Let down by ABD. Going through stages of loss and grief

[Philip Colmer]

A thread title that may be considered by some to be a bit over the top but I'm feeling pretty raw after just being told by my Dreams travel agent that Disney have cancelled our ABD.

For my wife & I, holidays are the reason we work. We plan our holidays, sometimes years in advance, working out where we want to go, how much it is going to cost, booking early to get the best price. I'm sure we're not alone in that.

We had been planning a trip to Australia for *years*. We were originally going to go with a travel company we'd used before but decided we preferred the ABD itinerary. It was originally going to be this year as a celebration of my 50th birthday but we decided to postpone it to next year because DCL had a very interesting Baltic cruise this year that took our fancy instead. Sometimes we can be a little bit spontaneous ...

So, we booked the Australian ABD for October 2016. We couldn't pick any of the other dates because of work commitments. We worked out that we would arrive at Cairns a few days early to try and get over the jet-lag, and my wife *really* wanted to stop off at Singapore on the way home to enjoy afternoon tea at Raffles.

We wanted to take advantage of air miles to book business class seats there and back so I literally counted down the days to each stage of the journey so that I could "pounce" on the 2 - and only 2 - reward seats for each flight when they became available. I managed to get every single flight we wanted and needed.

And then ABD cancels. No explanation. Just cancelled.

This is the second time that Disney has pulled the rug from under our feet. The first time was when we'd booked a cruise for a family holiday (6 of us, 3 cabins) and Disney chartered that specific cruise to DVC if I remember correctly. On that occasion, it didn't hurt us too much to shift over to a different cruise.

In this case, however, we've had no choice but to cancel all of the flights (currently at the cost of cancellation fees to us although I am hoping Disney will make good on that) and to find another holiday to take - NOT with Disney.

Being offered the opportunity to reschedule to another 2016 Australian ABD trip is of no comfort to us at all given that we could only go on that one set of dates.

Hence the title. We were both in denial to begin with and I think we both currently feeling pretty angry.

I think that there should be more protection for the customer in situations like this.

My wife, certainly, is having a lot of doubts about (re)booking with ABD .

Philip

 

[aggiedog]

I'm so sorry. It might be time to explore some of the other companies that have been mentioned here.

 

[sayhello]

I am so sorry. It really is hard to have the rug pulled out from under you, and unfortunately, you aren't the first person who has posted here with such a disappointing experience. It seems to be happening more frequently recently for off-season trips. A lot of folks are exploring alternate companies precisely due to this alarming policy of cancelling trips with no warning or explanation. We all get that's ABD's policy, but a lot of us question that being a reasonable policy, since there are other similar companies that guarantee their trips will go.

I love ABD, but experiences like yours are definitely making me thing twice about booking a big trip like Australia or China with ABD. Which is a shame, since they are both excellent itineraries.

I'm so sorry this happened to you and your wife, and I hope you find another company to do your trip to Australia with next year. I totally understand your disappointment and anger!

Sayhello

 

[DisneyKevin]

Philip,

I'm sorry this happened to your Adventure.

The reason ABD cancelled this Adventure was lack of enrollment. There just wasn't enough interest to make this date viable.

While I can not promise anything, if you drop me an email, I will see what I can do to assist.

Kevin@DreamsUnlimitedTravel.com

 

[DisneyKevin]

While this doesn't help after the fact...any travel company...including the ones being suggested as alternatives to ABD...has the right to cancel a trip for any reason.

This is part of the fine print for every travel operator offering trips to anywhere. It's just part of the business of selling travel.

Again...while this doesn't help Philip and his wife....everyone booking a trip with specific parameters (dates, destination etc) should consider travel insurance.

ABD offers travel insurance on every Adventure.

If that insurance doesn't appeal to you...we always suggest that you take a look at insure my trip.com.

It is a clearing house for many different companies offering travel insurance. it lets you view your options.

As a travel agent, I am not affiliated with insure my trip.com in any way. I am not compensated for sending anyone to this site.

I do it because it's good for my clients and guests.

Again...I am sorry that any gets the disappointing info that their trip has been cancelled.

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

DisneyKevin, How often have the Central Europe trips been cancelled? We're booked for the last Adult Exclusive departure for 2016. We have alternatives in mind if for whatever reason our trip is cancelled but just curious about the likelihood of it happening, especially since the price hasn't increased at all since the 2016 itineraries were released.

 

[DisneyKevin]

DisneyKevin, How often have the Central Europe trips been cancelled? We're booked for the last Adult Exclusive departure for 2016. We have alternatives in mind if for whatever reason our trip is cancelled but just curious about the likelihood of it happening, especially since the price hasn't increased at all since the 2016 itineraries were released.

I am not aware of any of the Central Europe trips having cancelled.

Just recently, there were 3 Adventures cancelled.

The South Africa trip on 3/26, the Backstage Magic on 4/10 and the Australia trip on 10/19 were cancelled.

While I realize that this greatly affected the OP and his wife (and I am not making light of that in any way), the total number of guests affected by the cancellations was 11.

I am in no way suggesting that the 11 guests affected are any less important than any other guests, but you can imagine that it's not financially feasible to run an Adventure with 3 guests.

Low enrollment is almost always the cause of these cancellations.

This is why I update the guaranteed trips list as often as possible.

Other tour companies will run a trip with lower enrollment, but they adjust the number of guides to compensate. ABD doesn't do this in order to maintain the integrity of their product.

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

Thanks DisneyKevin. I was just curious. I can understand how upsetting it would be to have your dream trip cancelled due to lack of bookings but knowing how the hospitality industry works (I'm an event planner), I understand Disney's or any tour company's reasoning behind cancelling a trip with little to no participants. It's not financially feasible to run those trips.

 

[tgeorge]

Along with all of the others, I too am sorry that you guys had to experience this.

Kevin, I get what you're saying, but to cancel a trip a year out due to lack of enrollment it seems so early for that. If it were three months out I would understand, but 11 months out seems a bit too early for that call.

 

[DisneyKevin]

Along with all of the others, I too am sorry that you guys had to experience this.

Kevin, I get what you're saying, but to cancel a trip a year out due to lack of enrollment it seems so early for that. If it were three months out I would understand, but 11 months out seems a bit too early for that call.

While I get a great deal of info, I am not privy to what fuels the decision to cancel any Adventure.

I know that low enrollment is the biggest factor but, there may be mitigating circumstances of which we are not aware.

There may be vendors that require a longer cancellation window than others.

They also may track the number of calls interested in these dates.

I am guessing at these reasons, but as with all Disney products, they are designed to make money...so I'm guessing that reasons do exist.

 

[tgeorge]

Yeah, vendors needing more time does make sense. I get it, they are a business and businesses are there to make money. I'm sure it is heartbreaking for those , like the OP, who plan ahead and get everything timed out perfectly and then are let down. I know I would be! It can happen to anyone at anytime (unless it is a guarantee). Just curious as to why such an early cancellation, but, I'm well aware of decisions 'echelons above my pay grade'.

I hope the OP can find something and I do hope that Disney will assist with the cancellation fees in order to recoup their miles. Good luck!!

 

[carpenta]

I had the same thing done to me but really close to the trip date. I had to scramble to find another company and it turned out better both in the tour itself and money wise. I would suggest looking into tour companies that have a better track record of cancelled trips. Sorry to hear but Happy 50th anyway.

 

[Woodview]

To Phillip

Here is a co that you might check out ..... or at least " e " mail them.

Trailfinderrs.com ( Mostly deal with Europeans going to Anywhere & Australia ). We used them for Brisbane .

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

A thread title that may be considered by some to be a bit over the top but I'm feeling pretty raw after just being told by my Dreams travel agent that Disney have cancelled our ABD.


My wife, certainly, is having a lot of doubts about (re)booking with ABD .

Philip

What a huge bummer! So sorry to hear about your cancellation, and I totally understand your feelings and frustration. I'd be very hesitant to rebook myself. I feel that the way ABD handles these situations could be improved dramatically. Other companies seem to be much more open about the process. I recently tried out Nat Geo for a trip to UK and they were very forthcoming with info from the outset. We were told there was a max of 16 and a minimum of 8 (ABD won't give this kind of info). As soon as we had 8 people the trip was guaranteed. We were kept up to date by the tour coordinator and informed as soon as that 8th person had booked. A friend of mine who posts here is using Thompson Family vacations for the first time this summer to China. They are a family of 4 and have been told their trip is guaranteed even if it is just their family! I'm sure all companies have force majeure type of clauses (for extraordinary events) but for regular/low enrollment type of situations, ABD's way of handling things IMO is poor. They should be much more forthright with info. No one seems to know what their minimums are and they seem very slow to guarantee trips. Keep us posted, Phillip, on how you are reimbursed. We've heard some inconsistencies with this as well. Again, so sorry to hear about your cancelled vacation and hope you are able to find an alternative that might not be the dream but will still be fun.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

OP, what a drama king! Loss and grief about a cancelled tour? Loss and grief is what you feel when your child or a spouse dies, not a cancelled tour a YEAR in the future. Plan your own trip or find another tour company and keep your airline tickets. Australia is easy.

What will you do when faced with a real tragedy?

 

[Tahlzy]

I understand that you are disappointed, but as the tour part of the trip has been cancelled, there was no real reason to cancel your flights IMO? I would have turned it into an adventure and traveled myself.

Australia is where I live, and I have done Brisbane myself, and I would have done my own itinerary and kept those special flights. There is so much to see and do here that you don't really need a tour IMO, the Gold Coast,and our attempt at theme parks (Movie world and DreamWorld - not amazing by Disney standards but a good day) most internal flights around Aus are under 5 hours (only a couple to Sydney or Melbourne) and you could have done the Opera house, the beaches, the Great Barrier Reef?

I agree with the Travel Insurance - before I even book flights, I ensure I have this. Especially in this climate, you will never know whats going to happen, and it is a MUST before I do anything for travel.

 

[jon18uk]

I understand that you are disappointed, but as the tour part of the trip has been cancelled, there was no real reason to cancel your flights IMO? I would have turned it into an adventure and traveled myself.

Australia is where I live, and I have done Brisbane myself, and I would have done my own itinerary and kept those special flights. There is so much to see and do here that you don't really need a tour IMO, the Gold Coast,and our attempt at theme parks (Movie world and DreamWorld - not amazing by Disney standards but a good day) most internal flights around Aus are under 5 hours (only a couple to Sydney or Melbourne) and you could have done the Opera house, the beaches, the Great Barrier Reef?

I agree with the Travel Insurance - before I even book flights, I ensure I have this. Especially in this climate, you will never know whats going to happen, and it is a MUST before I do anything for travel.

I was thinking the same thing, why not keep the flights and just plan your own trip?

 

[carpenta]

...................you are "stuck" with the plane tickets anyways.............ABD does not reimburse you for any expenses you spend on tickets on your own...........we had to eat the change fee(s) just to reorganize our trip even though we were not the ones who cancelled...........still P.Oed.

 

[paddles]

First of all - let me say I'm sorry you're having to go through this. It is disappointing, but the good news is that you have a year to plan a fabulous AUS trip. I agree with others that you may want to skip a tour operator and plan things yourself. I've just planned a great 3 week trip - yes, it did take a little legwork, but it's SOOOOO worth it because now we can also go to New Zealand and add a lot of "extras" that ABD doesn't offer, stay in all 5 star hotels and save about 35% on the entire trip (and that includes an entire extra week of travel!).

I started with the ABD itinerary and Tauck itinerary as my initial framework and built around it. There are good deals for internal flights if you book multiple of them at once.

I agree with others that Disney really needs to address this policy or else they will continue to lose loyal customers to the competition.

 

[RSM]

Hi Philip--if you elect to plan and go on your trip to Australia, I have worked with a company called Springboard Vacations. They will customize a trip to fit what you want and to your budget. It won't be a group tour, but you could replicate the excursions and enhance some. I believe they are based in Los Angeles, but the principals are Australian, and they seem to have a ton of contacts there. Just some more food for thought.