New ABD booking questions

[lmb80129]

So we are seriously considering our first ABD Germany trip for 2013!!!!! It seems that Dreams Unlimited and Costco have the best deals. We are a family of 5 so do we need to make any requests regarding hotel rooms? Are there any pitfalls that we need to worry about? How do we best book airfare so we don't lose money if the trip is cancelled? I assume trip insurance is a must but do we need to buy it when we put down the deposit? Thanks for any advice.

[Bobo912]

If you buy the travel insurance from ABD, you do not have to pay for it when you book, but if you do not pay in full within 14 days, there is no pre-existing condition waiver. This is the verbage from the travel agreement:

You may elect to purchase the Plan at the time of booking or at any time prior to final payment. If you purchase and pay for the Plan in full within 14 calendar days of making your reservation, certain pre-existing medical conditions may also be covered; however, if you purchase and pay in full for the Plan more than 14 calendar days after making your reservation (but no later than the final payment due date), pre-existing medical conditions will not be covered. Conditions and restrictions apply.

If you have to cancel because of some covered emergency, your insurance should cover your airfare. If ABD cancels they won't just leave you in the lurch. I've had a trip cancelled, but I hadn't booked my airfare yet, so I don't have firsthand experience, but I believe they will work to get your airfare rebooked for a new date or trip, even if you don't book your airfare through them. I always book my airfare with ABD, since they will keep track of changes and notify me and I feel confident that they will help with a refund or rebooking if my trip is cancelled. You can find the flights you want ahead of time and just call them with the information. Personally, the only reason I wouldn't do that is if I was paying with miles, which ABD can't handle for you.

ETA: I've purchase insurance on my own (independent of the tour company) and the pre-existing condition waiver was in place as long as I purchased the insurance before the final payment for the tour was due.

[sayhello]

Bobo912 answered a lot of your insurance questions for you. I just wanted to add, that, in order to get pre-existing conditions covered, *most* insurance purchased independent of ABD will also require you to purchase & pay in full for the insurance within 14-21 days of your first deposit payment. (sorry about that sentence!) Only a couple, such as CSA, will cover pre-existing conditions if you purchase the insurance before paying in full for the trip.

I agree with Bobo912 that the best way to cover yourself for the airfare (in case ABD cancels) is to purchase the airfare through ABD. However, as she said, ABD *will* work with you if they cancel a trip, even if you didn't purchase the airfare through them. It's just a lot easier if you *do* purchase it through them.

Sayhello

[abdgeek]

Originally Posted by lmb80129

So we are seriously considering our first ABD Germany trip for 2013!!!!! It seems that Dreams Unlimited and Costco have the best deals. We are a family of 5 so do we need to make any requests regarding hotel rooms? Are there any pitfalls that we need to worry about? How do we best book airfare so we don't lose money if the trip is cancelled? I assume trip insurance is a must but do we need to buy it when we put down the deposit? Thanks for any advice.

It depends on which ABD you are doing as to how your rooms are handled. Each hotel does something different. With 5 people, you will probably have two rooms.

The ABD website lists what type of accommodation you will have in each hotel under the Rates & Dates section. Scroll all the way to the bottom and you will see Accommodations. For some hotels, a quad is in one room and for some hotels they are in two rooms. So with 5 people, they may split you up and do a triple and a double. I know a lot of the european hotels are very strict on the number of people that can be in a room--so you may not be able to(or want to) put all 5 people in one room. Good luck.

[DisneyKevin]

Originally Posted by lmb80129

So we are seriously considering our first ABD Germany trip for 2013!!!!! It seems that Dreams Unlimited and Costco have the best deals. We are a family of 5 so do we need to make any requests regarding hotel rooms? Are there any pitfalls that we need to worry about? How do we best book airfare so we don't lose money if the trip is cancelled? I assume trip insurance is a must but do we need to buy it when we put down the deposit? Thanks for any advice.

Technically, the Dreams Unlimited Travel early booking discount has expired, but I will honor it if interested.

You can reach me at Kevin@DreamsUnlimitedTravel.com.

Germany was extraordinarily popular this year with many (if not most) departures selling out.

Something to keep in mind...the Dis has an exclusive Germany departure from 9/20 - 9/28/13. The pricing is $3729.00 per person based on double occupancy. The single traveler rate is $5289.00.

We will be in Munich for the beginning of Octoberfest!!!!!