the midst of hurricane season, meaning fewer people tend to book during this time. Honeymooners could score great deals on flights and accommodations, and find more restaurant and excursion reservations available.
Hawaii, a perennial honeymoon destination favorite, has low or shoulder seasons of April through June, after all the school breaks end, and September to December, right before the holiday travel rush.
Check to see when your desired location’s shoulder season may fall, and if you wish, book in this window for the chance to save a little money.
Two other ideas:
Forage for great fares. Another way to cut back on typical honeymoon expenses is to hunt for the best flights possible if you’re traveling by air. This can be done by signing up for newsletter or alert services like Next Vacay, which sends daily emails with cheap flight deals, or similar services like Scott’s Cheap Flights and Skyscanner.
Use points or miles. One more way to lessen the financial strain of a honeymoon is to dig into credit card rewards such as points or miles. Check to see if your points can be used on flights, accommodations, or activities, and use them as you please. Don’t forget to check on any of those frequent flyer miles you’ve got hanging around either.
Recommended: How to Save Money for a Trip
Paying for a Honeymoon
There are a number of ways couples can finance their honeymoon. Here are a few.
Join a honeymoon registry. The first, and perhaps most festive for a wedding, is to ask your friends and family to get involved with a honeymoon registry.
A honeymoon registry is a new twist on the wedding registry tradition. Rather than ask for gifts like china that comes out of the closet once every 10 years, couples can instead ask their guests to gift them money that they may use toward their honeymoon.
Some couples take the honeymoon registry a step further by registering at places like Honeyfund or Zola for specific honeymoon items rather than a blanket ask. This can include a specific hotel stay or merely an upgrade, scuba lessons or ski tickets, or dining at one special restaurant during the trip.
Carve out a honeymoon savings fund. Another way to finance your honeymoon is by starting your own honeymoon budget. Once you’ve decided as a couple where you’d like to travel on your first trip as the newly betrothed, you can estimate how much the trip will cost.
From there, you can start a fund where you put in a little each day, week, or a month from income or through any cutbacks you’re willing to make to your personal budgets to turn this dream trip into a reality.
Decide to camp out in Uncle Jeremy’s backyard. And grill hot dogs for days. It will be unforgettable. Just sayin’.
Take out a personal loan. A personal loan can be used for just about anything you want. Yes, that means it can be used to cover any and all the costs of a honeymoon.
The Takeaway
The average honeymoon costs around $4,500, but clearly, that number can vary greatly, depending on when and where honeymooners travel, for how long, and the level of luxury. With more couples lusting for experiential travel, the average tab has grown.
Need help funding your wedding or honeymoon? SoFi offers fixed-rate wedding loans from $5,000 to $100,000.
A fixed-rate means a fixed monthly payment, and a personal loan may be a smarter choice than a high-interest credit card.
Photo credit: iStock/DragonImages
SoFi Loan Products
SoFi loans are originated by SoFi Bank, N.A., NMLS #696891 (Member FDIC). For additional product-specific legal and licensing information, see SoFi.com/legal. Equal Housing Lender.
Financial Tips & Strategies: The tips provided on this website are of a general nature and do not take into account your specific objectives, financial situation, and needs. You should always consider their appropriateness given your own circumstances.
Third-Party Brand Mentions: No brands, products, or companies mentioned are affiliated with SoFi, nor do they endorse or sponsor this article. Third-party trademarks referenced herein are property of their respective owners.
SOPL0521021
