Cancelled by ABD: It DOES happen :(

[CrazyZeus1]

Just got a message today that our January 2016 Vietnam trip was cancelled. Our travel agent is trying to help us unravel the flight mess because we had already bought tickets on our own....what a day. I thought a cancelled ABD itenerary was a "unicorn"...a mythical thing that never REALLY happened. Well...it does...poo.

We are rebooked for the December Christmas itenerary, and Disney is *supposed* to be giving us a refund on the cancellation penalty for our flights, but it's such a headache, especially with such complicated flights to get ALL the way to Vietnam!

This would have been our 5th ABD trip and now I'm so nervous about taking it....

***********************************************************
UPDATE May 13, 2015

UPDATE: We got a surprise call from ABD today, and someone had been reviewing our case & saw that nothing was resolved. It was a wonderful phone call, and we left it feeling like ABD really DID care about what happened. We were also told the real deal...for that particular Vietnam itenerary, it was our family of three and a party of 18...and the party of 18 cancelled. The Disney agent is also handling all of the flight refund issue for us and is expediting our refund request for the cancellation fees.

I don't know if it was posting here, or posting on the FB ABD page, or if they just really WERE looking through our file and saw that nothing was resolved...but whatever it was, Joseph completely redeemed ABD for us. He gave us an answer about why it was pulled (which again, I understood they pulled it but didn't appreciate no reason), and he made it his priority to talk with both my husband and me each so that we could ask any questions and share any concerns. He was so disappointed that the other two ABD Disney reps we spoke with left us feeling like we weren't part of the "family"...and we honestly left the phone call feeling like ABD WILL help if there's an issue that needs attention.

It definitely sounds like others have had issues, and Disney really does have some improving to do in the cancellation arena. In our case, taking it to various social media outlets when we couldn't get a satisfactory answer on the phone perhaps helped...I don't know. But feeling acknowledged and heard makes a big difference, and I feel like Disney/ABD took to heart our issue and resolved it for us.

 

[Rapunzellover]

This sucks! But, I wouldn't be nervous about the trip-- only another cancellation. Once the trip goes, I'm sure everything will be perfect

 

[tufbuf]

Did they tell you the reason why? That's too bad and it happened to us before too.

 

[carpenta]

We had a tour cancelled also. I "feel your pain". It is a frenzy of calls and schedule changes that really raises the blood pressure. I hope you get your flights corrected. We lost a bundle when ABD did not even attempt to reimburse us for our cancelled flights due to the trip cancellation. Good Luck.

 

[dizneekrazee]

Yup, I've been on the phone all day with ABD trying to fix this for CrazyZeus1.

I was first told that it *wasn't* due to lack of interest (21 guests were signed up as of last week). On another call, I was told it *was* due to lack of interest. So now I'm confused. Will be calling again tomorrow.

 

[Cousin Orville]

I'm very sorry to hear that. We went on the SE Asia ABD 2 years ago, so I understand how complex your flights are. Flying into HCMC and out of Siem Reap is not easy to coordinate. I hope it works out for you to go Christmas. It IS worth it. As I think back after my 4 ABD's, it's the best I've done. As much as I am frustrated that they shouldn't be cancelling trips, it sounds like they are doing what they need to do as far as paying for cancellations, etc. Let us know how it goes. ABD absolutely needs to be on their "A Game" if they must cancel people's trips. People paying the luxury prices ABD commands need to be assured they will be taken care of their trip is cancelled.

 

[carpenta]

Yup, I've been on the phone all day with ABD trying to fix this for CrazyZeus1.

I was first told that it *wasn't* due to lack of interest (21 guests were signed up as of last week). On another call, I was told it *was* due to lack of interest. So now I'm confused. Will be calling again tomorrow.

We got the same "run around". Our trip was 30+ and.....poof......cancelled. Probably there will be as many reasons for the cancellation as there are phone operators at the reservation desks of ABD.

 

[CrazyZeus1]

Yup, I've been on the phone all day with ABD trying to fix this for CrazyZeus1.

I was first told that it *wasn't* due to lack of interest (21 guests were signed up as of last week). On another call, I was told it *was* due to lack of interest. So now I'm confused. Will be calling again tomorrow.

Yes!! You have saved my sanity today <3 Thank you for trying to help us figure this all out. LUCKILY our flights were refundable (we didn't think they would be) so we only are out the $300 flight cancellation fee which hopefully will be refunded by ABD.

I understand things get cancelled...I read the small print. I just wish I knew WHY....then I would avoid the time frame, or adjust things to try and ensure we weren't on a "likely to be cancelled" itenerary, you know? We've got the ABD site pulled up now...making alternate plans I just think we're licking our wounds because we don't feel very cared-for by Disney in this experience....thank GOODNESS for our travel agent who is doing everything she can to make this the least painful as possible...

 

[sayhello]

If your new airfare ends up being more expensive than you had for January, make sure ABD knows about & takes care of that, too. They did for me when my trip was canceled during the great debacle of 2009.

Sayhello

 

[CrazyZeus1]

If your new airfare ends up being more expensive than you had for January, make sure ABD knows about & takes care of that, too. They did for me when my trip was canceled during the great debacle of 2008.

Sayhello

Do you mind me asking how much they reimbursed you? The new flights were $3,000 more and Disney requires us to buy them first, and then we'll find out if they will reminburse. We're just not comfortable that Disney would reimburse $3,000 and we're not willing to risk paying that much more for the same ABD trip but different date (that we didn't really want anyway because it's over Christmas). Actually, the flights we found were WORSE than the ones we originally booked because we have to spend the night in Kuala Lampur on the way home. No thanks! If we booked the EXACT same flights, it was $11,000 more. Not even kidding.

Anyway--after lots of phone calls, back and forth, SO much work on my Hubby's part and our agent's part, we just decided to cancel the whole thing and try again for Vietnam in 2016 or 2017 when they release new dates. We'll replace it with another trip.

I reallly wish ABD/Disney would re-evaluate how they assist customers when they do have to cancel an itenerary. We feel like we were begging them to help us spend another $20,000 with ABD, and honestly after talking with two ABD reps last night Hubby was ready to consider a different tour company with guaranteed bookings-no cancellations. We are Disney family...DVC Members, annual pass holders, many ABD trips under our belt. It just hurts our feelings that in all the chaos, we don't feel like Disney is looking out for us...yes, they might reimburse us for cost differences, but they might not,and nobody at Disney can tell us how they decide or if there's a monetary limit. They just say "within reason". But nobody knows exactly what that means.

It's just frustrating and a let down by ABD how cancellations are handled. That's the short of it. We know stuff happens, and that a canceled trip is ALWAYS a possibility. It's just been rough feeling like us and our agent are fending for ourselves....

 

[sayhello]

Do you mind me asking how much they reimbursed you? The new flights were $3,000 more and Disney requires us to buy them first, and then we'll find out if they will reminburse. We're just not comfortable that Disney would reimburse $3,000 and we're not willing to risk paying that much more for the same ABD trip but different date (that we didn't really want anyway because it's over Christmas). Actually, the flights we found were WORSE than the ones we originally booked because we have to spend the night in Kuala Lampur on the way home. No thanks! If we booked the EXACT same flights, it was $11,000 more. Not even kidding.

Anyway--after lots of phone calls, back and forth, SO much work on my Hubby's part and our agent's part, we just decided to cancel the whole thing and try again for Vietnam in 2016 or 2017 when they release new dates. We'll replace it with another trip.

I reallly wish ABD/Disney would re-evaluate how they assist customers when they do have to cancel an itenerary. We feel like we were begging them to help us spend another $20,000 with ABD, and honestly after talking with two ABD reps last night Hubby was ready to consider a different tour company with guaranteed bookings-no cancellations. We are Disney family...DVC Members, annual pass holders, many ABD trips under our belt. It just hurts our feelings that in all the chaos, we don't feel like Disney is looking out for us...yes, they might reimburse us for cost differences, but they might not,and nobody at Disney can tell us how they decide or if there's a monetary limit. They just say "within reason". But nobody knows exactly what that means.

ETA: I should also add that I wasn't working with a Travel Agent, so I actually had ABD re-book my airline tickets. I don't know if that made any sort of difference.

It's just frustrating and a let down by ABD how cancellations are handled. That's the short of it. We know stuff happens, and that a canceled trip is ALWAYS a possibility. It's just been rough feeling like us and our agent are fending for ourselves....

I don't remember the exact amount (it was 7 years ago), but I was traveling solo and switched from Montana/Alberta to Alaska (so it wasn't European type airfare). I believe they ended up paying pretty much the cost of my original flights when it came down to the change fees & price difference. But it was well under $1000 I'm sure. And yes, they definitely don't define what "within reason" is. I felt they treated me really well when they cancelled my trip, but in retrospect, I was one person who was able to be fairly flexible. And in 2008, they were very up front that they were cancelling because they'd over-expanded right before the economy tanked, and they just didn't have enough people on some trips. I don't like this whole non-explanation thing.

Cancellations is DEFINITELY my biggest beef with ABD. They used to have a policy that they wouldn't cancel within like, 75 days of your trip, but even that policy quietly disappeared. Until you're standing in front of those Adventure Guides, there's really no point at which you can totally let go of the worry that your trip might be cancelled... And they charge a heck of a lot of money for us to have to live with that kind of worry. (A lack of worry is one of the reasons I'm willing to pay their prices).

Sayhello

 

[Cousin Orville]

Do you mind me asking how much they reimbursed you? The new flights were $3,000 more and Disney requires us to buy them first, and then we'll find out if they will reminburse. We're just not comfortable that Disney would reimburse $3,000 and we're not willing to risk paying that much more for the same ABD trip but different date (that we didn't really want anyway because it's over Christmas). Actually, the flights we found were WORSE than the ones we originally booked because we have to spend the night in Kuala Lampur on the way home. No thanks! If we booked the EXACT same flights, it was $11,000 more. Not even kidding.

Anyway--after lots of phone calls, back and forth, SO much work on my Hubby's part and our agent's part, we just decided to cancel the whole thing and try again for Vietnam in 2016 or 2017 when they release new dates. We'll replace it with another trip.

I reallly wish ABD/Disney would re-evaluate how they assist customers when they do have to cancel an itenerary. We feel like we were begging them to help us spend another $20,000 with ABD, and honestly after talking with two ABD reps last night Hubby was ready to consider a different tour company with guaranteed bookings-no cancellations. We are Disney family...DVC Members, annual pass holders, many ABD trips under our belt. It just hurts our feelings that in all the chaos, we don't feel like Disney is looking out for us...yes, they might reimburse us for cost differences, but they might not,and nobody at Disney can tell us how they decide or if there's a monetary limit. They just say "within reason". But nobody knows exactly what that means.

It's just frustrating and a let down by ABD how cancellations are handled. That's the short of it. We know stuff happens, and that a canceled trip is ALWAYS a possibility. It's just been rough feeling like us and our agent are fending for ourselves....

So frustrating. ABD should be asking you what trip you want to take and THEY should be arranging and paying for your flights with your approval. Why are they incapable of doing this? At the very least, someone at ABD should be researching your situation and let you know what they will specifically pay for. This whole mentality that there's plenty of guests willing to take your spot if you leave should not apply to ABD. WDW Parks with it's 100k daily guests and even DCL can probably get away with that attitude, but if ABD wants to grow as much as it can, it needs to reexamine its concierge approach to luxury trips when cancellations occur. They should be all over this making it right.

FWIW, 2 yrs ago our group on the SE Asia ABD was fairly small. I want to say it was less than 20, but I can't be sure. I hope everything works out. It is frustratingly ironic that one of the reasons we choose ABD is to decrease our amount of work in organizing these trips, and it sounds like you guys are having to spend more time than ever picking up the pieces.

 

[TXTransplant]

Considering ABD's crummy (on their end) cancellation policy and their apathetic attitude and vague policies regarding what a customer will receive when a trip is cancelled, it seems to me a larger responsibility falls to the TAs to educate customers up front and even strongly encourage purchasing airline tickets through ABD.

I don't know about everyone else's experiences, but I don't feel like my TA ever really explained the what ifs of a cancellation and that buying airfare "through" ABD could potentially make a huge difference should a cancellation occur. I came about this information because I got nervous (a $7500 payment bill plus $3600 in airline tickets will do that to you) and started asking questions.

There really is no down-side to letting the TA book airfare. I was able to tell mine exactly what flight and seats I wanted, the price was exactly the same, and she used my rewards account info to book. Why my TA didn't more actively push to book our plane tickets (and explain the associated benefits) is a mystery to me.

I realize this probably wouldn't have changed the outcome of the OP's situation, but at least ABD and the affiliated travel agent would have been responsible for dealing with the airline when the original trip was cancelled. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think ABD would have refunded the $300 cancellation fee, too, had the tickets been booked through ABD.

Like a previous poster said, until your tour starts, ABD offers absolutely no guarantee that a trip won't be cancelled. Obviously, circumstances beyond their control are just that, but on a trip for 20-40 people, there absolutely has to be a go/no-go date past which the trip won't be cancelled (except for extreme/unforeseen circumstances). For the amount of money we are paying for these trips, you'd think that date would be something ABD would share, if for no other reason than to provide excellent customer service and put their guests' minds at ease.

 

[CrazyZeus1]

Just so I can clarify....WE choose not to let our TA or ABD do our tickets for flight...we WANT to do them. My husband spends a lot of time finding the right flights/routes that work for us, so I don't put that on them at all. And I am pretty confident that ABD will be refunding the $300 cancellation fee from our airline.

Our BIGGEST punch in the gut of all of this is the feeling of abandonment we get from ABD. It would have been much easier to swallow if they had told us (our our TA when she asked multiple times) that, listen, here's what happened and we are so very sorry. Here's the exact amount we can refund for flight cost difference, OR we can view your changed flights BEFORE you buy them to let you know if we will reimburse the difference in cost. We even had the idea to put the new flights on hold, and see if ABD would let us know if Disney approves/disapproves paying the cost difference between old and new flights, but Disney said no to that too..you have to buy the tickets first and THEN they'll let you know if/how much you're reimbursed. If we could just eliminate THAT policy, or fix it, then I think it would have been much easier for all.

Getting our ABD trip deposit back (because that's all we had paid so far) was easy. Seems like once I can chase down documentation from the airlines about our cancellation penatly fee of $300, our TA will submit that to Disney and will probably be paid. But it's the scrambling to try and change the trip to a different date, and re-do the flights with the unknown of cost increase & what's covered/what's not is what I have a hard time with.

Disney would be SMART to hire a concierge just for ABD Cancellations...instead of getting passed all around Customer Service with Disney on the phone and not getting any answers.

But, in all of this, we know/knew fully well that a trip COULD get cancelled. I was holding my breath because we only had 7 people, and then we had 21 people the next time we called so I stopped worrying Gah!

 

[TXTransplant]

Just so I can clarify....WE choose not to let our TA or ABD do our tickets for flight...we WANT to do them. My husband spends a lot of time finding the right flights/routes that work for us, so I don't put that on them at all

I effectively did the same thing. I researched all of the flight options, narrowed it down to the ones that worked best for us, and then watched the price for months until it seemed to bottom out. I am slightly OCD and very type-A, so there is no way I would allow a TA to do all of that. At the point at which I was ready to purchase, instead of putting my CC info into the airline website and hitting confirm, I emailed the exact flight and seat info, my rewards account info, and my CC number to my TA. She bought the tickets via ABD for me, but I still did almost all of the work. At first it seemed silly to me to spend all that time and effort and not just go ahead and purchase the tickets myself, too. But once I was aware of the "risks" associated with buying tickets on my own, it just wasn't worth the uncertainty. I wanted to be sure that the FULL cost of the trip, including airfare, would be reimbursed in the event of an ABD cancellation, and I didn't want to have to wonder about the definition of "reasonable" costs. Since the charge for the plane tickets showed up on my CC as a charge from Disney Resort Hotels, if they cancel, I would expect them to refund that entire amount immediately, no questions asked, without me having to provide any documentation, receipts, or proof from the airline regarding cancellation fees.

 

[carpenta]

I hope you have better luck than me. Your writings about how you choose to book your own airfare is exactly what we do and have done in all our ABD trips. We never seen that $600.00 we were charged by the airlines because, like you, our trip was cancelled. Our TA did the same thing with ABD with the caveat that we already had a trip planned with ABD (deposit paid) in the future after the cancelled trip. NADA! NUTTIN', NO PESOS.... had to eat the change fee. I hope ABD has changed their ways and refund your money. It does leave a BAD TASTE in my mouth every time I remember it and does not do ABD justice when people like myself have to relive the whole situation on the web. I really hope it works out for your family.

 

[CrazyZeus1]

I hope you have better luck than me. Your writings about how you choose to book your own airfare is exactly what we do and have done in all our ABD trips. We never seen that $600.00 we were charged by the airlines because, like you, our trip was cancelled. Our TA did the same thing with ABD with the caveat that we already had a trip planned with ABD (deposit paid) in the future after the cancelled trip. NADA! NUTTIN', NO PESOS.... had to eat the change fee. I hope ABD has changed their ways and refund your money. It does leave a BAD TASTE in my mouth every time I remember it and does not do ABD justice when people like myself have to relive the whole situation on the web. I really hope it works out for your family.

I'm so sorry that happened....when was that? I KNOW it's a pretty penny for ABD to eat, but really, it's not good for their name or image. My husband was so frustrated last night that he pulled out some of the brochures from companies that have no-cancel-guarantee policies...that's serious! We swear by the Disney name!

 

[CrazyZeus1]

I effectively did the same thing. I researched all of the flight options, narrowed it down to the ones that worked best for us, and then watched the price for months until it seemed to bottom out. I am slightly OCD and very type-A, so there is no way I would allow a TA to do all of that. At the point at which I was ready to purchase, instead of putting my CC info into the airline website and hitting confirm, I emailed the exact flight and seat info, my rewards account info, and my CC number to my TA. She bought the tickets via ABD for me, but I still did almost all of the work. At first it seemed silly to me to spend all that time and effort and not just go ahead and purchase the tickets myself, too. But once I was aware of the "risks" associated with buying tickets on my own, it just wasn't worth the uncertainty. I wanted to be sure that the FULL cost of the trip, including airfare, would be reimbursed in the event of an ABD cancellation, and I didn't want to have to wonder about the definition of "reasonable" costs. Since the charge for the plane tickets showed up on my CC as a charge from Disney Resort Hotels, if they cancel, I would expect them to refund that entire amount immediately, no questions asked, without me having to provide any documentation, receipts, or proof from the airline regarding cancellation fees.

REALLY interesting! My husband is exactly like you, and that's why he didn't turn it over to ABD for flights. I will let him know that we could do it this way and he may find more comfort in that method. I assumed if ABD did your flights, you have to do whatever they find!

 

[TXTransplant]

REALLY interesting! My husband is exactly like you, and that's why he didn't turn it over to ABD for flights. I will let him know that we could do it this way and he may find more comfort in that method. I assumed if ABD did your flights, you have to do whatever they find!

That's exactly what I thought, too, until I started asking more questions. That's why I say that the TAs should step up and start proactively explaining how/why to purchase airfare through ABD. In my case, it was a last minute scramble, because my final payment was due, and I wasn't about to cough up that money until I had plane tickets, and I didn't want to buy plane tickets (on my own, at least) until I had some sort of confirmation from ABD that the trip wouldn't be cancelled for low participation. When ABD wouldn't tell me whether or not our trip had enough guests to "go," I started discussing my options with my TA, and that's how we came to this solution.

It would be really easy and helpful if TAs would just address the cancellation policy and explain the options/issues related to buying plane tickets early on in the process! That's why I say this responsibility really falls to them, as long as ABD keeps this crummy/ambiguous cancellation policy.

 

[carpenta]

I'm so sorry that happened....when was that? I KNOW it's a pretty penny for ABD to eat, but really, it's not good for their name or image. My husband was so frustrated last night that he pulled out some of the brochures from companies that have no-cancel-guarantee policies...that's serious! We swear by the Disney name!

The trip which was cancelled was last Easter (the Italy trip, Rome,Florence,Venice). We had that trip as well as Germany booked the following June. We luckily found space with a Tauck trip to Italy but still had to change our tickets by one day and thus the change fee. They (Tauck) do a wonderful job in their Bridges program that is just for families. We were very impressed. ABD should get their act together IMO.