Booking air though ABD?

[clarabelle]

Hi
We are considering booking an ABD for summer 09 with our two DDs.
I am a very infrequent flyer and I am a bit intimidated when I get online and check airfares.
Are there advantages to letting Disney book your airfare? Do they do a direct flight as possible?
Is it a much better deal to book air on your own?
Thanks!!!!

 

[sayhello]

Hi
We are considering booking an ABD for summer 09 with our two DDs.
I am a very infrequent flyer and I am a bit intimidated when I get online and check airfares.
Are there advantages to letting Disney book your airfare? Do they do a direct flight as possible?
Is it a much better deal to book air on your own?
Thanks!!!!

The advantage to booking through Disney is, if they cancel your tour, they will either switch you to another date of your choice, or refund the money. If you book the airfare through them, they pay for any changes needed to the airfare, or include it in the refund if you go that route. If you do your own airfare, unless you had trip insurance, you'd be out of luck.

I looked at having them do my airfare for my Southwest Splendors trip, and the best they could come up with was *quite* a bit more expensive than what I came up with on my own. But if I was going to a foreign country, I may have booked with ABD anyways.

Sayhello

 

[clarabelle]

Thanks sayhello
(Loved you trip report by the way)

 

[wdwsos]

The advantage to booking through Disney is, if they cancel your tour, they will either switch you to another date of your choice, or refund the money. If you book the airfare through them, they pay for any changes needed to the airfare, or include it in the refund if you go that route. If you do your own airfare, unless you had trip insurance, you'd be out of luck.

I looked at having them do my airfare for my Southwest Splendors trip, and the best they could come up with was *quite* a bit more expensive than what I came up with on my own. But if I was going to a foreign country, I may have booked with ABD anyways.

Sayhello

Just remember, though, that you can specify what flights/carriers you want with AbD. If you found a reasonable airfare, the AbD air department should be able to book that same flight for the same price. They're looking at the same inventory that you're looking at.

I usually research my air, find the best prices and times, and then just call them with the details. I've never found them to be more expensive if we're looking at the same flights.

Hopefully, that's the same for 2009 and there isn't an additional charge -- I'm just going by previous years! I was lucky and found my Bella Italia flights (into Naples, out of Florence) for me and my husband for only 50K FF miles each, so I grabbed those - saved me $3000! I had to sacrifice and come into Naples a few days earlier than planned -- poor me.

Dotti

 

[disneytraveler]

When i went to Italy ,Abd could not find the flight and airfare i searched on the internet. I wonder if i was looking at incorrect search engine when i booked Viva Italia last year.
I went with ABD anyways on the airfare booking.

 

[clarabelle]

Thanks everyone!!

 

[ears2BWV]

We booked our airline tickets thru abd. We researched the flights, picked them out, then called abd. We paid the same price as the ones on the net, with the security that abd would recover the airfare if they made a change or cancelled the trip.

 

[awatt]

If you book with ABD, they can change your air arrangements at later date.

For our Costa Bella Trip we booked air thru ABD, round trip from Newark.

A couple of months before the trip, ABD switched it to departing from Newrk but returning to JFK in New York. This would be a nightmare as these airports are not close, and there is alot of traffic in between the two. Thankfully I have an excellent TA who spent two weeks getting our flights switched back to Newark.

 

[clarabelle]

Thanks everyone!!

 

[Silvertraveler]

Just remember, though, that you can specify what flights/carriers you want with AbD. If you found a reasonable airfare, the AbD air department should be able to book that same flight for the same price. They're looking at the same inventory that you're looking at.

I usually research my air, find the best prices and times, and then just call them with the details. I've never found them to be more expensive if we're looking at the same flights.

Us, too!

Silvertraveler

 

[jackienut]

Hi
We are considering booking an ABD for summer 09 with our two DDs.
I am a very infrequent flyer and I am a bit intimidated when I get online and check airfares.
Are there advantages to letting Disney book your airfare? Do they do a direct flight as possible?
Is it a much better deal to book air on your own?
Thanks!!!!

I found the flights we wanted for our trip (Viva Italia) through kayak.com and gave the flight information to Disney. ABD booked the flights for us and kept us informed of any changes. The only change we had were flight #'s, all times remained the same. If Disney books your flight, as already stated, they will pay any change fees if changes need to be made. Also, if you choose to go a day earlier and stay a day late, they will still handle all airport transfers for you.