2009 Dates/Prices to be announce August 1

[MJGirl]

Just spoke to ABD and the 2009 dates and prices will be available on their website on August 1. Only 8 days to wait!!!!

 

[iluvhawaii]

Considering abd--either Knights and Lights or Viva Italia for June 2009. Do you (or anyone else) have a sense of when the early booking rates sell out? Although I'm happy that the 2009 dates/prices will be announced, I'm not sure I'm ready to book just yet--but I'm not sure I can afford it if I don't get the early booking discount...

--Holly

 

[abdmom]

Someone on another thread said that some of the early booking discounts were gone 2 weeks after the dates were released. I guess it all depends on which date you want. If you are particular about your date, then you should book ASAP. If you can go in the off-season (outside of June, July, August, Christmas/New Year's), then you have more time.

 

[GuardMusic]

Oh no! We won't be able to book until the end of Sept/beginning of Oct.! We're planning on flying on miles, so we need to make sure we can get the airfare for free before we book. The airlines typically don't allow reservations until 50 weeks out!

Also, if the prices of ABD increase significantly, we might not do this trip. We'd do a cruise instead.

Luckily BFF and I will be on vacation on 8/1 to fully consider everything. The two week cancelation policy of ABD if simply crazy.

Gayle

 

[bairdbeth]

Thanks for the info! Having just returned from The Wonder and the Parks, I need a new trip to plan and DD wants to go to London and Paris!

 

[Jynohn]

The two week cancelation policy of ABD if simply crazy.

Does this mean that you only have two weeks after booking to cancel? If so, I'm really going to have to rethink this. I was planning on booking the Ireland trip as a surprise for DH's 40th birthday/Christmas. But he's active duty military. He usually has at least a few months notice if something comes up, but planning a trip that's set in stone almost a year out is next to impossible for us.

Does anyone know how much trip insurance is?

 

[GuardMusic]

Yes, the cancelation policy is at: http://abd.disney.go.com/abd/en_US/general?name=FaqPage#GeneralFaq; it's #5 on the list. Also note that they view "changes" (in dates or trips) as cancelations. Now you see my issue!

At insuremytrip.com (& using a low estimate of $4500 pp for trip cost) the cheapest is $269 for two people, which we feel is reasonable.

Gayle

 

[Jynohn]

Yes, the cancelation policy is at: http://abd.disney.go.com/abd/en_US/general?name=FaqPage#GeneralFaq; it's #5 on the list. Also note that they view "changes" (in dates or trips) as cancelations. Now you see my issue!

At insuremytrip.com (& using a low estimate of $4500 pp for trip cost) the cheapest is $269 for two people, which we feel is reasonable.

Gayle

Wow, 14 days is really restrictive, especially for a trip that's a year out! I really wanted to keep this a surprise, but may have to tell DH about it now to see if he'll think there will be any conflicts (not that he'll know for sure this far in advance....)

Thank you for the information on insuremytrip.com I'll definitely check them out!

 

[glassslipper2004]

The fact that the "early booking" discount sells out so quickly was a real surprise to me when we booked our Viva Italia trip. I felt kind of sucked in -- I had calculated the price at the discount, since it was about 10 months ahead of the trip, but then after I got all excited about it I found out there weren't any discounted spots left. This made a very expensive trip into a very very expensive trip. Obviously I could have backed out, but - I didn't There should be some way to participate in these trips without having to plan so far in advance. Maybe it's just the price you pay for going when the kids aren't in school; if we could go off peak, it might work better.

All complaints aside, I can't wait for our trip on 8/14!

 

[Jynohn]

The fact that the "early booking" discount sells out so quickly was a real surprise to me when we booked our Viva Italia trip. I felt kind of sucked in -- I had calculated the price at the discount, since it was about 10 months ahead of the trip, but then after I got all excited about it I found out there weren't any discounted spots left. This made a very expensive trip into a very very expensive trip.

The same thing happened to us last year. We wanted to book the Wyoming trip, and the website said that the early booking discount applied if you booked before Sept. 30th. We waited until mid-September to book, because we wanted to be sure of dates, but when we called we were told that all the early booking discounts were gone. The trip was a stretch for us at the time with the discount, so it was out of our reach when we had to pay full price.

We wished we had known beforehand that there were only a VERY limited amount of discounted dates available. That's why I want to book right away this year, but a military schedule makes it very difficult to plan so far in advance.

 

[sayhello]

Personally, I think "Early Booking Discount" is a bad name, and very misleading. They really do not explain the "limited number" factor on the website or in the catalog; it *does* make it seem as though all you have to do to get it is book early. Not book early & be lucky.

Hewene

 

[MiceRNice]

Again, this is where a travel agent can be helpful! Because the agents buy up some of the Early Booking Spots and hang on to them, you may be able to secure the discount even way past the deadline. When I inquired a few weeks ago with allseastravel what it might cost to go to Viva Italia this year, I was offered packages in October where the discount still applied! Same with our '07 Disney Cruise. I waited too long and was really bummed that I couldn't justify the cost anymore. It became possible when I was able to snag the trip I woulda got but thought I was too late for. So I'm not going to panic. This is a trip of a lifetime and I want it to be perfect! I'm away the August long weekend anyway, so I'm not going to be putting money down on the 1st!

The other thing I might mention is that I booked Disneyland in November/07 through the Walt Disney World travel company. When problems came up, I found them inconvenient and defensive to deal with. I think having an agent outside of the Disney franchise gives you an accessible advocate when needed. I don't know about ABD bookings, though, as this will be my first Adventure. Obviously a lot of you like them!

Sincerely, Karen

 

[ga9497]

Does this mean that you only have two weeks after booking to cancel? If so, I'm really going to have to rethink this. I was planning on booking the Ireland trip as a surprise for DH's 40th birthday/Christmas. But he's active duty military. He usually has at least a few months notice if something comes up, but planning a trip that's set in stone almost a year out is next to impossible for us.

Does anyone know how much trip insurance is?

Trip insurance for the overseas ABD's is usually $159-$179 per person depending on location and length of trip

 

[AndreaJ]

We booked our Emerald Isle tour the last week in December. The date that we wanted (June) had no more early booking rates available. I told the CS rep at ABD that I had to think about it and call them back. They called me the next day and told me the dates where early booking rates were still available - they were toward the end of July. So, I imagine if you are flexible, there still is a fairly good chance that there are some early booking rates still available.

 

[abdmom]

You can certainly cancel after 14 days. You would just lose your $300 per person deposit. The balance isn't due until 90 days before departure.

 

[DaddyBrady]

Does this mean that you only have two weeks after booking to cancel? If so, I'm really going to have to rethink this. I was planning on booking the Ireland trip as a surprise for DH's 40th birthday/Christmas. But he's active duty military. He usually has at least a few months notice if something comes up, but planning a trip that's set in stone almost a year out is next to impossible for us.

Does anyone know how much trip insurance is?

Last year there was a period right after the dates and rates were released where you could book and have 60 days (I think, might have been 30) to cancel and still get the full $300 deposit back. Of course there's no guarantee they will do this again this year, but with the general state of the economy, I would think they'll continue to do things that encourage bookings.

Last year I booked the adults-only Southwest Splendors right away to get the early booking discount. Since there is only one adults-only tour, we didn't really have any flexibility. We leave in 63 days. (Thanks DVC vacation countdown widget!) We haven't even left yet and we're already planning to go to Peru next year with my partner's parents. I was really glad to see that tour listed as one for the next year, although we might also have to look at the new Ecuador trip as well! We'll again go adults only, so I am hoping they repeat the extended period to cancel so we can ensure that flights are available using miles -- always the biggest challenge for any trip!

 

[MagicalPins]

I had to cancel my trip that I had planned after the 14 days had passed once my vacation request at work was denied. I asked them if it was possible to just adjust the date and they said that I could switch the dates one time without a charge and if I needed to switch again, there would be a charge. I pushed my trip back to one of the last dates announced. Hopefully I can get time off then.

 

[MJGirl]

I think you can reserve a spot on August 1, however, you have 14 days from the time they start asking for money. If I'm not mistaken, I reserved last August for my trip, but had until mid-September to firm up the reservation. I would check with ABD on this though.

 

[GuardMusic]

This is fantastic news! BFF and I start our vacation on 8/1, so this is definitely one of the first questions we will ask. Does anyone know the hours the ABD phone is staffed? I will be able to make a quick call from work on Friday morning, but BFF and I need to be on the phone together to ask a number of other things. BFF won't be at my house until late Friday night.

Gayle

 

[westjones]

Is there a website link that will give the info of the trips once they are announces?
Thanks,
DJ