Airmiles & Marlin Travel GC

[momof2gr8kids]

Anyone ever book their WDW package through Marlin Travel and cash in AM for Marlin GCs to use towards the package?

Was it a pain? Did you get the same deal that you could get booking direct w/ WDW, or were there some stipulations?

Thanks.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Yes! We just did this in January!

It was okay as I had a TA who was totally knowledgeable about WDW.

If you want them to book directly with WDW then you had to pay the whole amount up front and wait to be reimbursed for the travel vouchers. It takes about 3 weeks to get reimbursed.

The other option is that they book with a tour operator and you just pay the amount left after deducting your vouchers. So you pay the reduced amount. This is what we did. We booked and went in and paid it down as we collected and redeemed the certificates. The final balance was due 45 days prior.

The drawback to booking with the tour operator are the restrictions. You cannot make changes. So if a new code comes out it cannot be applied to the reservation. As well the dining plan has to be paid in full when you add it even if the rest of the package is not due until 45 days before your departure. We waited until 3 days before leaving to add it so we could pay as much as possible in vouchers. The dining plan could be added at any time.

This January we did the 4 for 3 special at a mod (standard room) for 7 nights, 2 adults/2 kids, 7 day passes (base) with the dining plan.

Total was $2732. We redeemed $1300 (26) in travel vouchers so we paid $1432 total for the package.

Booking with the tour operator seemed to be about $100 more but we really didn't have the money to pay in full and wait to be reimbursed. We were able to collect Airmiles up to about 3 weeks away from the trip to pay for the dining plan. I was concerned that the cheque would not come before we left so we booked with the tour operator.


So we just paid the $1432 out of pocket. If they had booked directly with WDW we would have had to paid the $2732 and waited 3 weeks for a cheque for the $1300.

 

[momof2gr8kids]

Thanks. The TA I would be dealing with has been to disney 3 times, yet I seem to know more from reading these boards. I'm telling her stuff she didn't know! LOL

I do have a room only discount good for the whole year, plus 3 of us did the GAD which we can upgrade. Unless a super deal comes out, I'm probably better off booking on my own and using some AM to get my youngest's park pass. I couldn't add dining, but then paying for the extra tickets to make it a package would offset the savings from the GAD tickets. So not sure we'd save w/ the dining plan if that's the case.

I guess we'll have to wait and see. Not going until late November, so can't do anything until we book flights anways. Just getting my ducks in a row and working out what will work best for us when that time finally comes!

 

[CdnCarrie]

It can be so confusing! One other option is a believe you can make a room only reservation through Airmiles for the resorts now. (I think it may be values only)

And you can pay for that with Airmiles.

 

[momof2gr8kids]

I think what I'm going to do is cash in some air miles for Shell gas gift certificates. They are less per point than the Marlin GCs, car rental gift cards, hotel stays or the disney passes themselves.

We usually fill up every payday, so when we do, I will take the $ we would have spent on gas, put it in our Disney fund, and use the GCs for the gas. That way I've got cold hard cash to use for our trip and I don't have to worry about being locked into something w/ Marlin. We'll have waaayyy more flexibility that way, yet still get to use our airmiles to pay part of our trip!