Annoyed By Travel Agent (AAA) Need Feedback Please

[Zobie]

Ok we currently have booked through AAA
Ft Wilderness Cabins
10 Days 9 Nights
9 Day Hopper with WP
2 Adults 1 Child (under 10)
$3588.95

Travel Agent at AAA has not responded to my emails or voice mail. On Oct 6th, I sent her an email giving her a heads up about the upcoming specials (no response). Today 2 emails (4 and 2 hours ago), phone message 5 minutes ago, no response.

Looking on the Disney Website, same booking as above + Disney Dining (2 Adults Child at 10 years old) Total for new reservation would be $4,458.37 or a total of $869.42 more to add on the regular dining for the trip.

Ideas? Thoughts? ......

How hard will it be to get back my deposit from AAA if I book Disney now and cancel with her later (we are more than 100 days out from our trip)

Do I really care about the AAA perks (Diamond Parking, Firework Seating etc) Yes we are renting a car to drive to the parks, except for MK.

Am I being fussy for no reason?

Anything else I may be missing on this?

Thank you in advance everyone, for any insights you may be able to provide. Love the DIS boards and all the experts out there!

Zoe

 

[1mama2three]

I can't speak to the deposit or anything, but the Diamond Parking isn't really a big deal at all. We had two strollers and got a diamond pass so that we didn't have to fold them up to ride the tram in. We got there early each morning, so we got close anyway, and the people that rode the tram in got up front about the same time we did when walking. I think we got the closest at AK, but really none of that parking seems to be a bad walk either. We would leave in the afternoon and come back in the early evening, and we'd still get decent parking because it seemed some families were leaving for dinner.

Sorry I can't give any feedback on the other stuff, but I'd say that if you emailed well in advance of the discount and again today and haven't gotten any response, that's pretty poor service. In that case, you'd have less stress planning it yourself. I'd say if the deposit works out and you can get it back, that your best bet would be to cancel through AAA and book it on your own.

 

[1mama2three]

I can't speak to the deposit or anything, but the Diamond Parking isn't really a big deal at all. We had two strollers and got a diamond pass so that we didn't have to fold them up to ride the tram in. We got there early each morning, so we got close anyway, and the people that rode the tram in got up front about the same time we did when walking. I think we got the closest at AK, but really none of that parking seems to be a bad walk either. We would leave in the afternoon and come back in the early evening, and we'd still get decent parking because it seemed some families were leaving for dinner.

Sorry I can't give any feedback on the other stuff, but I'd say that if you emailed well in advance of the discount and again today and haven't gotten any response, that's pretty poor service. In that case, you'd have less stress planning it yourself. I'd say if the deposit works out and you can get it back, that your best bet would be to cancel through AAA and book it on your own.

I should note that on the mornings that we got there early...there was no difference between diamond parking or regular parking...my parents had to park without it and we parked with it...about the same distance at most parks...in some cases we were at the end of a row so we were further!

 

[maggiew]

Ok we currently have booked through AAA
Ft Wilderness Cabins
10 Days 9 Nights
9 Day Hopper with WP
2 Adults 1 Child (under 10)
$3588.95

Travel Agent at AAA has not responded to my emails or voice mail. On Oct 6th, I sent her an email giving her a heads up about the upcoming specials (no response). Today 2 emails (4 and 2 hours ago), phone message 5 minutes ago, no response.

Looking on the Disney Website, same booking as above + Disney Dining (2 Adults Child at 10 years old) Total for new reservation would be $4,458.37 or a total of $869.42 more to add on the regular dining for the trip.

Ideas? Thoughts? ......

How hard will it be to get back my deposit from AAA if I book Disney now and cancel with her later (we are more than 100 days out from our trip)

Do I really care about the AAA perks (Diamond Parking, Firework Seating etc) Yes we are renting a car to drive to the parks, except for MK.

Am I being fussy for no reason?

Anything else I may be missing on this?

Thank you in advance everyone, for any insights you may be able to provide. Love the DIS boards and all the experts out there!

Zoe

Maybe the AAA agent doesn't work on Wednesdays? I don't think you are giving her enough time to respond. I know we all get impatient when we are excited.

Call and ask if she is working today? If not, I know at my AAA office that you can talk to another agent to make changes if your agent isn't there.

My agent charges $50 booking fees. So you might lose out on that if you cancel???

Maggie

 

[Zobie]

Maybe the AAA agent doesn't work on Wednesdays? I don't think you are giving her enough time to respond. I know we all get impatient when we are excited.

Call and ask if she is working today? If not, I know at my AAA office that you can talk to another agent to make changes if your agent isn't there.

My agent charges $50 booking fees. So you might lose out on that if you cancel???

Maggie

She finally responded, with the standard rate ($5700) saying she can't find any specials. I replied back over an hour ago, with the price I had found and have not heard back. So I am thinking I give her one more chance and then ask her to cancel my package and book on my own. She is perfectly nice and I respect her commission, but I also would like her to try a bit as well, I feel as if I have walked her though every step thus far. Maybe I am just too OCD to trust someone else to handle this regardless of price.

Thank you to everyone for taking the time to respond and your feedback on the Diamond parking.

Zoe

 

[tinka-belle]

FWIW the Stay/Play/Dine promo did not appear on the TA websites until noon today, and if I remember correctly AAA has their own internal system so their update might take a bit longer. If she's looking in her computer she may not have seen it this morning. And yes, a good TA will call Disney to apply any promo too but the hold times have been very loooooong today on the TA phone numbers as well as the public ones.

 

[Zobie]

FWIW the Stay/Play/Dine promo did not appear on the TA websites until noon today, and if I remember correctly AAA has their own internal system so their update might take a bit longer. If she's looking in her computer she may not have seen it this morning. And yes, a good TA will call Disney to apply any promo too but the hold times have been very loooooong today on the TA phone numbers as well as the public ones.

Good to know and that is pretty unfair to the agents. I have been very nice to her, but I do wish she would be more responsive to my contact attempts overall.

 

[turnlisa]

I cancelled with my AAA agent and had no fees to pay. The money goes to Disney so you should be able to get your deposit back fairly quickly. It does allow you to cancel immediately and rebook.

 

[Zobie]

I cancelled with my AAA agent and had no fees to pay. The money goes to Disney so you should be able to get your deposit back fairly quickly. It does allow you to cancel immediately and rebook.

Very interesting, are the funds stored as a credit on Disney under my old conformation number, or are they returned to my cc? Thanks!

 

[turnlisa]

You have to remember that with AAA they own your reservation. So the $$ comes back to your credit card and then if you want, you can book your own or have a TA do it for you.