Travel Deal of the Day (February 6, 2008)

Many travel-related companies have begun offering "honeymoon registries" to engaged couples looking to plan a honeymoon. Usually, these registries are offered either by hotel chains (such as Starwood or Marriott) for stays at that hotel chain during your honeymoon or by a travel agency. While this idea may sound good in theory, I would encourage an engaged couple to weigh the following factors before setting one of these registries up:

(1) Flexibility: How flexible is the registry? Can the registry be used for more than just room and meals? How about activities? Can an unused balance be used for stays by a relative or friend? Can it only be used at certain hotels? (If you choose a certain hotel chain, you are tied into only that hotel chain's hotels. What if it turns out you do not like the hotels offered by that hotel chain in the location you end up selecting for your honeymoon? Worse yet, what if that hotel chain has no hotels where you are traveling?)

(2) Time Period/Expiration: When does the money in your honeymoon registry expire? Are there fees after a time period that reduce the value of a remaining balance?

(3) Financial Stability: How financially stable is the company that is setting up the registry? (If the company goes out of business or has some other major financial difficulty, you likely lose all of the money put in your registry.)

Overall, I think formal "honeymoon registries" have the potential to reduce your overall flexibility and require you to stay with a certain chain of hotels or with hotels offered by a single travel agency. Registries offered by a hotel chain require you to stay only with that hotel chain. Registries by a single travel agency require you to book only with that travel agency - while the agency may have access to a wide variety of hotels, you may receive far higher prices when booking with that particular travel agency (versus purchasing your travel via some other method).

The best idea is to set up an account that would allow your guests to give you cash that is not tied into one company. See if your bank or credit union has a program that would allow guests to fund a "honeymoon" account. If you decide you must have a traditional "honeymoon registry," be sure to investigate all the restrictions.