Would you lie about your engagement or wedding to get some free champagne or a hotel upgrade? It's more common than you may think – in fact, 84% of couples would fake a life event in order to get perks, according to research by Angelic Diamonds.
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While this may seem harmless, it could actually impact whether real-life newlyweds can enjoy these perks, with many couples now being asked to provide proof such as their marriage certificate.
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Angelic Diamonds conducted a 2022 survey of 2000 Brits and asked them if they would lie in order to get things like flight and hotel upgrades, champagne and free food, and respondents could choose more than one answer. Overall, the resounding consensus was 'yes' with a marginally higher percentage of men (47%) willing to tell a fib than women (44%) on all answers apart from one.
See the surprising results and some fake engagement and honeymoon confessions…
I transformed our first holiday into a luxury honeymoon
Many couples lie about being engaged to get perks
What should have been 27-year-old Lucy's first holiday with her boyfriend became quite a memorable trip after a forgotten fib on a booking website! She confessed: "I once added a note to an online hotel booking saying that I was newly engaged to my then-boyfriend. It was our first holiday so I thought it would make it more special, as well as being funny.
"I forgot about it and only remembered when we arrived at the check-in desk, where we found we'd been upgraded to a luxury suite. The hotel had gone all-out in our room, with a fruit platter, cake, rose petals on the bed, plus a free bottle of champagne. We felt slightly bad about it, but soon forgot as we sipped champagne in our jacuzzi."
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I got five hotel upgrades for my fake honeymoons
Hotel upgrades are one of the most popular freebies
If anyone is a seasoned pro at honeymooning, it's Manchester-based Lidia who managed to get not one or two free upgrades, but five. The 28-year-old said: "Travelling in Thailand a couple of times in 2018, my ex-partner and I pretended we were on a honeymoon. This gave us free room upgrades at 5 different hotels and a free round of drinks in two of them"
She added that she also used to claim it was her birthday to get free drinks at bars – sneaky!
I got free birthday and engagement celebrations
It started as a gamble to see if they could get any perks, but Charlie, 30, and his partner ended up getting two different types of freebies while holidaying.
"We were at a restaurant in Zanzibar, Tanzania and I told the owner that me and my girlfriend had just got engaged to see if they would bring us anything for free.
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"The restaurant obliged, but actually made a mistake and brought us a birthday cake with a massive birthday celebration, singers and more. I then complained that it was our engagement not a birthday and they gave us a bottle of wine to compensate for the upset," Charlie explained.
According to the research, free food was the most popular freebie with a whopping 26.5% admitting to trying, while almost 1 in 4 would lie to get a free hotel room or flight upgrade (24.5% and 22.9% respectively.)
84% of couples would fake a life event in order to get perks
Getting free flowers in a hotel room was the lowest on the priority list, with more women (4.8%) than men (3.76%) trying their luck. Shockingly, only 16.3% of people surveyed revealed they would not lie about a fake life event to get anything.
That's not great news for brides-to-be like Louise, 32, who said she now fears that people may have ruined it for those who would actually love a memorable engagement or honeymoon perk.
Speaking to Angelic Diamonds, she said: "I’ve been looking to book a honeymoon and part of the excitement was perhaps getting a perk or two since it’s such a milestone holiday. You always hear about flight upgrades and bottles of champagne, but I was really surprised to see that a lot of classic honeymoon destinations require to see your marriage certificate to make sure you’re not playing the system for the freebies.
"I can only imagine it’s because people have been caught fibbing before, but it certainly takes the romance out of things a little!”
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