From Miles to Smiles Stylish travel for professionals seeking luxury at affordable prices
As Valentine approaches, it seems only fitting that I write a ‘love’ themed post, so how about planning the most romantic trip of your life, a luxury Bali honeymoon?
A dream Bali honeymoon
Richard and Charlotte recently tied the knot in a fabulous chateau in France. Obviously with a spectacular wedding like that, it’s going to be a hard task booking the luxury Bali honeymoon of their dreams, but initially when they were planning their honeymoon, they did what many people do and asked a travel agent to put together a bespoke itinerary.
Why you should consider a DIY honeymoon?
Ok, so I’m a little biased given I’m the queen of booking independent holidays but would you want to allow a travel agent to organise what should be the best trip of your life, and in doing so pay more to cover their commissions? I’m not begrudging anybody the time and effort they put into organising your dream trip. However, if you take the time to plan, research and book independently you will save a fortune.
Chatting with Richard over breakfast one day, I suggested that it was highly likely I could save he and Charlotte a ton of money on their dream trip if he was happy to share their proposed itinerary. Thankfully he agreed and here’s what happened.
Their dream itinerary
Richard and Charlotte had a clear idea of what they wanted from their Bali honeymoon making it easy to envisage what might appeal to them. Reviewing their itinerary to Singapore, Bali and Lombok from the travel company, I felt a little disappointed, like it was an off the shelf itinerary packaged to look bespoke.
In my younger days I would have been won over by the fancy, personalised booklet but now I know how easy it is to create such a document. I priced up EXACTLY the same hotels and flights for Richard and Charlotte on a DIY basis and the total cost was £3826.15 – a saving of £1,039.85.
How about a dreamier itinerary?
However, wouldn’t it be great if we could create an even better dream honeymoon in Bali and save them money? After all, a honeymoon should be spectacular, something that is so amazing that you are unlikely to ever repeat it. It should be the trip that you are still raving about on your silver and golden wedding anniversary.
With this in mind, I set about trying to improve on the hotels and introduce a real wow factor to their trip all the while trying to minimise costs.
The table below shows the two options I came up with, and the original cost quoted by the travel company.
| Date | Current Itinerary | Option one | Option two | |
| 10/09/2016 | Flights | Singapore Airlines – Flight No: SQ 317 – Dep: 11:25 – Arr: 07:30 – (next day) – Duration: 13hr 05min; Class: Economy Class; Non-stop flight | Skyscanner | |
| 11/9.16 | Singapore | 2 nights Rendez-Vous Hotel (1 superior double inc breakfast) | Swissotel | Furama |
| 13/09/2016 | Flights | Singapore Airlines – Flight No: SQ 942 – Dep: 09:25 – Arr: 12:05 – (same day) – Duration: 02hr 40min; Class: Economy Class; Non-stop flight | ||
| 13/09/2016 | Ubud | 5 nights Bisma Eight – One Garden Suite including Breakfast | Kupu Kupu – Kupu Kupu – £1,134 for a treehouse with private pool. | Royal Kamuela Villas |
| 18/09/2016 | Sanur | 2 nights Kejora Suites, 1 x deluxe breakfast included | Kamuela Villas with pool | TS Suites – Tshell Room with sunken bath in room |
| 20/09/2016 | Flights | Garuda Indonesia – Flight No: GA 450 – Dep: 11:25 – Arr: 12:20 – (same day) – Duration: 55min; Class: economy; Non-stop flight | ||
| 20/09/2016 | Sengiggi | 5 nights Jeeva Klui: Ananda Segarra Terrace suite for two including breakfast | Puri Mas – Romantic villa room with pool | Oberoi Lombok |
| 25/09/2016 | Flights | Singapore Airlines – Flight No: SQ5219 – Dep: 19:25 – Arr: 22:10 – (same day) – Duration: 02hr 45min; Class: Economy Class; Non-stop flight, Singapore Changi airport Terminal: 3 to London Heathrow, Terminal: 2, Singapore Airlines – Flight No: SQ 322 – Dep: 23:30 – Arr: 05:55 – (next day) – Duration: 13hr 25min; Class: Economy Class; Non-stop flight | ||
| Flights* | £1,418.00 | £1,418.00 | ||
| Singapore | £256.00 | £187.00 | ||
| Ubud | £1,134.00 | £1,034.00 | ||
| Sanur | £245.00 | £196.00 | ||
| Sengiggi | £757.00 | £1,140.00 | ||
| Transfers | Not included | Not included | ||
| Total | £4,866.00 | £3,810.00 | £3,975.00 | |
| Saving | -£1,056.00 | -£891.00 |
Here’s just one of the hotels I priced up. A fabulous boutique hotel with glass walls and panoramic views out to your own, private pool. When you want breakfast, you can just call your own butler to serve it in your outdoor room. Now that is my idea of luxury! You can check out the other selections I came up with by clicking on the individual links above.
Are you planning your dream Bali honeymoon?
Maybe you too are planning your honeymoon and are unsure where to start or how to save money on your dream honeymoon destination. If so, perhaps you would benefit from a personal honeymoon consultation and start your married life off in style.
For just £99 I will review the quote from your travel company and show you how you can save money on your proposed honeymoon. It also comes with a money back guarantee.
If I cannot save you more money than the £99 fee, then you get your money back. Can’t say fairer than that!
Pin this for when you start planning your honeymoon:
Great blog, you have provided a lot of information. That helps me in my plan so much. Thanks for sharing.
Bali sounds like fun. A must visit destination, at the top of my vacation list.
Bali is an exceptional destination! I hope I get to go there soon!
These are really great tips. I love it in Bali, it seems like you have a lot of options to fit your budget and its all perfect setting for a honeymoon.
Things are always so much better in my opinion when you book it yourself. But I know others do hate to do it. My b-in-law can procrastinate for 3 weeks just booking flights ! Great idea Anne. Do the people you do this for then eventually go back to their their travel agent and get them to book it or do they do it themselves ?
So far they have booked themselves as they wouldn’t get the same deals through a travel agent but I know what you mean. Some people hate DIY trips
I love a good saving! I assume it will be even more satisfying after an expensive wedding! Bali really looks like a honeymoon destination. perfect for newlyweds!
I’ve always wanted to visit Bali, and you options for doing it in a more cost effective way are so helpful. I think everyone expects it to be super expensive, so I’m pleasantly surprised!
Some great savings there. We got married in Bali so I would definitely recommend it as a honeymoon destination! Looks like a great itinerary.
I’ve been married for a long time. We are planning for our silver jubilee in next 3 years where we visit one of the Asian destinations and get married again. If we ever decide to go to Bali, we might use your guide for an awesome experience.
Congratulations. It would definitely be worthy of a celebration!
So great tips here. Maybe you be a Honeymoon planner…. If I get married again, I come to you 😀 But this post has given me some ideas. (don’t worry…no talk of weddings at my end at the moment … he he)
Oh wow, you managed to save these people some money and I prefer your accommodation options. A treehouse and private pools sound more tempting for me. Do you provide those services only for Bali?
No for anywhere around the world! I don’t make the ultimate decision for the client but simply give them some options.
Now, who does not dream of a honeymoon on Bali. It has so much to offer and it is even more fun to experience that with the person you are going to spend the rest of your life with. Thank you for showing how anybody can make that possible 🙂
What a great idea! Good luck with this- I could see the importance. Plus I would much rather get tips from travelers over tour agencies!