I planned a destination wedding on Oahu, and my credit card made it easy and convenient

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• When my partner and I got engaged, we debated several options for our wedding.
• We decided on the wedding we were going to, and my credit card made it affordable.
• We got a lot of points and miles, and it paid off well on our flight to Oahu.

My partner and I love to have fun, which is why we are always planning our next vacation or road trip. Shortly after we were expecting, we debated wedding venues that might make sense, like a big wedding close to home in Seattle or an intimate wedding in another country with us. only two.

We decided to get married on Oahu

As our wedding vision began to shine, we decided to have an Oahu wedding. We could have a small wedding, and people could come to us and take a break from the trip. My partner’s family had ties to Hawaii, and we saw that as an opportunity to make our wedding extra special.

Our first step was to find a local wedding planner who understood the challenges of planning a wedding as people of color, and we found that support at The Gay Agenda Collective. Our wedding planner was also able to help us find all-inclusive vendors that fit the bill, and even got us discounts from certain vendors that they worked closely with.

Through our discussions, we realized that we wanted to intentionally plan our wedding in a way that was very specific to us, whether it was providing lawn games so people could have fun and socialize or they have an audio guestbook where people can leave voice messages. which we would listen to forever. We hoped that people felt loved and appreciated the way we did when we were in front of our blood and chosen family, and planning a beautiful wedding that showed the love of we were the way to show that.

We earned points and miles with our credit card

Even though the sales tax in Hawaii was less than half of our state’s sales, and our number of guests would be greatly reduced, it was clear that our wedding would still be an event. it is expensive.

Since we were planning a destination wedding, we knew that in addition to the usual wedding day vendors – such as rentals, photographers and videographers, food and decor – we would you need to book flights, hotels and a rental car for the day.

My partner and I live in Seattle. We knew we wanted to earn points or miles on our credit cards in a way that would benefit both of us, especially since we had a way to Pay off our credit cards in full. After looking at several options, we decided to use our Alaska Airlines credit card.

Alaska Airlines is based at our home airport, and is the main airline we use for all our trips together. The airline also offers direct flights to Hawaii Island, Kauai, Maui, and Oahu, which made it easy for our loved ones there and us to get to Oahu without having to worry about having a choice as ‘ only one flight or transfer.

Our credit card benefits have made flying easy and convenient

We saved on our flights to and from Oahu using bundled payments, which have no blackout dates when booking. This saved us hundreds of dollars since we booked the flight during the peak season of July. We also earned thousands of miles on wedding purchases such as hotel and transportation.

We also spent enough money to earn bonus points for our 2024 spend. These miles enabled us to book future trips including a honeymoon, and we knew we’d be able to book round-trip flights to cities on our travel list like Austin, Chicago, or Manhattan.

Because I had Alaska Airlines MVP status, I could check two bags for free, which is a benefit on top of the one bag that Alaska Airlines cardholders receive as a bonus. . This made it easy to pack personalized cards for our wedding seating chart, Polaroid film, toiletries and clothes to wear each week on Oahu.

We were able to pack our wedding dresses into a duffel bag, and we went in a little further to get them into the overhead bin as quickly as possible. On the plane itself, I got a 20% discount on in-flight WiFi and in-flight meals, which meant I could use the 5½-hour flight time to post sites, research my next story, and send to editors. my marriage by email. request for final marks. We also ordered a box of Mediterranean Tapas on the plane for us to carry before we arrived.