Question about transferring purchased cruise

[bnickle3]

I have been following the DIS boards pretty faithfully and am now planning the budget for our trip next January (2004.)

I have tried to understand the whole transferring the purchased trip thing, but I feel like the process is a simple I.Q. test that I am failing miserably.

If we purchase the cruise through AAA or Costo, can we then transfer it to a TA or to DreamsUnlimited? What would be the benefits to that? I know that buying the trip through Costco is signifigantly less expensive than buying through DCL, but what are the advantages of doing that and then transferring?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Brenda

 

[Michelle]

Hi Brenda! If you book through a TA you cannot transfer your cruise to another TA. As a matter of professional courtesy, TAs do not accept transfers from other agencies.

If you book with DCL directly then you most certainly can transfer your reservation to a TA. Or you can book directly with the TA from the start.

Hope that helps a little!

 

[misswit]

We transfered our cruise, after it was paid in full, from the DCL website to AAA. We benefited by getting 4 refillable soda mugs for free. That was an $80.00 value. We had no problems at all, and actually found (at the terminal checkin) we were upgraded from the 2nd floor inside stateroom to a 7th floor room with a porthole. It was great!

 

[bnickle3]

Is it ok (or kosher) to get a quote from Costco or Sam's (the Costco quote is $800 cheaper than DCL) and then go to a TA and ask if they can meet or beat it? Or is that not really done? Sorry if this question seems ignorant, I have never booked a trip or dealt with a travel agent before. ( I feel like this makes me a step up from a Clampett.)

Or would it just be better to use a TA from the get-go and say, what can we do this for?

 

[LOVETHATMOUSE]

You were able to transfer after you were paid in full? We are thinking of transferring to AAA to get the mugs and the 10% off in the gift shops (I know you need to spend at least $75, but that is not a problem LOL!)

I thought you needed to do the switch before your last payment. Also, were you on the Wonder or Magic? I am in a CAT 9 now, but would love a surprise upgrade (who wouldn't )

 

[Señor Ferrari]

LOVETHATMOUSE,

We once transferred a reservation from DCL to Costco not only after we had paid in full, but after we had received our docs. I found out about the deal pretty late in the game, but Costco gave a 10% rebate on the price of the cruise. I called and asked if I could transfer the reservation there, and they did it. DCL was not happy with me, however, and a reservations supervisor called and asked if I really wanted to do this. She said that Costco would now own the reservation, rather than me, and they could make any changes they wanted to. I asked what changes they might make, and she admitted that a travel agency that wants to stay in business wouldn't make any changes without my say-so.

I left the reservation with Costco, but was really worried that something would go wrong. I called and had them (Costco) fax me a confirmation, since I could not longer look at my reservation on-line. The day before the cruise, when we left, I would stess every time we checked in somewhere (at the airport, at the hotel), and then on the day of the cruise with the bus and at the port. We had no problems at all, so it turned out well, and we saved about $200.

That said, the rebate (which I don't think they do anymore) would be the only reason I would use Costco. I thought their customer service was lacking and it was very hard to get a hold of the agent who I dealt with.

 

[my3kids]

If Costco is $800 less than Disney, then you probably have a really good quote. I used them on the first trip and didn't have any problems. I had booked it with Disney, then transferred the booking to Costco. Everything was fine and I saved a good deal of money.

The price Costco is giving is the price Disney charges, minus the traveol agency discount. If you were to transfer the reservation back to Disney, you'd lose the Costco paid portion and be back at square one.