Anybody checked # of bookings for your 2009 trip lately?

[Bobo912]

The airfare I've been watching for the last 4 months dropped $100 per person last week, so I decided to call ABD and see how many people had booked our trip. I was told it's at 14% capacity. Not sure exactly what that means, but it sounds discouraging. I asked what the minimum would be to avoid cancellation and the CM said there is no hard and fast number. The tour director (maybe not the term she used, but something like that) would decide as we get nearer the departure date. That sounds reasonable. I think she was being purposely vague, which is okay since I'm just going to hang on and see what happens anyway. I'm guessing 14% is 4 or 5 people at the most and possibly just me and DS. I decided not to book airfare yet (our trip is the first week of June). I've read on the Dis board that some adventures have gone on with as few as 12 people. I'm sure it depends on the trip, but I'm curious about what you folks may have experienced with cancellations or what ABD may have communicated to you about minimum bookings.

 

[ga9497]

As you mentioned it really depends on the location and how many people it takes for the trip to still be profitable on Disney's end and not lose money by still traveling with less then x amount of people needed

I would highly suggest booking your airfare through ABD. They can book any airfare you found and if they cancel the tour they will pay any cancellation fees that the airlines require. They will also pay the change fees for the air if you decide to change your date to a future one if they end up cancelling the date you currently have chosen. This is one of the best reasons to book the airfare through them. If you decide to go this route. Let them know which airline, flight numbers, etc you prefer and they will take care of it

 

[Pakey]

I have a feeling our Costa Rican trip next year is not nearly full yet either but I have not called to check yet. For our London/Paris trip this year, I found the flights I wanted and then called AbD and had them run the rates for the exact same flights and they were able to get it for me at almost the same price so I booked through them. I will do the same for the Costa Rican trip too just so that I'm not stuck with airfare.

 

[Bobo912]

Thanks to both of you. I was planning to let ABD book the airfare. That's what we did for the Costa Rica trip last year and they were able to get the same price as that I found elsewhere. It's just easier to let them handle everything. We're booked on the Australia trip and I'm afraid it will be at high risk for cancellation because a lot of dates are offered and the airfare is so high. The CM told me bookings usually go up after Chrsitmas, so there's still hope.

 

[Happy99]

Lets say that the max out is 40 people then 14% is 5.6 people

The other way to know if your date has more people is to see if they are still offering early booking savings. I have found that most of the popular trips / dates sell out of the early booking very quickly

I think the state of the economy has a lot to do with the bookings this time around. Lets face it an ABD trip is expensive and while worth it anyone that is nervous about their financial situation will not easily shell out the money needed for the ABD

 

[Bobo912]

Absolutely. If I hadn't already booked our trip early, I would probably have done one of the US trips this year, instead of Australia. I got an email from ABD a couple of days ago promoting the early booking rates. Not sure if all the trips still have early booking, but they listed all of them.

 

[Christyvoltron]

I do not like this tendency for ABD to cancel trips at will. My husband and I are hoping to go to Knights and Lights in May but we used frequent flier miles to offset some of the cost but if they cancel it close to the time we are going -- and in fact even now -- we probably won't be able to get tickets that would work for the trip. Not to mention they wait until the last minute and for some of us it is very hard to arrange for the time off and when employers arrange for coverage and you have the time off they don't like to make adjustments. I think if they cancel us we will have to think long and hard about going with ABD in the future. We took our first trip with ABD which was Backstage Magic and that was touch and go whether we would go until the last minute. That just doesn't seem right. If they are having trouble filling trips maybe they need to have less trips but it doesn't seem right that you get your hopes up and plan and save and then boom right before you go you are cancelled.

 

[Bobo912]

The CM told me that if the trip were to be cancelled we would be notified 60 days in advance. Is that not accurate? On one hand, I would like to know even sooner. But on the other, I don't want them to cancel too soon, if there is any possibility of the trip going off as planned. But honestly, if another month or two goes by and we're still less than 20% they might as well cancel or try to combine some of the trips and not wait until the 60 day point.

 

[Pakey]

I know that our Costa Rican one did not have any early booking discounts left when we booked in October (we used bounceback discount) so I guess that means that our tour is partially full anyway. It's an adult only trip and I have heard that those tend to fill easier than the family trips. Of course the Costa Rican one is not one of the more expensive ones so perhaps people still feel they can afford a trip in this range. This will not stop people from forfeiting their deposit though if they can no longer afford to pay that large balance closer to the departure date.

I too would like to use some of my free miles for airfare but I'm not comfortable risking it at this point.

 

[Christyvoltron]

If we get cancelled 60 days prior to our trip there will be no way, at that point, that we will be able to get acceptable frequent flier tickets for any trip to which they would transfer us -- and I don't think that's right -- why should we be waiting until 60 days -- or later -- before the scheduled departure to find out whether or not we're going to be able to go as promised. We picked a date, we put down our deposit and I think that those trips should go as scheduled. So we will either go to London/Paris on our own at that point -- and what hotels etc. would be available we don't know -- or we'd have to cancel. I'm just saying if they offer the trip they should honor the commitment. If something came up and we couldn't go they wouldn't let us off the hook with no penalties let me assure you. And p.s. most of the ABD booking agents will NOT tell you how many people have booked on the trip and so therefore it is almost impossible to plan AND I, for one, think 60 days is pretty darn late in the game to be cancelling trips.

 

[knewton64]

The airfare I've been watching for the last 4 months dropped $100 per person last week, so I decided to call ABD and see how many people had booked our trip. I was told it's at 14% capacity. Not sure exactly what that means, but it sounds discouraging. I asked what the minimum would be to avoid cancellation and the CM said there is no hard and fast number. The tour director (maybe not the term she used, but something like that) would decide as we get nearer the departure date. That sounds reasonable. I think she was being purposely vague, which is okay since I'm just going to hang on and see what happens anyway. I'm guessing 14% is 4 or 5 people at the most and possibly just me and DS. I decided not to book airfare yet (our trip is the first week of June). I've read on the Dis board that some adventures have gone on with as few as 12 people. I'm sure it depends on the trip, but I'm curious about what you folks may have experienced with cancellations or what ABD may have communicated to you about minimum bookings.

---- Yes, my October 2009 "Sprirt of America" trip is approx 14% filled as well. Keep in mind that it's December 2008 & the trip isn't until October 2009 & it's one of the more popular trip they offer. So in short, I am not too terribly worried. I did post something in the ABD chat room via subsection, "Sprirt of America trip - Oct 2009" but.....so far - no replies. Keep in mind I wrote that to attempt to generate interest & see who all is going so far - but no such luck!
********** GO FIGURE*********** But again - since its 10 months away, I don't feel that it will be canceled. Now, sure, if it was 4 months away...THEN I WOULD BE CONCERNED. Which reminds me - when is your trip?? Where?

 

[Bobo912]

We booked the June 6 Australia trip. I'm worried for several reasons. It's early June, so in some parts of the US school isn't out yet. It's one of the longer trips. And the airfare is huge. But one week later the airfare goes up around $300 per person and stays that way all summer. That is why I selected that date. If it's cancelled, we won't be able to book a different date. I booked pre and post days, so our trip is a full 2 weeks and it's very unlikely I'll be able to reschedule it. And I'm not too excited about paying an extra $600 in airfare. The trip is expensive enough already. It this trip is called off, I'll probably try to change to one of US trips in the same time frame. Either way, I'm okay with it.

 

[Dahly]

We are booked on the 07/28 Galapagos Trip. I am hoping since there are fewer of these offered, along with the need for ABD to reserve space on a cruise ship for the Island tour portion of the trip, there will be less chance of cancellation. This is also the first year this trip is offered, so I hope all of those weigh in my favor. It was a hard choice to book this trip, given it was nearly a year in advance, and the sinking economy certainly was a factor, but I will try not to dwell on it and until I hear otherwise, I am making my plans! I did check a month or so ago, and was told we were 60% booked, so that is a good sign, but I won't totally relax until I see the ABD sign at the airport!

Good Luck to everyone!

Happy Holidays!

Dahly

 

[Bobo912]

60% sound very promising. I would love to hear about your trip when you get back. We were considering the Galapagos trip for 2009, but I was concerned about spending that much time on a boat with an 8 year-old. Hope you have a great trip!

 

[sayhello]

People should keep in mind, that if ABD cancels your trip, they will pay for any rebooking fees or cancellation fees for your airfare, whether you booked your airfare with ABD or not. Here's the quote from their FAQ:

If we cancel your trip prior to its commencement because there are too few Guests: (i) we will attempt to re-book you on another departure of the same itinerary, subject to availability, and we will bear any reasonable airline re-booking charges; however, if we are unable to rebook you, we will issue a full refund of your land package price and Vacation Protection Plan (unless you have filed a claim); and (ii) if you booked airfare through us, we will issue a full refund of your airfare; and (iii) if you did not book airfare through us, we will reimburse you for your reasonable out-of-pocket (subject to proof) airline cancellation charges or, in the case of bookings using frequent flier miles, a reasonable cancellation service fee, provided you have exercised best efforts to mitigate such charges/fees; and (iv) the aforesaid payments and/or rebooking by us shall constitute a full settlement.

Not that this will help with re-sheduling with work, etc, but at least you don't need to worry about the airfare.

But I agree. A lot of other companies (like Backroads) guarantee that *most* tours will go no matter how few people book.

My ABD (Southwest Splendor in May) went with 14 people, so I know it really does depend on the tour.

Sayhello

 

[Dahly]

60% sound very promising. I would love to hear about your trip when you get back. We were considering the Galapagos trip for 2009, but I was concerned about spending that much time on a boat with an 8 year-old. Hope you have a great trip!

Thanks! I would love to do Australia, but not sure about that long airplane ride with an 11 year old that doesn't like to sit still! He is very into marine biology, and the possibility of swimming with pengins and sea lions won him over for this trip.

I would love to hear about your trip as well as that one is on my list!

 

[PatriciaH]

I think a lot of people do not like the non refundable deposit (after 14 days) either. Most tour companies give you it all back if you cancel before final payment. Some take a small processing fee out. Nothing like $300pp.

 

[Bobo912]

ABD called today and our Discovery Down Under trip has been cancelled. They gave us plenty of warning since our trip wasn't until June 5. Checked airfare for the rest of the summer and it is goes up $450 per person the second week in June and stays that way through July. So I now have to decide if I want to reschedule the Australia trip and pay the extra airfare on an already very expensive trip or switch to another adventure. The CM did tell me that they would honor the early booking discount for any adventure we would like to take. At this point, I don't know what to do.

 

[cappygirl]

Our May 16th Ireland trip was cancelled today too
But we've already been rebooked on the June 13th tour. Our TA took care of everything for us (thanks Dotti!!)

 

[Carol]

I've been concerned about our trip being cancelled as well and I called today. I was told our trip is 9% booked. That sounds like 2 people, DH & me. Doesn't look good. I was also told that if I booked our flight not using ABD, they would pay the difference of any extra cost if our trip was cancelled. I've been waiting to book our flights as the prices keep dropping and the flight schedules keep changing. If our trip does get cancelled, I hope we get offered the early booking discount to reschedule a different tour. We've booked three extra pre tour days in Venice using points for our hotel. That might not be an option if our dates change. That will be disappointing.