Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
Room Blocks, Rental Cars, and a Plus-One: Smarter Wedding Travel for Savvy Guests
16 Apr 2025
Chapter 1: Who are the hosts and what is the episode about?
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.
Right?
Why does she get to have all the fun? I'd like a spinoff called Where's Megan?
Probably at a wedding. Yeah. So, 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 Vigeland, 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.
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Chapter 2: What are the latest travel news updates relevant to wedding travel?
I mean, I would say ask the Friday group 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.
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