Transfer to first Japan ABD hotel when adding pre-nights?

Theta

DIS Veteran
Joined
Dec 30, 2007
We are traveling to Japan this summer. I am finding the Hyatt Regency Kyoto rate, when booking directly with hotel, is about half the price Disney is charging. We are arriving two nights prior and we have three rooms in our group, so those savings are substantial.

On other adventures, I have read people having mixed results getting the airport transfer if you book the pre-nights yourself vs. adding them on through Disney. Does anyone have any experience with the airport transfers for the Japan trip?

I understand one might have to move rooms when the adventure begins.
 
We are traveling to Japan this summer. I am finding the Hyatt Regency Kyoto rate, when booking directly with hotel, is about half the price Disney is charging. We are arriving two nights prior and we have three rooms in our group, so those savings are substantial.

On other adventures, I have read people having mixed results getting the airport transfer if you book the pre-nights yourself vs. adding them on through Disney. Does anyone have any experience with the airport transfers for the Japan trip?

I understand one might have to move rooms when the adventure begins.
Unfortunately, ABD's policy is always changing. You're going to have to check with ABD to know for sure. What happened last year would not necessarily still be true this year.

I didn't face this issue for Japan because I only did one pre-night with one room, arriving late evening, so I just paid the extra $$$$ to get ABD to do the transfer.

However, this year, I am doing the Rhone River cruise, and booked the room at the ABD hotel myself because it was less than half the price, and I'm arriving mid-day. ABD is not picking me up from the train station (an option for this cruise if you book through ABD) nor are they letting me use their transfer from the ABD hotel to the ship the next morning. They are quite adamant about this.

Fortunately, neither transfer is that far or that expensive. If you decide to book the Hyatt Regency Kyoto on your own, and ABD won't provide you a transfer, you'll have to decide if the ABD transfer is worth more than the substantial savings of booking on your own.

Sayhello
 
Unfortunately, ABD's policy is always changing. You're going to have to check with ABD to know for sure. What happened last year would not necessarily still be true this year.

I didn't face this issue for Japan because I only did one pre-night with one room, arriving late evening, so I just paid the extra $$$$ to get ABD to do the transfer.

However, this year, I am doing the Rhone River cruise, and booked the room at the ABD hotel myself because it was less than half the price, and I'm arriving mid-day. ABD is not picking me up from the train station (an option for this cruise if you book through ABD) nor are they letting me use their transfer from the ABD hotel to the ship the next morning. They are quite adamant about this.

Fortunately, neither transfer is that far or that expensive. If you decide to book the Hyatt Regency Kyoto on your own, and ABD won't provide you a transfer, you'll have to decide if the ABD transfer is worth more than the substantial savings of booking on your own.

Sayhello


Wow! With you being one of their VIP guests, I am very surprised they wouldn't extend this service to you.
 
However, this year, I am doing the Rhone River cruise, and booked the room at the ABD hotel myself because it was less than half the price, and I'm arriving mid-day. ABD is not picking me up from the train station (an option for this cruise if you book through ABD) nor are they letting me use their transfer from the ABD hotel to the ship the next morning. They are quite adamant about this.

Fortunately, neither transfer is that far or that expensive. If you decide to book the Hyatt Regency Kyoto on your own, and ABD won't provide you a transfer, you'll have to decide if the ABD transfer is worth more than the substantial savings of booking on your own.

Sayhello

I wonder if that policy has to do more with Ama Waterways than ABD. I’m in the same situation. I’m doing the Budapest Short Escape before the Danube River Cruise. I booked my pre-nights myself at the Marriott, which is the pre-cruise hotel but not for the short escape. That’s the Sofitel. I was told I’d have to get to the Marriott on my own, which I’m fine with. I also booked my own post nights at the Munich Kempinski hotel because I wanted to stay longer than ABD would allow for post nights. Because I am, I’ll have to book my own transfer to the airport, but ABD will transfer me from the boat to the hotel.
 


We are traveling to Japan this summer. I am finding the Hyatt Regency Kyoto rate, when booking directly with hotel, is about half the price Disney is charging. We are arriving two nights prior and we have three rooms in our group, so those savings are substantial.

On other adventures, I have read people having mixed results getting the airport transfer if you book the pre-nights yourself vs. adding them on through Disney. Does anyone have any experience with the airport transfers for the Japan trip?

I understand one might have to move rooms when the adventure begins.

As @sayhello said, definitely check with ABD on what the current policy is. While I’ve never done the Japan ABD, I usually book my own pre/post nights for ABDs at the host hotel whenever I can get a cheaper rate. To date, I’ve always been able to get the ABD airport transfer. Even when I’ve stayed at a different hotel, ABD has given me the option of transporting me to the host hotel (then getting a taxi to my hotel) or allowing me to get my own transportation. I normally check with ABD when I make my reservation to find out what the policy is for that trip. Good luck.
 
I wonder if that policy has to do more with Ama Waterways than ABD. I’m in the same situation. I’m doing the Budapest Short Escape before the Danube River Cruise. I booked my pre-nights myself at the Marriott, which is the pre-cruise hotel but not for the short escape. That’s the Sofitel. I was told I’d have to get to the Marriott on my own, which I’m fine with. I also booked my own post nights at the Munich Kempinski hotel because I wanted to stay longer than ABD would allow for post nights. Because I am, I’ll have to book my own transfer to the airport, but ABD will transfer me from the boat to the hotel.
That's possible. They're also having issues with the time for my flight home after the river cruise, and said they had to check with their "travel partner" to see if they could get me an exception. So maybe AmaWaterways does control that part. Interesting.

Sayhello
 
We are traveling to Japan this summer. I am finding the Hyatt Regency Kyoto rate, when booking directly with hotel, is about half the price Disney is charging. We are arriving two nights prior and we have three rooms in our group, so those savings are substantial.

On other adventures, I have read people having mixed results getting the airport transfer if you book the pre-nights yourself vs. adding them on through Disney. Does anyone have any experience with the airport transfers for the Japan trip?

I understand one might have to move rooms when the adventure begins.
I had booked 1 prenight at the hyatt Regency kyoto directly with hyatt (at a cash + points rate). ABD let us take their transfer from KIX to the hyatt.
Now, I actually arrived at KIX 2 days prior, but stayed one night at the Sheraton Miyako Osaka on my own, then returned to the airport the following day to meet up with my friend for her arriving flight and we took the ABD transfer together.
 


If you are arriving at the Osaka airport, the transfer to the Hyatt Kyoto (wonderful hotel btw) is around an hour and from my research on the expensive side if you pay OOP.

I will share what a family did on our Peru ABD to get the cost of their transfer covered. They told ABD they were staying at the Westin Lima when in fact they were staying at the JW Marriott in Miraflores. I don't know how they pulled the switch, but they must have told the driver when he met them at the airport to take them to the JW Marriott. I wasn't happy as we paid for the transfer to the JW Marriott on our own, but I was honest about where we were staying pre-trip. ABD is flat-out denying that this happened, but it most certainly did as we not only saw this family at the JW Marriott a few times, but they told us they were met at the airport by ABD and delivered to the JW Marriott. If anyone wishes to try out this loophole please report back if it works (and yes I am a bit bitter about ABD's lack of consistency with their policies).

Sorry, I digressed. As long as you are staying at the Hyatt Kyoto ABD should cover the cost of the transfer (even if you pay the hotel directly). I believe their policy is that if you stay at another hotel they won't pay for the transfer. But their policies seem to change randomly and without notice so I'd verify with them.
 
Sorry, I digressed. As long as you are staying at the Hyatt Kyoto ABD should cover the cost of the transfer (even if you pay the hotel directly). I believe their policy is that if you stay at another hotel they won't pay for the transfer. But their policies seem to change randomly and without notice so I'd verify with them.
That's *not* their policy for my Rhone River cruise this year. No transfers even though I'm staying at the ABD hotel, and transfering from the ABD hotel to the ship. But, as you say, the policy seems to change randomly.

Sayhello
 
Initially, ABD told me that if I booked the Hyatt Regency Kyoto prenight on my own, they would still provide transfers from Kansai airport to the Hyatt. Two separate Vacationistas told me that.

Then some months later when I followed up on that, I was told that no, the policy now was that ABD would not provide the transfer. I elevated this to a manager, and he asked if I had any written proof. Since I was only told about the included transfer over the phone, I didn't have an email stating this. So the manager said he would not make an exception. ABD: If you are reading this, such inconsistencies and demanding written proof goes against positioning yourself as a luxury, concierge service.

So what I have learned is to get a Vacationista to send you an email confirming what they said and not to rely on them honoring what they say over the phone.

ABD wanted over $1100 for the prenight at the Hyatt. Um, no thanks.

Frankly, there are reasonable options for other hotels near Kyoto station that were cheaper than booking the Hyatt on my own. So I'm doing that instead, and just handling the transfer myself. Of course, I would not expect ABD to provide the transfer in that case, so this change in policy became a non-issue.
 
If you want to do the transfer yourself from Kansai airport to the Hyatt Regency Kyoto, it is straightforward.

From Kansai airport, buy a ticket for the Haruka Express train. There are ticket terminals where you can press the English button and see the instructions in English. The train departs every 30 minutes or so. Just buy the tickets after you arrive at the airport; don't reserve them in advance of arrival. You can search on "Haruka Express" for details. The train has special areas to hold luggage. The train takes about 75 minutes to get to Kyoto station.

If you reserved the Hyatt on your own, they offer free taxi service from Kyoto station to the Hyatt, between 9am and 6pm. Details are at:

https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/hotel/japan/hyatt-regency-kyoto/kyoto/maps-parking-transportation
If you have to get a taxi yourself, there are taxi queues at Kyoto station and three sizes of taxis to choose from. Details at:

https://www.kyotostation.com/taxis-in-kyoto/
Your taxi driver most likely will not speak English. Show the following image to the driver:
0exdUtR.jpg
 
Initially, ABD told me that if I booked the Hyatt Regency Kyoto prenight on my own, they would still provide transfers from Kansai airport to the Hyatt. Two separate Vacationistas told me that.

Then some months later when I followed up on that, I was told that no, the policy now was that ABD would not provide the transfer. I elevated this to a manager, and he asked if I had any written proof. Since I was only told about the included transfer over the phone, I didn't have an email stating this. So the manager said he would not make an exception. ABD: If you are reading this, such inconsistencies and demanding written proof goes against positioning yourself as a luxury, concierge service.

So what I have learned is to get a Vacationista to send you an email confirming what they said and not to rely on them honoring what they say over the phone.

ABD wanted over $1100 for the prenight at the Hyatt. Um, no thanks.

Frankly, there are reasonable options for other hotels near Kyoto station that were cheaper than booking the Hyatt on my own. So I'm doing that instead, and just handling the transfer myself. Of course, I would not expect ABD to provide the transfer in that case, so this change in policy became a non-issue.
OK, that really sucks. >:( It makes me really glad I have my exception in writing. But I shouldn't be needing to say that!

And that's fabulous information you gave about the transfers!

Sayhello
 
Initially, ABD told me that if I booked the Hyatt Regency Kyoto prenight on my own, they would still provide transfers from Kansai airport to the Hyatt. Two separate Vacationistas told me that.

Then some months later when I followed up on that, I was told that no, the policy now was that ABD would not provide the transfer. I elevated this to a manager, and he asked if I had any written proof. Since I was only told about the included transfer over the phone, I didn't have an email stating this. So the manager said he would not make an exception. ABD: If you are reading this, such inconsistencies and demanding written proof goes against positioning yourself as a luxury, concierge service.

So what I have learned is to get a Vacationista to send you an email confirming what they said and not to rely on them honoring what they say over the phone.

ABD wanted over $1100 for the prenight at the Hyatt. Um, no thanks.

Frankly, there are reasonable options for other hotels near Kyoto station that were cheaper than booking the Hyatt on my own. So I'm doing that instead, and just handling the transfer myself. Of course, I would not expect ABD to provide the transfer in that case, so this change in policy became a non-issue.

I am really glad that my TA sent me an e-mail saying that ABD would cover the cost of our transfer from the airport to the Ritz Carlton in Cairo this fall (I am paying on my own because it is less than half of what ABD wanted). Which completely contradicts what they are now saying. It is very frustrating that they keep changing their policy.

Also in the last 2 weeks I had a conversation with ABD about the transfers on our recent ABD Peru. They told me that the reason the transfer was covered for the other family and not us is that they (the other family) were staying at the Westin Lima (the other family was in fact staying at the JW Marriott, just like we were). They specifically said that they will only cover transfers if you book on your own for the same hotel that ABD uses.

Here is the e-mail my TA sent me re: the ABD Egypt transfer:
Actually, for the Egypt trip, if you book the same hotel that the Adventure starts for a pre-night (and book directly) Disney will still pick you up and provide you transportation on the 19th-

You are likely going to change rooms when the Adventure begins-
 
Thank you for all the responses. Yes, frustrating their policy is all over the place.

@sayhello or anyone else who has taken this tour, do you recall what room category ABD books at the Hyatt Regency Kyoto? Is it just the basic or deluxe room category?

Below is a youtube video I found of a basic twin room at the Hyatt Regency. I would be VERY disappointed if this is the room type we get with Disney, it is so tiny!


Here is a deluxe king room. This is more on par with what we are would expect with ABD hotels.

 
I don't know what the room category was, but it appears to be in between the two you show. Here are photos from the room I had.

P1070098.JPG

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P1070101.JPG

P1070102.JPG

P1070099.JPG

P1070103.JPG

Sayhello
 
Japanese hotels in general are very tiny. ABD is a luxury service and it charges you like it, but space is very limited in Japan. Especially if you book another hotel on your own, be prepared for this. I once slept curled up with my suitcase on half the bed!
 
Many hotel rooms in Japan are smaller than typical hotel rooms in the US. The room that sayhello showed looks like a relatively spacious room for Japan. I think the video of the basic room that Theta posted stated the room was about 300 sq ft., which may be on the small side by US standards but is reasonably good for Japan. I've stayed in a nice hotel in the Ginza (the Beverly Hills section of Tokyo) where the room for two people was about 200 sq. ft. Business hotels can have very small rooms. I stayed in a single room that was about 100 sq. ft. Now that is tiny.

For those going on the Tokyo Disney extension, the MiraCosta rooms appear to be about 400 sq. ft. And that is most upscale hotel at that resort. The Peninsula Tokyo rooms look spacious. The smallest one I saw on their website is 579 sq ft.

The deluxe king room in the second video looks like a mansion by Japanese standards.
 
Many hotel rooms in Japan are smaller than typical hotel rooms in the US. The room that sayhello showed looks like a relatively spacious room for Japan. I think the video of the basic room that Theta posted stated the room was about 300 sq ft., which may be on the small side by US standards but is reasonably good for Japan. I've stayed in a nice hotel in the Ginza (the Beverly Hills section of Tokyo) where the room for two people was about 200 sq. ft. Business hotels can have very small rooms. I stayed in a single room that was about 100 sq. ft. Now that is tiny.

For those going on the Tokyo Disney extension, the MiraCosta rooms appear to be about 400 sq. ft. And that is most upscale hotel at that resort. The Peninsula Tokyo rooms look spacious. The smallest one I saw on their website is 579 sq ft.

The deluxe king room in the second video looks like a mansion by Japanese standards.
The rooms at the Peninsula Tokyo are HUMONGOUS and AMAZING!!

Sayhello
 

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